34 percent of legal Mexican immigrants are on welfare right now.
25 percent of illegals are as well.
This number will rise with the amnesty.
Most illegals are willing to work hard, but as the numbers prove, millions are not.
Posted on 01/08/2004 3:34:13 PM PST by kellynla
I am beginning to think John McCain actually won the presidency in 2000.
Conservatives were relieved when the Straight Talk Express petered out during the 2000 primary season. John McCain, although tough on national security and runaway spending, was hardly a conservative on major issues such as campaign finance, healthcare reform and immigration.
Yet this is exactly where we find President Bush today (except unlike McCain, Bush doesn’t seem to have much of a problem with runaway spending). Last year President George Bush signed the McCain-Feingold bill into law, which is one of the worst assaults on political speech this country has ever seen. When conservatives (and many liberals) howled, the President’s advisers whispered that they believed the Supreme Court would “clean up” the more onerous parts of the bill which dictates the types of political ads that can air before a general election or primary contest. Of course the Supreme Court rubber stamped the entire thing and so the result is less, not more political speech in the U.S.
And now President Bush charges across the landscape to rescue us from our “unfair” and “broken” immigration system by rewarding people who came here illegally with the promise of legal status. This proposal essentially mirrors the immigration legislation sponsored by—you got it—Sen. McCain. Under the Bush/McCain plan, anyone outside the U.S. who wants to come into the country would only need to show proof of a “job offer” in order to get an initial three-year work permit that would be renewable for an unspecified period. Such temporary workers could also bring family members here. What prevents these people from staying on beyond their time premitted for "temporary" work? As it stands now, there seems to be no limit on the immigration —temporary or permanent— allowed under this plan. And as for the claim that this would be a big boon to the American economy? Illegal immigration costs taxpayers $20 billion each year, in extra education, healthcare, welfare, and prison costs. Today thirty-four percent of Mexicans legally in the U.S., and 25 percent of Mexicans illegally here are welfare.
How are those costs diminished under the Bush plan?
Most bewildering is the Administration idea that this plan is necessary for homeland security reasons. On the contrary, it would not be surprising if some would-be terrorists are among the millions of illegals who will become “documented” under the Bush plan. As Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) charged, "Guest worker programs and gradual amnesty provide cover for terrorists."
It’s easy to understand why Vicente Fox, McCain, big business, and La Raza are happy this week—but what’s in this new proposal for working class American families? How about those immigrants who a lot of time and money to comply with our immigration laws?
The real answer is absolutely nothing. The only reasonable prediction is that wages for a wide range of jobs will be kept artificially depressed by outside workers—now with “legal status” will work for peanuts. “I have worked construction for 30 years as a truck driver (18-wheeler),” wrote one of my listeners, “And every year my pay has gone down because Mexicans are flooding the trucking industry…."
When Bill Clinton says we live in an “increasingly borderless world,” we’re not surprised. It’s the usual globaloney blather. But when a Republican president advocates a policy that will make our borders effectively meaningless, we should be outraged.
With his approval numbers high, President Bush has made a devil’s bargain with business and Hispanic groups. Elites from both parties are ignoring the view of a strong majority of Americans that we need to stop illegal immigration, not high-five it.
Another listener wonders: “What happened to the ‘party of principle’? More like the party of pandering. Considering the massive numbers involved, this amnesty being floated really is Pandora's Box, once opened cannot be closed.”
President Bush has now done the equivalent of posting a sign at the border: “Help Wanted for $5.15/hour.”
Conservatives are right to be disappointed in President Bush. We are right to ignore the Administration’s promise that this time, non-amnesty amnesty will be good for the American people. Our citizenship and legal residence should be reserved for people who love this country enough that breaking her laws—whether at the border or on the street—is out of the question. The next time I hear from his Administration that it is doing all it can to protect our homeland, secure our borders, and increase our standard of living, I will laugh.
Now I know the definition of “compassionate conservative:” a person who campaigns as a conservative, then sells out key conservative principles.
I like what I see too. I've had enough of Bush's "compassionate conservatism" and spineless Republicans. Time for a change.
Oh really?
How strong has Bush remained in that select community of voters?
I tend to agree with you. GWB is out in no-mans land on this one. The left says he hasn't gone far enough and most conservative says he went too far.
Maybe he's just trying to get more of the soccer mom vote.
Don't you think it is odd that this aspect was not part of the plan. There was no mention of penalties for not using the "new" work visa's. So therefore I contend that illegal workers will continue to work as illegals to avoid having to pay Uncle Sam while the new visas will be used for higher paying jobs that typically require a work visa.
Maybe because they didn't have machine guns?
(don't forget we have a wide open border to the north!)
If you can build one wall, why not two?
There is no doubt that Bush needed every vote in Florida to win that state. Panhandle or Miami.
I wonder if Bush actually carried Florida by a much bigger margin but voter fraud by democrats made it look much closer. We had problems with democratic voter fraud here in St. Louis which may had been a factor in a couple of races that year.
Same here. All I think this will do is to encourage more people to enter this country illegally hoping to get in on this deal.
I would guess that if any group of people who would be angry at GWB is the legal immigrants who waited in line and followed the rules.
Why don't we just hire the illegals to guard the border, cheaper huh?
And just how many of those have been prevented? Hmmm?
D@mned straight. I have a SS card in my wallet issued to me more than 50 years ago. I also have a birth certificate, and it only cost me $3.00, of course it is a legal one.
Bingo, and Bump
Admit it, you are really Karl Rove right?
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