Thomas Sowell: Guests or Gate Crashers?

Creator's Syndicate ^ | March 28, 2006 | Dr. Thomas Sowell

[beaversmom]

And they didn't support us when it came to Iraq either. And didn't a whole stadium cheer about something related to 9/11? Were they chanting Osama? I can't remember.

[D1X1E]

Guest status will require them to register so we can then keep tract of them.

Requiring them to register won't work any better than requiring law abiding citizens to register guns. Doesnt keep criminals from having them. And these aliens are criminals as they broke the law just by coming here illegally. So..what makes you think they will register just because they are supposed to?

[dread78645]

I'd like to get her a Thomas Sowell book. Does anyone here have a favorite?

First:
Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy
Barbarians Inside the Gates.

Then any of his * and Cultures

[WatchingInAmazement]

Thanks for posting Dr. Sowell!

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

If we do not deal with it now, someday they will deal it out to us.

[savagesusie]

Thanks for posting Sowell's article. He is always great. The fact is that most people in the US want immigration laws enforced and illegals deported.

It is the media that covers up that fact and makes it appear that it is racist to want the laws of our country obeyed.

Also, the politicians are listening to the criminals, rather than the taxpaying citizens. It is a joke--we now have representation for the non-tax-paying illegals.

[goldstategop]

Nothing will get done. Our politicians are afraid of offending Hispanic voters and of their big business contributions getting cut off. So we'll have more gate crashers entering our national house uninvited. The ugly truth is we have no intention of enforcing our immigration laws. There are just too many toes serious enforcement would step upon.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[jeremiah]

phu## Rush/

[jeremiah]

My favorite part is Michael Medveds argument, "they own houses, and pay taxes" how can you tell them to leave?

If they own a house, they commited fraud, if they are paying taxes, they are commiting perjury.....both FELONIES.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

"How often have we heard that illegal immigrants "take jobs that Americans will not do"? What is missing in this argument is what is crucial in any economic argument: price.

Americans will not take many jobs at their current pay levels -- and those pay levels will not rise so long as poverty-stricken immigrants are willing to take those jobs."

I thought this today (having read Sowell's Basic Economics and Applied Economics). If we deported every illegal, whatever work they were doing would suddenly have a huge shortage of workers. Because of supply and demand, the rate of pay to do those jobs would go up -- up closer to what Americans need for their standard of living.

[Exton1]

And what if they don't?

[Exton1]

And what if they don't?

[cartoonistx]

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

In ten years what do we do with the 10 million new illegals? We sure as hell won't get rid of them. And we sure as hell won't have any legislators fighting for America, because all of these gate-crashers will be voting Democrats into office who sympathize with their "plight."

By the way, Reagan tried this in the 80's. It failed and that's why we're facing the issue again.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Read "Basic Economics" and "Applied Economics" (both by Sowell), in that order. If you only read one, then read Basics, as Applied goes over much of Basics but in more detail.

[wardaddy]

BTTT

Sowell doesn't have to worry about being called racist

not that he would care

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I agree for the most part. But I disagree with him on the issue of unlimited offshoring.

And, to be honest and risk being flamed here, I find his support of offshoring (even on-shore offshoring) to be incongruous with his argument against illegal aliens working low-lever jobs. According to his offshoring theory, the illegal aliens who are working here are actually creating more jobs at higher levels for Americans. We know they're not, but that's his argument in supporting programs like NAFTA and offshoring.

[Parrot_was_devastating]

If we don't want to deal with the problem no amount of semantic gymnastics such as "guest status" will have any effect. The problem will only fester and grow

Mexico’s Southern Flank: a Crime-Ridden “Third U.S. Border”

Excerpt:
The most notorious gang, often likened to the Crips and the Bloods of Los Angeles, is the Mara Salvatruchas, composed chiefly of former members of the Salvadoran army who have been deported from Los Angeles and other American cities. These tattooed hoodlums, who number in the tens of thousands, style themselves as “migrant hunters.” They rob, mutilate, and murder the illegal aliens who jump off northbound trains approaching checkpoints at night. Aliens remaining on the “trains of death” often clamor about the box cars, falling off or getting crushed in the wheels. The bloodthirsty Maras also carry out car thefts and kidnappings, according to a Catholic immigrant-aid committee.

[patj]

I liked the Search for Cosmic Justice.

[PogySailor]

Both "Basic Economics" and "Applied Economics" are excellent books. Easy for a non-economist to understand.

For more socioeconomic commentary, "The Vision Of The Anointed" is a good one.