Thomas Lifson wrote a "right on the money" article about the intoxicating and damaging anger the Left currently experiences. I especially enjoyed the part where he pointed out, rightly, that the Left is bewildered by and hostile to the fact that someone they deem their intellectual inferior had the temerity to leapfrog over them (a charge they also leveled repeatedly at Reagan — a fact I know because I was one of the levelers in those days). As the 2006 elections near, I'm hoping this anger is sufficient to offset the fact that Republicans are rightly angered in their own way by Legislators who spend money like crazy and welcome illegals in with open hands.
Regarding the last, I still can't get over why all these politicians are pandering to people who can't vote, but that's another story. Apparently the mere sight of those rallies was enough to frighten our DC brethren, regardless of the absence of real political power, and despite the fact that real voters are increasingly disgusted by America's de facto open border policy.
Also regarding the illegal immigration thing (I'm riffing wildly here, aren't I?), I heard something very funny on a public radio station the other day. It was just a snippet, so I don't even know which show or, more significantly, who was doing the talking. On the anti-immigration side, I heard briefly from a representative named Mark, who had a lot of interesting numbers at his fingertips: Yes, illegal aliens do pay taxes, but the social services they suck up are far in excess of any taxes they pay. Yes, they do take low paying jobs but, in the process, they artificially deflate wages for all other Americans. Indeed, he said, if the illegal aliens were all sent to Mexico requiring the factory farms to pay legal residents slightly higher wages, it would cost each American about $7.00 per year — while providing real employment to legitimate workers. Additionally, not only are these illegals siphoning off way more than they're contributing in taxes, they're also sending money out of this country as fast as they can — to Mexico, where their hearts really are (as the flag shenanigans at the rallies accurately demonstrated). All fascinating and my head was bobbing up and down like a toy dog in the back window of a car.
Then, I got to hear the La Raza representative. No, she didn't argue with his numbers. But, she said, we need, we really need, to allow amnesty so that these people can have a good life. It's not fair for them to have to live in the shadows. At these point, I'm thinking, "They broke the law. It's entirely appropriate for them to live in the shadows, and it would be even better if they left the shadows here altogether for the sunlit land of Mexico."
Apparently I'm just not altruistic enough. La Raza's rep thinks these lawbreakers should be able to build a future in America. Why? No reason stated. It seemed to fall into the "just because" category. Doesn't La Raza realize that these vapid platitudes about illegal aliens are not selling points to a hard-working taxpayer like me? I'm all for immigration, but the legal way, with checks and balances to offset all the problems Mark properly identified.
Aside from all this piffle and twaddle, I also think it's an appalling thing that the very first thing these "immigrants" do as they set foot in America is break the law — and then get forgiven. La Raza would do better turning its attention South of the Border, and trying to improve the Mexican body politic, and the Mexican economic system, so that these people can find what they're looking for there, instead of coming illegally here.
Talking to Technorati: Anger, Democrats, Immigration, Illegal aliens
Filed under: Democrats, Immigration
The same problem here is the same problem with how the US deals with terroists.
You have to provide a reason to people to go with you and not the other guy. You just can’t say “Do this, cause we wrote it down”. That’s not going to work.
If you want to stop something, but you limit the methods you want to use, then it’s either going to take longer or require more sources for you to stop or slow what you want.
The question is, who pays the price?
I think one of the most serious problems with modern civilization is the fact that there aren o electronic tracers in money. What I mean is that any tax payer can pay taxes, and then say “my money goes for this programs”. Technically, it doesn’t have to be YOUR problem, it could be like 1 cent. Or paid fully by other people’s money.
YOUR money exists as electronic funds or as paper, sitting somewhere. So where is it and where does it go? Nobody knows, there are no fedex or ups tracking numbers for currency. And that’s a problem.
It prevents a full accountability.
The dirty little secret south of the border is that the billions of gringo dollars remitted back to Mexico prevent any social, economic or political progress in that country. Ten million of their countrymen are shipped north; Mexican elites prosper, and have the luxury of kicking Uncle Sam in the shins from time to time too, just to show independence from The Gringo.
The sending of money out of the country is an important aspect to the economy question. I know that the lack of foreign currency in Briton when the Legions left, destroyed Briton’s economy. So I can’t really see how there is more benefit to having illegal workers when they send the currency out of the US, improving the Mexican economy.
Why does Fox not care how many Mexicans get raped and killed traveling to the US? Cause they’re bringing in the money, so rich and powerful blokes like him can get US luxuries. This is the same for Indonesia I think, where President Arroyo kept talking about the people who work overseas like in Iraq, as a bunch of idiots and low class refugees, and then suddenly it is like “we love foreign workers” when one got taken hostage.
Not too relevant.
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Ahh, this issue seems to be all the rage.
1) The two guests are really speaking past each other. But that’s to be expected when one of the guests is a La Raza representative. I found this article (http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2002_04-06/fonte_ideological/fonte_ideological.html)very insightful in providing context for the recent debate. Basically, the Dems are adopting a transnational progressive worldview; they’ve moved beyond the outmoded ways of thinking about identity as somehow intertwined w/ nationality. We’re all members of the world community. Seen in this light, of course these poor folks need amnesty.
2) La Raza is a kookookoo organization that has, as an official plank on its charter, the goal of re-annexing the parts of the United States that were formally Mexico. It is shameful that Dems/Libs treat this group as anything other than the kooks they are, but shameful behaviour is par for the course for the left. As conservatives, we need suffer no such idiocy and should call it out when confronted by it.
“Indeed, he said, if the illegal aliens were all sent to Mexico requiring the factory farms to pay legal residents slightly higher wages, it would cost each American about $7.00 per year — while providing real employment to legitimate workers.”
Right on. When we’ve done that, let’s move to force the US corporations that sent hundreds of thousands of our high-paying, high-skilled factory jobs down to Mexico over the past few years to bring those jobs back to the U.S. I myself would rather be sitting on an assembly line in an air-conditioned factory than bent over ten hours a day, picking chemical-laden strawberries under a 105 degree sun. The benefits are better too, and there’s not much room for job advancement in a strawberry field.
BTW, where’s Briton? I looked it up in the dictionary and it said “No entry found.”
I clicked to http://www.americanthinker.com to enjoy my usual
afternoon delight of reading, and it isn’t there. No matter
how I try to loop around to it, how I try to link to it,
I can’t get the AmericanThinker Homepage and today’s
articles.
Please let Mr. Lifson know about this!
Thanks.