Posted on 01/06/2004 8:18:02 AM PST by God is good
Were Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's Miami meanderings a gaffe, a trial balloon, an announcement of his department's policy, or an announcement of Bush administration policy?
We are entitled to know.
His shocking words were a broadside on current law: "We have to come to grips with the presence of 8 to 12 million illegal aliens, afford them some kind of legal status some way." He pointedly did not say we have to come to grips with 8 to 12 million people who have violated our laws by entering our country illegally, and further violated our laws by using fraudulent documents to get jobs and remain here.
Nor did he say we have to come to grips with the thousands of employers who are violating our laws by hiring illegal aliens, and violating additional laws by paying the illegal aliens in the underground economy in order to avoid our laws about minimum wage, overtime, workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, family leave, Americans with disabilities, payroll taxes, etc.
Ridge didn't elaborate on how he would award "some kind of legal status," nor explain how giving legal status is any different from granting amnesty. What part of illegal doesn't Ridge understand?
Continuing, Ridge said his plan is to "legalize their presence, then, as a country, you make a decision that from this day forward, this is the process of entry, and if you violate that process of entry we have the resources to cope with it."
But we've been there, done that. In 1986, the United States granted what was promised to be a one-time legalization - then honestly called amnesty. That sent a message to others to enter illegally and wait for the next amnesty.
The administrations of Presidents Bush I, Clinton and Bush II have flagrantly failed to use our resources "to cope with" those who afterward violated the "process of entry." And so the illegal-alien problem quadrupled.
Not only did the 1986 amnesty transform millions of illegal aliens into lawful permanent residents, but after they became U.S. citizens they could import their relatives. Congress never investigated how many additional millions entered the United States or the massive document fraud that was involved in the process.
The current President Bush was asked to clarify his policy. He responded: "I have constantly said that we need to have an immigration policy that helps match any willing employer with any willing employee.
"It makes sense that that policy go forward. And we're in the process of working that through now."
No, that does not make sense. First, it's an all-out repudiation of current law, and second, up to 5 billion people in the world might want to be "willing employees" in the United States.
Bush didn't limit the number of "willing employees." An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Mexicans every year cross illegally into the United States looking for work.
Thousands of these have died from thirst and dehydration in the desert or in locked vans, or from drowning, or from crimes committed by their smugglers. The Bush's administration's failure to close the border makes the payoff of getting into the United States worth the risk of death.
White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan repeated Bush's exact words and added, "Migration should be safe, orderly and humane." But Congress and the American people never authorized "migration." We only authorized immigration under certain laws.
Bush claims he is "against blanket amnesty," but "blanket" is his weasel word. He apparently is for amnesty for the 8 to 12 million illegal aliens already in this country.
Amnesty for illegal aliens comes disguised under various euphemisms. These include guest worker program, Mexican ID cards, the DREAM Act (to give in-state college tuition), driver's licenses, 245(i) visas, H-1B and L-1 visas, free hospital care, anchor babies, and "totalization," which is to give Social Security benefits.
Ridge says that illegal aliens in the United States should be given "some kind of legal status" because most are not a threat to national security. That's an irrelevancy. Most passengers who boarded those four fatal planes on Sept. 11, 2001, were not hijackers, but 19 of them were, and Ridge has no plan to separate the terrorists from the 300,000 or more who cross our borders illegally every year.
According to the Washington Post, Karl Rove is designing the White House plan and the president will present his proposal the second week of January, shortly before his trip to Monterrey, Mexico.
Asa Hutchinson, Homeland Security's undersecretary for border and transportation security, says the Bush and Ridge remarks simply reflect the ongoing debate in Congress over the immigration issue. If that's so, then it's time for Congress to hear loud and clear from the two-thirds of Americans, according to a Zogby International poll, who believe that foreigners residing illegally in the United States should not be allowed to stay.
In a word, no. We are a Constitutional Republic, not a direct democracy. We are a Federation of States, not a single unified polity. Given this such a national referendum is not in keeping with our Republic's organization and history.
And from "Viewpoint -- Sun Setting on Japan's Economy?" by Mark Gottlieb (IndustryWeek, 9/11/01):
"Japan's birth rate has been in steady decline for years, as women for the first time in the nation's history have begun to delay marriage and childbirth in favor of careers. Thus, the responsibility for repaying the massive government debt that is now being accumulated will eventually fall on the backs of fewer and fewer workers."
"As is true of many other industrialized countries, the Japanese are facing the hard realities of demographics, with increasing numbers of retirees about to hit the post just as the size of the working population falls. Economists and financial analysts estimate that public and private pension plans are underfinanced by as much as $800 billion, which means the government will have to step in to make up the difference. And that means even more deficit spending."
That's a perfectly valid point, but you must remember that a nation with a strong export economy almost by definition must be a nation with a lower standard of living than the countries where its customers are located. Since the United States currently has the highest standard of living in the world, we are not likely to gain a trade surplus anytime soon.
Wrong. Japan is a much more expensive place to live than the US, and if you speak with any Japanese, and suggest that their standard of living is lower than ours, you're going to find yourself speaking with a very offended, very indignant Japanese.
Japan remains an export economy, by the way.
Sad, but true.
For some odd reason, President Rove has annointed Vicente Fox with Golden Boy status. Mexico can do no wrong. Mexico must get what it demands, regardless of the costs to our nation.
1. Luxembourg $ 44,000
2. United States $ 37,600
3. Bermuda $ 35,200
4. Cayman Islands $ 35,000
5. San Marino $ 34,600
6. Norway $ 31,800
7. Switzerland $ 31,700
8. Ireland $ 30,500
9. Canada $ 29,400
10. Belgium $ 29,000
11. Denmark $ 29,000
12. Aruba $ 28,000
13. Japan $ 28,000
14. Austria $ 27,700
15. Australia $ 27,000
16. Monaco $ 27,000
17. Netherlands $ 26,900
18. Germany $ 26,600
19. Finland $ 26,200
20. Hong Kong $ 26,000
If you were to measure a nation's standard of living by the quantity of products and services its citizens enjoy relative to the citizens of other nations, I would venture to guess that the U.S. would be at the top of this list by a very wide margin. Even many people living at the poverty line in this country own things like cars, home electronics, satellite dishes, computers, etc. in numbers that exceed most of the world's countries.
Japan remains an export economy, by the way.
Which makes sense if their largest customer is the United States (or any other country above them on the list I provided). What makes this a little fuzzy is the way exports/imports may be tallied in Japan and the United States. A Toyota that is manufactured in Ohio and sold in California may be counted as a Japanese "export" even though it was built by U.S. labor and never left the United States.
We must oppose bilingual ballots. We need to insist that those who wish to take part in the electoral process and governance of this nation be required to read and comprehend basic English as a precondition of citizenship.
Sure thing...go ahead and bid against competition that uses illegals....
Let me know how it turns out
I got out of the construction business for many reasons...one was that in order to compete...you had to break the law...I said screw that
Dont give me your pie in the sky idealism...the American consumers vote with their bucks...I got burned out of so many contracts by guys who didnt pay comp, paid under the table etc etc etc...
Now go ahead and tell me Its guys like me that are ruining the economy...what a joke....
Americans vote with their bucks
Labor is never 'cheap' nor is it 'expensive'...it just is. If person A will do the job that person B is doing for a buck less an hour...how in the world does that equate to being 'cheap'?
Less expensive yes...but not cheap.
I suppose when you have a choice to buy an item on sale from store B or pay full price for the same item at store A, you go to store A and pay full price?
Simple market forces at work. Just like the American consumers that are faced with a choice when selecting a contractor to put in a new swimming pool. They will take the lower price 9 times out 10.
Don't blame me buddy...blame yourself and your neighbor.Please drop me a line when you run out and hire a Union Laborer for 40 bucks a smack to dig out your juniper bushes.
And like I said before, I got out, because the present situation sucks, and I am not interested in breaking the law, and less interested in getting busted.
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