here's tim kane, research fellow at the kaufman foundation. >> reporter: remember four months ago when a dozen new plans to tackle america's budget deficit were rolled out? there was president obama's bipartisan commission. there was the ryan plan, "the new york times" 16 experts plan. >> i think even lady ga ga offered a plan. and so what happened? let's be honest. the half-life of budget plans is about three news cycles. so here's a suggestion. stop making plans. rather than starting with details, the congress should start with a simple goal. rather, the law should force congress to simply have a goal. how about a one cent solution. cut one penny from every dollar that uncle sam spent last year. next year cut back another penny. the one cent solution would lead to budget surpluses in seven years. now the self-appointed grown-ups in washington call the one cent solution and the balanced budget amendment gimmicks. they're wrong. after decades of plan, red ink, repeat, voters should realize that detailed plans are excuses for inaction. that's my two cents. i'm tim kane. >> tom: finally

what we now have as the crystal clear data in the last several years largely funded by the kaufman foundation out of kansas city and augmented by others. two important findings that i hope you take you that will augment the even more compelling stories about people and families and the appreciation of the human situation and that is, first, 91% of those u.s. born workers in the united states from the 1990's to 2005 were better off because of the immigrant, both documented and undocumented, presence in the united states. their earnings were enhanced by about 2.7%. why? it's complicated and i'll send a link to the commission so you can look at the exciting charts and graphs and do that to your heart's desire. it comes down to a simple idea which is intuitive and you know it. the economy is not a fixed pie. when you expand the labor curve, a simple economist will say the price of labor goes down and we're all hurt. the more people that work here, the more people that are chasing jobs and we're all doomed. wrong. the expansion of the available labor force creates opportunities that did not exist