WHY BOSTON IS BAD FOR IMMIGRATION — A LACK OF TRUST: “A major problem for those who want an immigration bill is lack of faith in government to do all the jobs it’s set itself well. People don’t trust it to be able to execute—to do, adequately, the thing it’s set itself to do in its big new laws. We always look at the motives and politics behind a big bill, and talk about that. But simple noncrisis execution—the ability to track and deal with a Tamerlan Tsarnaev, or to patrol and control a huge border—is a big reason why which people lack faith. Because, you know, they read the papers.”

And it seems that the more the government focuses on peripheral things, from banning big gulps to attacking “distracted driving” or taking over health care, the less it’s able to perform at the most basic traditional responsibilities of government.