W's Live Speech Thread

Fox News | 1-7-04 | my favorite headache

[My Favorite Headache]

Press conference starts at 2:45 EST....get the prilosec out...we are going to need it.

[TomServo]

Please cite CATO's thinking on this policy.

Nevermind - I've found it.

[Jennikins]

I personally know a Border Patrol agent who was transferred from San Ysidero to the Canadian border. I suppose that border is considered more "dangerous."

[Justin714]

"Life isn't fair."

You don't need to preach to me or anyone else about "life isn't fair"

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could appreciate what we have and stop whining so much?"

I don't think I'm whining here, and I do appreciate what I have. But what I appreciate much more than anything else is the rules of laws. These "illegals" came here illegally and should be treated according the laws of this country.

[heleny]

would this temporary worker card be standardized across the board, which means a non-citizen could NOT use it to establish residency and vote?

What exactly is establishing residency, anyway?

In CA, one can prove residence in the state with utility bills or a drivers license, which many nonresident aliens already have.

Voting requires citizenship (as well as residence in the particular voting district), however CA requires no proof of citizenship or even identity to register to vote or to cast a ballot. Indeed, noncitizens have registered and/or voted in CA's and other states' elections.

[ravingnutter]

There are ZERO illegal immigrants serving in the US military. ZERO! The requirements are quite strict, and aliens serving in the military must be legal residents of the United States. They are restricted as to rank and job assignments.

You only got the last sentence right...

April 2003 - As most people didn't know until a month ago, the military welcomes enlistment of non-citizens; more than 37,000 lawful permanent residents (green-card holders) serve in the military, where they account for about three percent of active-duty personnel.

There are certain restrictions. You have to be a citizen to become an officer or join certain units, like the Navy SEALs. And, depending on the branch of the service, non-citizens may only be able to serve for one term (Air Force) or for a maximum of eight years (Army).

Such limitations implicitly acknowledge the fact that a member of a republic's armed forces ought to be a citizen of that republic. The naturalization law reinforces this notion by abbreviating the residency requirement from five years to three for non-citizens on active duty. And the president last year exercised his statutory authority by issuing an executive order waiving the residency requirement altogether for people on active duty in time of war.

Center for Immigration Studies

[newcats]

Ain't no job Americans won't do.

For the right amount of $$.

[Phsstpok]

when I moved to California, I first applied for contructions pick up jobs , and house painting... employers laughed in my face... I was making $18 hour as a house painter in Michigan... they were paying $2 an hour to illegals for this work in Los Angeles....

Don't you suppose that if the temporary workers were "licensed," so to speak, that at least minimum wage laws would apply? Oh, and did you report the immigration and employment law violations that you observed these employers commit to the authorities and press? I bet you didn't bother. Too much effort to actually do something about it yourself. (if you did do something and were blown away by the authorities, my apologies for being flip - if you didn't, then think about it).

[Lady Eileen]

A Million American March or something!

A Million Angry American March or something!

[mrs tiggywinkle]

No amnesty, Willie. Please read Flyer's post showing the main points of Bush's speech. Thanks.

We were discussing living in shacks.

[sinkspur]

Most American's and most FReeper's do not support amnesty, open borders or a backdoor immigration policy that rewards illegal aliens.

If you don't like Bush's plan, write your Congressman and tell him to vote against it. Then we'll just be where we are now.

The idea that any president of either party is going to round up 10 million Mexicans and drag them back across the border is comic-book-stuff. Won't happen. Ever.

So suggest something that's based in reality to fix the problem.

[retrokitten]

This is not a time for making sense!!

BTW, I really liked your post.

[Rate_Determining_Step]

I just don't understand the unrelenting hostility towards immigrants, and particularly towards Latino immigrants.

Ya, I can't figure this out. Granted, I live in WA state and am not living through a big cultural change, but this doesn't make sense.

Some observations:

1. Lots of cultures. It's American.
2. Who gives a crank if you have to listen to a supermarket announcement in Spanish? Boo hoo.
   Go to little Havana and see how many O'Mally Avenues there are. Lots of Polish in Chicago. You can go for a while and not hear English there too.
3. I heard nothing wrong in with Bush said.
4. Everybody says he said "amnesty" - I heard no amnesty.
5. I have no horse in this race. I'm white - no latina/os in my family
6. Current immigration laws are not good. Penalize the honest and reward the bad. I see this as a step forward.
7. I don't firgure this will get one extra Hispanic vote - it's not about that. It's better for America.

Ya, I can't figure out the animosity against Hispanics here by some.

To you Buchannan trolls: Don't come at my conservative bona-fides. I've been here for 4 years. Favorite politician was Reagan and Phil Gramm. Want to trash the IRS. Full 2nd Amendment support. Against ALL 3rd trimester abortions - it's murder. Haven't seen a union I wouldn't want to bust. Take your Dixiecrat-think elsewhere.

[jwalsh07]

Whaddaya think amigo?

[SCalGal]

You are an exception, really. How many welfare recipients have the same attitude? I dare say very few. Why? Because some where along the way, they were led to believe that they are too good for those jobs, that those jobs are beneath them. And instead of adopting the mantra of hard work, they adopt the attitude of why bother.

Let 'em go hungry a bit, and they'd be happy to take those jobs.

[McGavin999]

They can't really enforce the laws that are on the books now because they haven't been enforced for decades. That will blow right through the courts and we all know it. By passing a new law everyone in the country will know that these are the new rules. Those who ignore the new rules will find themselves bankrupt and in jail. There will no longer be the excuse "everybody has done this for decades".

And yes, I think they mean it. This will be very easy to set up tracers on. They already have a reporting program for all new hires (to catch deadbeat fathers) and that can easily be used to cross check the guest worker database.

He also said that workers who violate the law will be returned to their home country and will never be permitted to re-enter.

[Hostage]

I have to interject here because your line of thinking is widespread and flawed. I have alot of experience in this area.

One of your arguments is that these present illegal or 'undocumented' workers pay taxes and hence deserve the benefits conferred on all taxpayers.

This is simply not true.

First recognize that the jobs these workers are performing are very low paying jobs yet most of these workers are are associated with families that are four times the size of the national average and that accounts only for nonworking family members.

For every $1 paid for by an illegal undocumented worker there are $4 used in social services by their spouses, children and parents. Most of these services are in the form of healthcare and education. Other drains on our social service budgets are in the form of legal, food and housing subsidies, and translators since these workers and their families seldom take the time to learn English.

Second, much of the pay that these workers receive in the USA is sent back to Mexico. This means in short that wealth is transferred out of the USA. Furthermore, these funds are used to make ready another group of 'undocumented' workers, and the cycle is repeated. Fifteen years ago The U.S. Government estimated the illegal population to be two million, now there are estimates of upwards of twelve million. It is a safe bet to conclude that this migration was paid for by American businesses.

What we have here is simply a transference of the impoverished class of Mexico (mostly) to North America. If everyone of them paid their way there would be virtually no opposition to their presence. But the evidence is overwhelming that they do not in fact pay their way.

Lastly, Americans today have a problem with these uninvited guests. That problem is that many of these uninviteds are not loyal to America and they have no motivation to adapt themselves or their children to American values.

I personally have witnessed the duplicity of their leaders, their alterior motives. They know there is political power in numbers. They know that political power is key to landing jobs, contracts and special rights. To that end, they are motivated to increase their numbers and to keep themselves culturally distinct.

I have met hundreds of legal immigrants especially from former Soviet bloc countries that have genuinely praised the USA for giving them an opportunity to live free. I have not seen a like response from those south of the border and that bothers not only me but millions of other Americans.

This latest demand is a big mistake.

[WackyKat]

But if some guy from Viet Nam for instance is better than the local offering being turned out by public school, tough luck to the American.

Thank you for proving Thomas Jefferson's axiom that "merchants have no country"

What he meant, of course, was that their true loyalty was only to money, not their nation, which made them worthy of contempt

[Scenic Sounds]

Well, with all due respect, I don't think that any proposal for decriminalizing the employment of illegal immigrants can have any effect (or purpose) but to increase the supply of workers who can legally compete for jobs in this country. The manifest purpose of such a proposal is to reduce the labor costs of some employers and some industries.

There are some benefits to be derived from depressing wages in this country - cheaper products for both export and domestic consumption.

There are also significant costs, though, that flow from depressing the wages of American workers. As just one example, I think that the existence of a middle class has been one of the important things that distinguishes this country from Mexico. I really hate to see us losing that.

[kevao]

I just don't understand the unrelenting hostility towards immigrants, and particularly towards Latino immigrants.

It's obvious you don't. Please don't confuse hostility toward ILLEGAL immigrants (criminals) with hostility toward legal immigrants.