For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: U.S. population will soar to 438 million by 2050:
The U.S. population will soar to 438 million by 2050 and the Hispanic population will triple, according to projections released Monday by the Pew Research Center...The projected growth in the U.S. population — 303 million today — will be driven primarily by immigration among all groups except the elderly...By 2030, all 79 million boomers will be at least 65 and the elderly will grow faster than any other age group...New immigrants and their children and grandchildren born in the USA will account for 82% of the population increase from 2005 to 2050...There will be 72 young and elderly for every 100 people of working age by 2050 compared with 59 in 2005. The gap would widen more if immigration slows because immigrants tend to be of working-age, the report said.
This raises some important questions: First, given these populatation projections, how can America afford Social Security and Medicare in their current form, let alone the universal healthcare plans of Hillary or Obama? Second, isn't that last bolded sentence a death knell for immigration reform?
