Free Republic

The good news for Jeb Bush is that he’s the perfect candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. The bad news is that he’s the perfect candidate in the year 2000. That’s the counterfactual scenario that most Bush-watchers have spun over the years. Had Jeb won the 1994 race in which he first pursued Florida’s governorship, the theory goes, it would have been him rather than his older brother who became the GOP’s standard-bearer in 2000. Instead, Jeb narrowly lost the ’94 race to Democrat Lawton Chiles, George W. won his contest in Texas in the same year and the younger...

A week after protesters filled San Antonio streets to support the rights of millions of immigrants, the city's new police chief spoke out against the use of local police departments to enforce federal immigration law. [. . .]At Monday's editorial board meeting, McManus indicated the federal government has not adequately managed illegal immigration. He said he has often spoken against proposals that would make local municipalities responsible for implementing immigration statutes, an opinion echoed by San Antonio Police Officers Association President Teddy Stewart. [. . .]If forced to implement certain immigration laws, McManus said, "crime will skyrocket." He forecast an...

"House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that the House will produce another immigration and border security bill this Congress and will have to pass that bill before turning to a guest-worker program. ...He said the House has received the message that immigration is "an incredibly important issue to the American people." ...Mr. DeLay said more security measures are needed and that the government has to prove it can enforce immigration laws before voters will be willing to accept a guest-worker program. He said the House will act on the issues in that order. "We'll probably have a law-enforcement-type bill,...

REP. David Dreier was in the district last week, pitching his plan to put faces and electronic signature strips on Social Security cards to help employers stay on the immigration straight and narrow. His proposed Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act, however, have some folks crying "Big Brother.' Indeed, while the Glendora Republican denies the card is a national ID, it would eventually be required for every American and would identify that person at least to prospective employers. Dreier notes that the card doesn't qualify as identification because it won't have to be carried at all times. That...

December 11, 2002 If the government cannot control the documents it issues, what is the point of issuing more documents, such as a national identity card? Last week, U.S. Attorney William S. Duffey Jr. announced the arrest and indictment of Social Security Administration employees in Atlanta for selling Social Security numbers to illegal aliens. The U.S. Attorney's Office described the scheme as a large and lucrative business run by the 28 defendants. A Social Security number is an important identification document. A person with a Social Security number can easily create an American existence for himself. If an illegal alien...