Posted on 01/18/2007 9:13:50 AM PST by WatchingInAmazement
As the immigration debate resumes on Capitol Hill, Americans will hear everyone's voice _ except theirs.
Labor unions, big business, chambers of commerce, university think tanks, religious organizations, social-service agencies, La Raza _ all support liberalized immigration policies, including amnesty. The only "debate" is over how many illegals get a pass to citizenship and how fast.
Democrats promise to pass a "comprehensive" (i.e., generous) package that will be even more wide open than the one approved by the Senate last session.
If lawmakers make good on their pledge, the Heritage Foundation figures that 67 million more foreigners will enter the United States in the next 20 years. That surge surely excites multiculturalists and capitalists eager for an endless flow of cheap labor.
But Americans have a different desire.
In opinion poll after opinion poll, U.S. citizens say they want less immigration, not more. They want existing laws enforced, not nullified.
When given a choice of immigration "reforms," two out of three respondents to a survey by The Polling Company last fall favored the House-passed bill that tightened immigration quotas, strengthened border controls and toughened workplace enforcement. Only one in three supported the leaky version Sens. Mel Martinez, Ted Kennedy and John McCain cobbled together.
Among the other sentiments expressed by surveyed voters:
_ 79 percent agree that "legalizing illegal immigrants would only encourage more illegal immigrants to come to America."
_ 65 percent say quality of life will suffer if the nation's population grows by more than one-third in the next 50 years (the projection if immigration is not controlled).
_ 62 percent say media coverage of immigration is superficial and unbalanced.
This last point is worth examining, because it helps to explain the disconnect between public opinion and lawmakers' actions.
We've known for some time that business wants loose, unenforced immigration laws. From big flag-waving outfits like Wal-Mart and Home Depot to Joe Blow's Stucco & Drywall that hires day laborers off the streets, companies will do just about anything to keep the mojo going. It's just business.
Meantime, American workers, especially younger ones on the lower rungs of the job ladder, find their paychecks and employment opportunities shrinking. And, of course, every taxpayer gets to pick up the tab for the rising social costs that bottom-feeding employers shove off onto the public.
This is no surprise. Even Karl Marx understood that capitalism thrives on surplus labor. The cheaper, the better.
But what is surprising is how the national media fail to responsibly report this. See if you agree or disagree with the following statement:
"Media coverage of illegal immigrants is mostly devoted to human-interest stories like how illegals risk their lives to enter the country or their lives once here, rather than the costs they create and the Americans who may be harmed by their being here."
As noted above, 62 percent of the national poll's respondents agreed with that description. Whatever mainstream media you read, hear or view, you're probably nodding as well.
Politicians, like the rest of us, are influenced by what they see. As long as news outlets regurgitate a diet of fluffy "human-interest" stories and pro-immigration essays, congressmen can continue to do the bidding of corporate campaign contributors while paying only lip service to the public's wishes.
Illustrating this double-speak, Congress last year authorized construction of a fence along 700 miles of the Mexican border. But it did not fund the project. Though the Senate voted 83-16 to build the barrier, it's now declared dead.
Few in the media bother to expose such chutzpah. Even fewer mention, let alone explain, the historical context and social ramifications of the ongoing, unprecedented illegal influx into this country.
When editorial pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal eerily echo the cause of illegal aliens _ and slander immigration critics as bigots (if they're acknowledged at all) _ Washington's Democrat-Republican duopoly receives ample political cover.
From our jails to schools to hospitals, there are serious issues to be reported about immigration's fiscal and societal impacts. But it takes effort to follow the money and divulge inconvenient truths.
It's so much easier (and politically correct) to trot out a hapless immigrant and tell another tale of victimhood, racial profiling or successful "grassroots" activism (like campaigns that have led 17 states to allow voters, e.g., illegals, to cast ballots with no identification).
All the while, craven politicians count their corporate cash and enjoy softball coverage as they pander to the much-touted "Hispanic vote." No wonder your voice isn't heard, or heeded.
(Kenric Ward is opinion page editor of the Vero Beach Press Journal. E-mail ken.ward(at)scripps.com)
you wrote "One reason the GOP lost in 2006 is precisely because a good number were more concerned about earmarks than using their ears to listen to voters concerns."
then I wrote "Money talks and bull$hit walks.
Or by the golden rule, he who has the gold rules.
We can't raise a crummy 70k for the freepathon and you think the congress should listen to us.
Thanks for the laugh.
And that is what I responded to - that the GOP has themselves largely to blame for their losses. That has nothing to do with FR's relative ability to raise funds. FR was NOT goading the GOP to load up bills with earmarks and cavort with Jack Abramoff.
If staytrues' comment was sarcasm, I appologize, but from his history it was not.
Posted by staytrue to weegee On News/Activism 01/10/2007 8:26:41 PM PST · 190 of 245
"Most illegals make more than min. wage. What makes them desireable is that they work hard, they show up for work, they don't have an attitude, they don't have drug problems, they are a flexible work force in that you can hire and fire easily, they won't sue you for some stupid crap."
"You probably do since you seem to not have any concern about an illegal alien invasion.
....
Your and George Bushs concerns, whatever that may be."
He was being sarcastic... ;)
Oh BTW, nothing illegal going on here, so heed your president and congress and move along.
Once you receive your surrender flag, please report to the nearest illegal and give him or her your wallet or your purse, your automobile keys and automobile, and the keys to your home.
You'll have to get used to being without money, food, a car, and a place to sleep.
But remember, our president and congress isn't going to tell we citizens where to apply to be an illegal?
Why do you advocates say that Americans of Hispanic origin oppose enforcing the law?
Why do you advocates feeeeeel that Americans of Hispanic origin will not vote for your Party if the immigration laws, ID theft laws, document fraud laws are enforced?
Sorry, the pittance of a thousand dollar fine and filing back "taxes" (filing for earned income tax credit checks, that is) just won't do. NOT WHEN two border agents are off to do major time for document fraud and lying.
Why do citizens pay and ILLEGALS get away?
And about those tens of thousands of businesses doing the ILLEGAL hiring. . . .
The voters, of course, welcomed this.
We had the House produce a very good bill. One the media, of course, torched, which alone should tell you its golden.
Going more conservative would have solved this problem. Giong to the left is, of course, going to make it worse.
ping
| We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking nations in the world. We're a major source of Latin music, journalism and culture. Just go to Miami, or San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or West New York, New Jersey ... and close your eyes and listen. You could just as easily be in Santo Domingo or Santiago, or San Miguel de Allende. For years our nation has debated this change -- some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America. As I speak, we are celebrating the success of democracy in Mexico. George Bush from a campaign speech in Miami, August 2000. |
Here is an excerpt of a good critique of that speech:
In equating our intimate historic bonds to our mother country and to Canada with our ties to Mexico, W. shows a staggering ignorance of the civilizational facts of life. The reason we are so close to Britain and Canada is that we share with them a common historical culture, language, literature, and legal system, as well as similar standards of behavior, expectations of public officials, and so on. My Bush Epiphany By Lawrence Auster
I strongly suspect that last year's House bill was a direct result of the public debate raging here on FR over the previous two years.
I know for a fact that we had input...
You're darned right we did. I think that's why they tried to ram it through quickly - so it would be done before everyone knew what hit them. There still seems to be a definite backlash against illegals - so why is there no momentum politically?
At least until citizens of all walks of life become outraged about how their quality of life is affected by the dual-standards, solidification of "political correctness" and the forced injustices that will result from taking that path. Adopting unproven "feel-good-about-ourselves" policies over current law and the principles behind them threatens to insure the self-destruction of our nation. It's bad enough that 1960's radicals have become the overseers of our childrens' educations in all institutions of higher learning...now we have government itself needing correction at a time of all-time-low voter apathy.
I cited how those in bureaucracy ride along under the radar immune to the people's power, arrogantly making policy for their perpetuation over what's best for our nation. This un-voted for part of government is making it's grab for power now and our sovereignty and freedoms are in peril if this isn't recognized and corrected.
Bump
Your tagline inspires me, it's the first time I've seen that quote. (Hey, don't blame me, it was that public education thing...lol.)
My imagination goes wild when I think of what will happen when man can control the past, the present, AND the future. Maybe that's total control of the planet! How awesome would that be?
I'm just not altogether sure that it can be done without the ability to change one's perspective as well.
When will the dinosaur media and the dinosaur educators wake up and realize that it is not in our diversity, but in our SIMILARITY, that we will all become One Nation Under God? I pray with all I am that it'll be soon. May the scientists come together with God's preachers and His flocks for they are All seeking TRUTH but haven't yet figured that they need one another to find it.
Wouldn't truth be a refreshing change? Now If only Ronald Reagan were around to tell it. (I really miss that guy).
Are you quoting Bush?
sw
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