Politico: “President Joe Biden’s plan for greening the economy relies on a simple pitch: It will create good-paying jobs for Americans.
“The problem is there might not be enough Americans to fill them. That reality is pressuring the Biden administration to wrestle with the nation’s immigration system to avoid squandering its biggest legislative achievements.”
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*Politically*, I don’t see what the issue is. Pushing lots of money into a particular part of the economy that doesn’t really have enough workers will cause wages to rise sharply, which is exactly the sort of thing that Biden wants to happen. And it’s clear that (at least now), pushing for more immigration is politically toxic. Of course, the situation threatens Biden’s climate program, but it seems to me that Biden puts a lot higher priority on increasing working-class wages (especially unionized wages) than on improving the climate situation.
Interestingly, there’s a simple test: In Biden’s reelection push, how often is climate mentioned vs. how often are jobs and wages mentioned? Also, what do the polls say are the priorities of swing voters?
So ouch, I knew that the general public attitude toward immigration has taken a negative turn, and it’s obvious that Biden is sliding conservative to get an advantage for 2024. (The Republicans seem destined to nominate a culture warrior who progressives will consider an agent of Satan, so Biden doesn’t have to do *anything* to ensure the progressives vote for him.) But I see on 538 that the swing voters are a lot more conservative on these issues than I thought:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/why-is-biden-moving-to-the-political-center/
“Now, a lot of the people who disapprove of Biden are Republicans, and he’s never going to win most of their votes. But he could win over independents — and according to a February poll from Morning Consult/Politico, 43 percent of registered voters who identify as independent think Biden is too liberal.
“Some of these specific moves seem tailor-made to shore up his biggest weaknesses. According to a February poll from YouGov/The Economist, only 23 percent of independents approve of the way Biden is handling the issue of immigration. And only 21 percent approve of the way he is handling crime.
“And Biden probably feels comfortable moving toward the center because he’s confident in the support of his liberal base. According to that Morning Consult poll, only 21 percent of Democrats think Biden is too conservative. And even if that share increases after these moves, he’s got a long way to go before he’s in any danger of losing in a primary.”