Tom's response to this is here:
To: Interested Parties
FM: Tom McClintock
RE: "Fabricating a Statistic in the Immigration Debate" by Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2004
DT: May 24, 2004
The Los Angeles Times today published a column by Michael Hiltzik questioning the accuracy of statistics I cited in a recent commentary concerning in-state tuition fees for illegal immigrants.
I am enclosing my response.
Letter to Los Angeles Times Business Editor:
May 24, 2004
Mr. Rick Wartzman
Los Angeles Times Business Editor
202 West 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Mr. Wartzman:
I am enclosing a copy of a response that I have submitted to a column published by Michael Hiltzik in today's Business section.
I want to add a copy of an e-mail that Steven Boilard of the Legislative Analyst's Office sent to Mr. Hiltzik directly today, confirming what he had told Mr. Hiltzik last week when asked about the accuracy of the information I had released. Specifically, Mr. Boilard writes: "As you recall, I told you that there were no firm numbers out there (due to various data limitations), but that I thought his (McClintock's) numbers were in the ballpark of what we thought was reasonable. I told you that we had developed some rough estimates in response to various requests in the past."
Mr. Hiltzik was in possession of this information when he reported, "But that office (LAO) says it has never produced any such numbers."
I leave it to your judgment whether this meets the ethical standards of the Los Angeles Times.
Sincerely,
Tom McClintock
Enc.: Memo from Steve Boilard to Michael Hiltzik, May 24, 2004
Cc: Los Angeles Times Readers' Representative
Letter to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times:
May 24, 2004
Letters to the Editor
Los Angeles Times
202 W. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
VIA FACSIMILE: 213-237-7679
Michael Hiltzik's column of May 24 accuses me of fabricating facts when I contended that roughly 7,500 illegal immigrants are receiving subsidized university educations while we are turning away a like number of qualified residents.
Most glaringly, Mr. Hiltzik reported that the Legislative Analyst's Office disavowed "any such numbers." In fact, Mr. Hiltzik was informed by the Legislative Analyst's Office last week that the numbers I cited were within the range of their estimates. Indeed, the statistics I used -- and the column itself -- were submitted to the LAO prior to publication to verify the accuracy of the numbers and the estimate was confirmed by that office. And Mr. Hiltzik knew it.
In my interview with Mr. Hiltzik, I also pointed out that the estimate of 7,500 students is quite consistent with an estimated cost of $63.7 million used by Gov. Gray Davis when he vetoed the first bill extending the in-state tuition subsidy to illegal immigrants in 1999. At least one staff analysis written in 2001 also used this figure - citing proponents of the measure.
I appreciate that Mr. Hiltzik has a political point of view quite different from mine and I respect an honest debate over our differing policy positions and the data that supports them. But accusing me of fabricating statistics - while ignoring facts presented to him -- is unfair, untrue and unworthy of a professional journalist.
Sincerely,
Tom McClintock
State Senator, 19th District
In south LA (just go out the front door of USC and head south on Vermont), there are thousands and thousands of young, unemployed black people. They will never get entry level jobs nor the training available while working an entry level job. Most are not dumb, criminal or unmotivated. It is just that illegal criminal Mexican river swimming aliens have invaded our country and taken almost all the low level jobs.
That's the obvoius part. The not so obvious part is that the Mexicans will acclimate nicely and use this illegally gained experience to better position themselves in the next generation. Thus, they will use the education and work experience to leap frog blacks. And, we will have racial problems into the future.
We must stop or control the flow of illegals into our country.
That's like asking whether it's higher than the bottom of the ocean. (And still it fails even that low threshold, doesn't it?)
See, during the run-up to the Davis Dumping recall election last October, the LA Times ran story after story PRAISING McClintock, because the Times sensed that, by doing so, they would hurt Schwarzenegger's poll numbers; the Times believed that Schwarzenegger was The Real Threat. (Of course, the Times also ran plenty of puff pieces on Davis and Bustamante, and bashed hell out of Schwarzenegger.)
But now? Now that McClintock isn't in a position to draw votes FROM Schwarzenegger, and instead is largely allied WITH him (and having Schwarz. speak at McClintock campaign kickoffs)? Now the Times turns on McClintock -- the facts be damned.
Thanks for posting!
Oxymoron.
ping
First some facts:
1)Beginning in March 2003 over 50% of the babies born in California were classified as Hispanic.
2) From the turn of the century until WWII Hispanics represented a stable 15% of California's resident population and their birth rates were on a par with the bulk of the state's population.
3) From WWI until the 1970's their were increasingly larger numbers of Mexican migrant laborers in California, principally agricultural laborers but their numbers were not factored into the population since they were substantially adult males who used no public services and returned to their home in Mexico each fall.
4)It was the incorporation of illegal immigrant labor into the services industries in the 1980's that caused these laborers to stay in this country, sneak their families into the country after securing full time employment in the services industries and have children which are questionably US citizens.
5) Birth rates among recent Mexican immigrants is more than twice the rate of the rest of the population.
Based on these few factual premises it is conservatively estimate that approximately one third of the school age population in California today is a consequence of illegal immigration. This translates to tens of thousands of students who are a consequence of illegal immigration, who enter our state supported post secondary educational system in California each year paying resident tuitions.
I wish McClintock had addressed the greater issue but we have to start somewhere if we wish to cripple that beast and drive it from our shores.