Prometheus 6

John Tierney channels Steven Colbert channelling Lou Dobbs.

But first, more bad news from Washington. Despite my personal trip to Cancún for last week's summit meeting, President Bush remains hostage to foreign interests. My soaring ratings apparently mean nothing to the White House or the Senate Republicans working on an amnesty plan for the illegal immigrants now carrying Mexican flags through our streets.

Tonight's poll question deals with those protesters and where they get their money. As these reconquistadors plot to make California a province of Mexico, have they made a secret deal to turn the Los Angeles port over to an Arab company? Cast your votes at loudobbs.com. We'll have your answers later.

A report out today refutes the claims that the American economy benefits from immigration and free trade. If you're a regular viewer, you already know that's a myth. But maybe these figures will knock the rose-colored glasses off a few so-called mainstream economists. The new report, from the Minutemen Institute of Research Study Analysis, shows that previous cost-benefit estimates ignored three crucial factors:

• Since Nafta opened the border, the importing of cheap tortilla chips has worsened America's obesity epidemic by 475 million pounds.

• Intermarriage between immigrants and natives is expected to reduce the projected height of the average future worker, leading to a 2.4 percent decrease in earning potential.

• Americans lose 38.7 billion minutes of productive work time per decade sitting through telephone instructions to "dial 2 for Spanish."

Add in those costs, and the net loss to the American economy is $4.3 trillion. I can't say it often enough: there's nothing free about free trade.