Posted on 05/05/2006 12:31:02 PM PDT by Johnson99
Voters Reject Guest-Worker Plan
A new Zogby poll of likely voters finds that Americans prefer, by two to one, the House of Representatives’ enforcement-only bill to the Senate’s plan to grant guest-worker status. Sixty-four percent of Americans support the House bill, with only 30 percent supporting the Senate plan. Support for the enforcement-only approach by itself also proves to be widespread, with 81 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of Independents, 57 percent of Democrats, and 53 percent of Hispanics supporting the enforcement-only House bill.
Regarding legal immigration, this poll demonstrates that Americans want less - not more - immigration, with only two percent responding that current immigration levels are too low. The Senate plan, which would increase legal immigration from one to two million a year, appears blatantly at odds with the wishes of voters. Americans, through and through, do not think we need more people, not even for low-paying jobs. Seventy-four percent of likely voters think that there are enough Americans to fill low-wage jobs, if employers would pay and treat employees better.
What do these numbers mean? Most Democrats, President Bush, and many Republicans in the Senate are out of touch. This news could be particularly damaging for Democrats, given that a majority of their constituents generally supports an enforcement-only approach. It could also be damaging for certain Republicans (like Senators McCain, Brownback, DeWine, or Graham) who currently attempt to auction off citizenship for (unlikely) future votes. Senate Republicans ignoring their base on immigration will likely benefit Democrats this November. Many Republicans are so angry over the guest-worker proposal that they may vote third-party or not vote at all.
This poll is the first poll to ask the question - using neutral language - whether likely voters prefer the House bill (enforcement-only) or Senate (guest-worker) plan. This outcome interestingly depicts that despite all the pro-amnesty rhetoric in the liberal media, 64 percent of Americans still favor an enforcement-only approach. If we were to have a more balanced media, with more opponents of immigration allowed to speak, this number would possibly jump from 64 to 80 percent.
Although previous polls showed that more Americans may support a guest-worker plan, the wording of such polls proved at best questionable, at worst blatantly biased. Critics, however, have always been skeptical of previous polls, especially when almost every person you know - Democrat or Republican - says he wants the same thing: (1) no guest-worker plan, (2) a border secured by guards and a physical fence, and (3) a massive reduction in legal and illegal immigration.
----------------- Matthew A. Roberts is a freelance columnist whose recent articles are mentioned or appear at Washington Times, FrontPageMag.org, National Federation of Republican Assemblies, National Ledger, Reality Check, MichNews, The Post Chronicle, Daley Times-Post, American Daily, Capital Hill Coffee House, et al. He also maintains a weblog at www.conservatoroccidentalis.com
By the same token, I feel we should make sure to get all the information we can about the posters.
You game?
Wow!
About a week after I began using that term (in lieu of the uber-propagandized "illegal aliens"), and urging EVERYONE to use it (and explained why), I heard a "Republican Strategist" (whose name escapes me) use it on a Fox News interview show.
Now even a RAT is using it!
It has traction!
(I cannot forsee the day when any operative tries spinning it via propaganda such as "law-abiding criminal aliens"!)
Are you challenging the results of THIS poll?
Or are you merely engaging in the "shooting the messenger" logical fallacy?
Do you assert that the majority of American voters do NOT reflect the opinions measured via this poll?
If yes, do you have data of your own to SUBSTANTIATE that assertion? Or are you just blowing smoke up our pants?
And, if NO -- if you don't have any data that supports that assertion -- then why are you hammering us over the head with it? What makes YOU the annointed arbiter of what's best for the country? What gives YOU the right to impose YOUR will over that of the majority of Americans?
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