Posted on 11/18/2012 6:40:10 AM PST by dennisw
The networks had barely called the election for President Barack Obama before GOP elites rushed to embrace an amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Getting killed almost three-to-one among Latino voters understandably concentrates the mind, but it’s no reason to lose it. The post-election Republican reaction has been built on equal parts panic, wishful thinking, and ethnic pandering.
It’s one thing to argue that amnesty is the right policy on the merits. It’s another to depict it as the magic key to unlocking the Latino vote. John McCain nearly immolated himself within the Republican party with his support for amnesty and did all of four points better among Latino voters in 2008 than Mitt Romney did in 2012, according to exit polls.
What is the common thread uniting McCain, the advocate of “comprehensive” immigration reform, and Romney, the advocate of “self-deportation”? They are both Republicans supporting conservative economic policies. Surely that had more to do with their showing among Latinos than anything they did or didn’t say about immigration.
According to Census Bureau data, among native-born Hispanics, 50 percent of all households with children are headed by unmarried mothers. About 40 percent of all households receive benefits from a major welfare program. This doesn’t mean that the GOP shouldn’t try to appeal to persons in these households. It does mean that they aren’t natural Republican voters.
Latinos tend to have liberal attitudes toward government. Take health care. An ImpreMedia/Latino Decisions poll of Latinos conducted on the eve of the election found that 61 percent of Latinos supported leaving Obamacare in place. Sixty-six percent believed government should ensure access to health insurance. This might have something to do with the fact that 32 percent of non-elderly Latinos lack health insurance, about twice the national average.
In California, as Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute noted in the aftermath of the election, “Hispanics will prove to be even more decisive in the victory of Governor Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30, which raised upper-income taxes and the sales tax, than in the Obama election.”
These are facts that never intrude upon Wall Street Journal editorials scolding Republicans for supposedly turning their backs on budding new recruits. In the Journal’s telling, if it weren’t for Republican intransigence on immigration, Latino voters would be eagerly joining the fight for lower marginal tax rates and the block-granting of Medicaid.
A recent editorial invoked the welcoming attitude of Ronald Reagan. How much of the Latino vote did Reagan get? In his landslide of 1980, 35 percent. In his landslide of 1984, 37 percent. That’s better than Romney, but still a wipeout. Reagan signed the amnesty of 1986. What did it do for the party’s standing among Latinos? George H.W. Bush got only 30 percent of the Latino vote in his own landslide of 1988.
Republican donors with a disproportionate influence in the party would be perfectly happy to jettison the cause of immigration enforcement. They are fine with a flood of low-skilled immigrants competing with low-skilled American workers. And why shouldn’t they be? These immigrants don’t suppress their wages; they care for their children and clean their pools.
Whenever it is pointed out that illegal immigration tends to harm low-skill workers already here, the comeback is the scurrilous canard that there are “some jobs that no Americans will do.” But most hotel maids, construction workers, coal miners, and workers in meatpacking — all tough, thankless jobs — are U.S.-born. If it is hard to entice legal workers into such positions, here is a radical concept: Pay them more.
None of this is to deny that the GOP has a tonal problem on immigration, or that Latino voters care deeply about the issue. Absent a greater economic appeal to all working-class voters, though, it’s hard to see how a rapid, obviously opportunistic turnabout on immigration will help the party much. Amnesty isn’t a quick fix for the GOP’s problems. Would that it were.
— Rich Lowry
Right after 0zer0 won Sean Hannity came out for amnesty...the next time he was on radio
Mexico is pushing north at a furious pace---throwing its "pressure groups" over the border---salivating for reconquista---to takeover the SW--- financing and coaching their fifth column invasion of US borders.
The wailing and whining invaders' propaganda-----"just here for a better life, to do jobs Americanos won't do"---really "gets" bleeding heart sap-happy liberals.....and vote-crazed US politicians.
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AS FREEPER ISABELC INSIGHTFULLY POSTED: "Every illegal alien who is employed in the US has committed one or more of the following crimes: (1) ID Theft, (2) Document Fraud, (3) Social Security Fraud, (4) Employment (I-9 Form) Fraud, (5) Federal Income Tax Evasion, and, (6) Conspiracy to Violate Immigration Laws."
Republicans are losing their base in their effort to cater to people who shouldn’t even be here and who will not vote for a Republican anyway.
The Republican party is becoming the party of the stupid. I am ready to leave for anything with a chance of being heard. We need a two party system, but we don’t have one anymore, too many Republicans have happily defected, without actually leaving.
Flashback from April 2009: McCain Rebukes Hispanic Voters
John McCain sounds angry and frustrated that, despite the risks he took in pushing immigration reform, Hispanic voters flocked to Democrat Barack Obama in last year's presidential contest. McCain's raw emotions burst forth recently as he heatedly told Hispanic business leaders that they should now look to Obama, not him, to take the lead on immigration.
The meeting in the Capitol's Strom Thurmond Room on March 11 was a Republican effort led by Sens. McCain of Arizona, John Thune of South Dakota, and Mel Martinez of Florida to reach out to Hispanics. But two people who attended the session say they were taken aback by McCain's anger.
What began as a collegial airing of views abruptly changed when McCain spoke about immigration, according to these sources, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. Anonymity was also requested by a third source, who was not at the meeting but was told, independently of the other two, that McCain had displayed his notorious temper.
"He was angry," one source said. "He was over the top. In some cases, he rolled his eyes a lot. There were portions of the meeting where he was just staring at the ceiling, and he wasn't even listening to us. We came out of the meeting really upset."
McCain's message was obvious, the source continued: After bucking his party on immigration, he had no sympathy for Hispanics who are dissatisfied with President Obama's pace on the issue. "He threw out [the words] 'You people -- you people made your choice. You made your choice during the election,' " the source said. "It was almost as if [he was saying] 'You're cut off!' We felt very uncomfortable when we walked away from the meeting because of that."
COULDN’T..AGREE.....MORE.
This has exactly been my point all along. What good did the 1986 amnesty do for the GOP? It did nothing to shore up Hispanic support for the party. Why in the world would we do it again?
Many Republican officeholders easily demonstrate the saying of those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it.
Rich Lowry draws a line in the sand on immigration. I wasn’t expecting this, after that GOP brain trust that lost the election sounded like a liberal echo chamber on immigration. It’s heartening that NR is standing firm on this issue.
The Stupid Party will eagerly go along with amnesty. There’s a reason they’re called the Stupid Party. It IS time for another party.
bump
If an amnesty were to be implemented, it would mean that all “amnestied” illegal aliens would then be able to demand the full going rate for their labor, because their employers would no longer be able to blackmail them with threats of “La Migra”.
That, in turn, would generate demand for millions more illegal aliens to work for half-price.
Repeat as required.
Amnesty means goodbye Republican party!
I’ve got some bad news for the goobers in the GOP. They DON’T WANT amnesty and “citizenship”. Just make illegal aliens eligible to receive all of the freebies and handouts offered to the freeloaders by the U.S. government and they’ll be happier than Sandy Fluke in a condom factory. It’s the Communist DemocRAT party who wants them to be “citizens” so they’ll be eligible to vote. The illegals really don’t give a **** about citizenship. You can take that to the bank.
The GOP will never get the majority hispanic vote, illegal or illegal. Getting the Asian vote is questionable and is proportional to how many Asians feel they’ve been thrown under the bus by blacks and hispanics.
It’s simple. As long as history is taught by the government, and the MSM and entertainment media pander to hispanics, blacks and asians with the evil stereotype of the white man’s past (and that nasty, but unproven existence, of racial hatred for them by whites still extant), the GOP will continue to lose their votes.
An unpleasant fact, but nonetheless true in my opinion.
The Derb rules!!!!
What every illegal alien wants is legal residency here. The right to work here legally. A green card. You can get welfare and freebies with a green card. Later on maybe they want to become a citizen to bring in (legally) the rest of la familia. Only citizens can do this
Living here in Fresno, California I am reminded on a daily basis that as a white male I am in the minority and as a republican I am an endangered species. A majority of TV and Radio stations are Spanish speaking and Univision has more viewership than all three networks combined. The US Government has decided what kind of population demographic it wanted back in the 60’s. By supporting the poor Hispanic illegal and the American ghetto it has grown a population of people at the expense of the taxpayer. The Government has picked the winners and the losers. The fraudulent election of Obama is just a symptom of the disease.The country was lost along time ago but we are going to experience a slow painful death.
It’s the free stuff stupid. What do Hispanic American citizens care about whether Haitian or Chinese nationals living in America get amnesty?
HYPHENATE PRICE TAG---the price we are paying so that vote-crazed Obama and other desperate pols can get re/elected.
NOTE Conniving pols bury these programs within other programs making them difficult to find. Americans have been hammered with govt propaganda that it was the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting the US. Here’s the real reasons:
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8
2. $22 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary & secondary education for children here illegally and [usually] cannot speak a word of English.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt....0.HTML
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies (or as Terry Anderson says “JACKPOT” babies!)
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/ %20TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.CNN..com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt...01.HTML
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & socialservices by the American taxpayers.
Verify at: http://premium.cnn..com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01..HTML
9. $200 Billion dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI
10. In 2006, illegals sent $45 BILLION in remittances to their countries of origin.
Verify at: http://www/..rense.com/general75/niht.htm
11. The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One million sex crimes committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States.
Verify at: http: // www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR WHICH WOULD BE ENOUGH TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY FOR THE CITIZENS OF OUR COUNTRY.
PLUS!
1. The Earned Income Credit...money people get back on their taxes that they NEVER paid into in the first place! Illegal aliens, most of which pay zero in net taxes, enjoyed $4.2 billion from the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) last year. That’s more than the annual revenue from the selected oil tax deductions and corporate jet deductions combined!
Verify at: http://www.redstate.com/dhorowitz3/2011/09/02/illegal-aliens-receive-4-2-billion-in-additional-child-tax-credits/
2. The cost of prosecuting and making SURE the “rights” of illegals are protected by US laws madefor US citizens. In 2009, the U.S. Justice Dept filed nearly 92,000 pro-immigrant-related criminal cases in the federal courts. The record-breaker accounted for more than half of all new federal prosecutions, according to data maintained at Syracuse University.
Verify at: http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/search?q=federal+court+cases
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