I sincerely believe . . . that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.

Thomas Jefferson
Letter May 28, 1816 to senator John Taylor
[I haven’t investigated enough to say for certain but I suspect the “spending money to paid by posterity” is a significant part of why the politicians don’t do anything about illegal immigration. A rapidly expanding tax base (via both individual and corporate taxes enabled by cheap labor) is one way they can avoid a financial collapse. Hence Jefferson’s observation may be true in the general case but avoidable in some cases if the government is “creative” in the financing. But it may be that the dangers of massive illegal immigration are just as harmful as a standing army or a large debt.–Joe]