they are overly taxed and not undertaxed. >> economists estimate $2 trillion worth of income goes unreported each year and that affects the legitimate economy. it's hard for business to pay by the rules if competitors aren't paying payroll taxes or compensation to employees in the event of injury. and they have no benefit or social security and no legal resource if their boss decides to stiff them. >> what we really need to do is say, okay, it's illegal absolutely but a lot of people have the ingenuity and creativity and power to innovate. if that's where they are going, we want to help them come back into the mainstream. >> something efforts say will be difficult to do. we're talking about an extra $500 billion worth of lost tax revenue. that's a huge amount of money. when you think of what the country is going through with the sequester and spending cuts, that 500 billion could go a long way. >> very interesting. of course bringing that labor force into the mainstream would give them benefits they don't have now. even as we talk about immigration reform and shadow economy and immigration r

they are overly taxed, not undertaxed. >> economists estimate roughly $2 trillion worth of income goed each year and that lost revenue affects legitimate economy. it's harder for businesses to play by the rules if their competitors aren't paying payroll taxes or compensation to employees in the event of injury. workers in the shadows have no benefits or social security, and no legal recourse if their boss decides to stiff them. >> what we need to do is say, okay, it's illegal, absolutely, but a lot of people have the ingenuity, creativity, the power to innovate. if that's where they are going, we want to help them eventually come back into the mainstream. >> something experts say will be difficult to do. we are talking about an extra $500 billion worth of lost tax revenue. that is a huge amount of money. it's the gdp of sweden. when you think about what this country is going through fiscally, the sequester, $85 billion worth of forced spending cuts, that $500 billion could go a big way. >> it would give them the legal protections they need that they don't have now. and benefits, talk