Posted on 08/25/2006 5:27:28 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
It’s the question of the decade if not the question of the century: “Why is there such a disconnect between the political class and the people of the United States on the issue of illegal immigration?” The easy answers are that Republicans want cheap labor for their big-business contributors and Democrats see a near-limitless source of new votes.
Conventional wisdom rarely goes beyond that point, but really, labor and votes are mere surface issues. To some extent, and perhaps even unconsciously, our political elites seem to feel that many of their problems -- stuff like the recent Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal -- are really the fault of their constituents. Those darned voters sometimes organize, write letters, go on the blogs, and complain about high taxes -- sometimes they even vote a politician out of office. The nerve!
Perhaps a better class of constituents could be found that in time might begin to replace the whiners that our officials have to deal with now. You know -- a new type of voter that could be shaped into a perfect constituent that would never demand term limits or open government.
That’s the conclusion of Fredo Arias-King, who met privately with at least 80 members of Congress while handling public relations for then-candidate Vicente Fox in 1999 and 2000. The Harvard-educated Arias-King made 14 trips to the United States for Fox and attended both of the American political conventions. He says 90 percent of the officials that he spoke to wanted big increases in immigration. A few, he says, disparaged their white constituents calling them “rednecks” and apologizing for their views on immigration.
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
If some bring the issue up now, they either have an agenda or are not very thoughtful.
I have worked and prayed for decades for the dream of controlling the Presidency, the House, and the Senate, so that SCOTUS can be changed. It is THE MOST CRITICAL ISSUE OF THIS AND THE NEXT FOUR ELECTIONS. Ginsberg and Stevens will go, and then some of our own conservatives will be very old and in need of replacement.
We must have constructionist conservative President and Senate to appoint constructionist judges. That's the way it works.
True.
I'm no fan of Buchanan by far...but last I checked he was onboard with constructionist judges. Charles K. certainly has been and, no, he's not a social Christian conservative, but he shares the same committment to the Judiciary.
They did protest Miers but, heck, most of us did. They also got onboard with Alito.
That simply isn't a just charge against them.
As for immigration, last I checked the candidates in tough races were the ones bringing it up, not the media, and they were FOR stronger enforcement. Even some Democrats are trying to sound tough on the border in an effort to win. People are crediting santorum's resurgence partially to that issue alone, including Santorum.
Does the issue of amnesty engender friction among the people that typically vote for Republicans? Absolutely. Does mentioning it and standing for strong borders hurt the Republicans? No, otherwise the House wouldn't have latched onto it so strongly in an effort to avoid major losses this election cycle.
Deserved or not isn't the issue. The issue is whether this is time to start that food-fight all over again when the party is 2 months away from an election.
Indeed.
See #24
Yes. The food fight went away, imho.
We can check this by going to the "aliens" topic at the top of the page on Free Republic and simply counting the number of articles and posts on the subject now versus when at the height of the fight....roughly 6-9 months ago.
I guess I am a cheeseless cracker. (A Wisconsin Georgian?)
Actually, though, I'm a Buckeye....home of the preseason #1 Ohio State Buckeyes.
We'll murder the cheeseheads of Wisconsin.
It hurts with this republican. Because when I hear it, all I hear is veiled bigotry.
Somebody needs to shut Pat Buchanan up. He and Bay sure need election years to sell books.
I favor total closure of the border without any leaking anyplace.
I then favor worker permits for aliens who apply for them from their country of origin only. Any immigration application must come from the country of origin. (With the exception of political refugees fleeing for their lives.)
As you can see, I'm pretty hard-nosed on the issue.
I'm in favor of no congressional action now and in taking it up again after this election is over.
We cannot have a McCain or Giuliani become president. They will simply appoint more liberals to the bench. Scotus will look like clones of John Paul Stevens.
Never thougt I would have to say this to anyone outside of DUmmieland but...no matter how many times you repeat a falsehood it's still a falsehood.
Are you talking about the Buckeyes or about the number of articles on FR now versus then?
Fortunately the issue IS being discussed but the tone of the conversation is more in line with the Pence Plan which even Newt Gingrich favors.
I'm talking about your fantasy that the immigration issue went away. If we're going to play the keyword game "aliens" seems to be right there near the top. However if you want to say it doesn't exist, more power to ya.
Someday Washington will learn to respect the sleeping giant awakening......
It's no easy task to count all the "aliens" articles AND the number of posts they receive now versus then, but one can only say they have died down.
That's reality.
It's also reality that we are winning in Iraq. Slow but sure. The War and Judges are the most important issues facing this nation. (In fact, Judges are now wanting to run the war....making them the most critical issue requiring fixing, imho.)
We cannot lose this election because of infighting over an important, but lesser, priority.
I think our borders are more important that Iraq. That is part of the problem the administration has not come to grips with.
Yes, because like the President you apparently feel the majority of Americans that want the borders enforced are bigots.
And I could care less. The fact all you guys can do is cry "racist" and not refute the arguments is no more, no less, then what the Dems do. And I'm immune to being subdued by those tactics anymore.
When Americans start demanding people that speak Spanish or come from Latin America be denied VISAS because of their ethnicity and default language, then you can cry foul.
Until then deal with the fact that the people objecting would rather not repeat the mistakes of Europe, allow numbers of illegals to enter that cannot possibly be assimiliated in such large quantity (nor do many wish to do so at all).
Deal with the fact some of us recognize the moral corruption of anyone that views a human being as a "commodity" to be bought and sold for a pittance so they can save a dime.
Deal with the fact allowing massive numbers of uneducated and poor citizens within the country strains the U.S. taxpayer who has to pay for their education, medical services, their basic needs...
Deal with the fact that a people that do NOT swear alligiance to the same country will NOT put that country's needs first, and in so doing can jeopardize this nation's survival from within.
And deal with the fact that people coming across the border unchecked is a security risk in any age, more especially this one.
You call that bigotry. I call it common sense.
As for Buchanon, yeah, he's an anti semite and I personally wouldn't doubt he takes exception to people with "brown" skin whether Arab, Mexican or Spanish descent. But the person didn't alledge that. They alledged his agenda was to sabotage good judges, and THAT isn't true.
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