Posted on 10/18/2011 12:04:10 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Minnesota Congresswomen and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has become the latest politician to call for an impenetrable fence along the entire length of the border with Mexico. "President Obama has failed the American people by failing to secure the southern border," said Bachmann. "I will secure that border and that will be Job One."
Statements like that may get some attention, but they are not practical. Don't take our word for it; take Rick Perry's.
The Texas governor has been called a lot of things, but he's hardly a mushy liberal. Yet even this tough Texan sneers at calls for a Berlin Wall-style border fence spanning hundreds of miles from Brownsville to El Paso.
Two reasons: We can't afford it, and we don't need it.
The cost of a barrier like that would be staggering, certainly in the billions. Bachmann and others are silent about how they would pay for it.
Moreover, it is unnecessary. The Texas-Mexico border includes many miles of desert that are either lightly populated or devoid of any human presence. Illegal immigrants don't cross there. They make their moves along urban corridors.
Perry knows this because he is the governor of Texas. He knows the issue is more nuanced - like his support for in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants.
Secure the border? Absolutely - but in an intelligent way that puts our resources where they will have the most impact.
Voters should be wary of sound bites from candidates that fire up special-interest groups but lack logic. The next president will need real ideas, not gimmicks, to solve the challenges facing this nation.
A fence too expensive?
What has it cost over the last 25 yearssince the 1986 amnesty to provide public services to the 15 to 30 million illegals who have snuck in and are now here?
What will the cost be for them and their offspring in the years going forward?
What will the cost be for the many milions of new illegals who will be crossing over the border in the years to come?
With the money already spent at the local, state and federal levels we could have built a dozen fences.
California alone has estimated the cost of providing services to illegals at $10 billion dollars a year.
We could have had a gold plated fence with a small fraction of the Stimulus money Obama has given to his pals and supporters.
Hah! Perry doesn’t deserve any credit for Herman’s ideas. 3 percenters are barely footnotes in the history books.
A fence too expensive?
Anyone who spouts that nonsense must have learned their math in the Washington, DC government schools.
What has it cost over the last 25 yearssince the 1986 amnesty to provide public services to the 15 to 30 million illegals who have snuck in and are now here?
What will the cost be for them and their offspring in the years going forward?
What will the cost be for the many milions of new illegals who will be crossing over the border in the years to come?
With the money already spent at the local, state and federal levels we could have built a dozen fences.
California alone has estimated the cost of providing services to illegals at $10 billion dollars a year.
We could have had a gold plated fence with a small fraction of the Stimulus money Obama has given to his pals and supporters.
http://www.conservapedia.com/Mexican-American_War
Gov. Perry has been to Israel and discussed and observed their security and their use of drones.
Israel is surrounded by enemies who want to push them into the sea and refuse to recognize their right to exit. There are bombs shot over that wall, there are suicide bombers who walk trough the gates. Israel is a small country.
We are not Israel.
Herman Cain never plays the race card like Perry did.
Do you think Perry should become POTUS when he insinuates people against ILLEGALS getting in-state tuition are prejudice?
PERRY said at the previous debate:
“And the bottom line is it doesn’t make any difference what the sound of your last name is. That is the American way.”
excerpt http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1109/12/se.06.html
Either Perry is dense, or playing the race card, when he tries to insinuate that people against in-state tuitition for ILLEGALS are against it because of the ILLEGAL immigrant’s last name. It’s because they are ILLEGAL, Governor Perry!
Which bring up another point. Are students even allowed to recite the Pledge of Allegiance anymore?
Gov. Perry Received Defender of Jerusalem Award Thursday, August 13, 2009
****** Aug 2009: Texas gov. compares Gaza to Mexico”……Perry also recalled the Texas-Israel Exchange - a body that supports the trade of agricultural know-how between Texan and Israeli scientists - which he established in 1991, while serving as the Texas Agriculture Commissioner.
"We have a connection that goes back many years," he said. "And Israel has a lot that we can learn from, especially in the areas of water conservation and semi-arid land - Israeli technology has helped us a lot in dealing with drought."
"But also," the governor continued, "when I was here for the first time some 18 years ago and I was touring the country, the comparison between Masada and the Alamo was not lost on me. I mean, we're talking about two groups of people who were willing to give up their lives for freedom and liberty." Beyond the comparisons, Gov. Perry said another point of his trip here was to show other people "what was really going on", with regards to the military threats facing the country, and in particular the IDF's recent Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.
"We went to the border with Gaza and received a briefing from the army there, and we went to Sderot and saw the police station with all the Kassam rockets piled up, we saw playgrounds that had to be covered from rocket fire. It's a powerful place." In that vein, the governor said he was also interested in learning more about security aspects while in the country, as Texas has a large, porous border with Mexico, and the recent violence in that country had unnerved many Texans.
"Israel is a leader in security technology, and another reason for our visit to the Gaza border was to see some of the security measures being used there," said Perry.
"Kassam rockets have killed 28 Israelis over the last eight years. Well, 1,000 people have been killed in Juarez [Mexico, on the border with El Paso , Texas] since the beginning of the year [in drug-related violence]. So we're trying to find ways to secure that border, because just like it's important to Israelis to keep heavy security on their border with Gaza, it's important to citizens of Texas to keep out the illegal activities that are going on with drugs [in Mexico]……”.
We are heading that way. Wouldn't you rather be prepared for the future? If you think I'm crazy, just look at the past ten years...if anyone in the mid-summer of 2001 had told you what this country would go through and look like in 2011, you would have had them put in a straightjacket.
Send your comments to the Federal government.
“Gov. Perry Received Defender of Jerusalem Award Thursday, August 13, 2009 “
That’s a good thing Perry did, but Perry supporters lose so much credibility when they act as if Perry is perfect, and make weak excuses for his flaws.
That is why the question of the illegals is not just some minor detail in a big campaign platform. It has to do with whether limited government and individual freedom will even be viable in the future in America.
Thank you for that.
An emotional and sometime simplistic thread but I agree, the illegal invasion and promiscuity toward it is definitely the most threatening crisis facing the United States in a very very very deep way. As in standing up for the integrity, pride, and faith in the citizen taxpayers' nation.
The physical border question itself is an approachable technical matter of fence, patrol, drones, ground penetrating radar, satellite, Google Earth, AWACS, etc. solved by the US military routinely, e.g. an AOR.
The deportation question also is a fairly straightforward matter of employer, institutional, and personal identification, denial of rights, and self initiated options. Also something solved by the IRS (on legitimate citizens and with supercomputers) routinely.
Given these the obvious issue comes down to the real political willingness to stand by one's legitimate citizen taxpaying constituents as opposed to self-serving hidden national agendas.
That's ridiculous analogy and the number of East Germans that got past that fence and the armed guards, was small. In the desert region of our Mexican border intruders can be easily spotted if we wanted to. Stationary blimps would be helpful. An Israeli style fence that is monitored and patrolled would keep out intruders. All a US President has to do is to bring in Israeli fence consultants and then build the damn fence where it is needed! Which is not the entire 1800 mile border. Maybe 65% of it
There are constant breaches of our border including shooting at our citizens and agents. How is this not a warning of more dire things to come? Wake up.
Around my area, it's school district policy to decide. Thankfully, our district does it daily. I spent a lot of extra money to build our home here for the schools. It has paid off handsomely.
Ron Paul; HMM might be interesting! All those things he wants to make legal I don’t think congress would let him.
But Ron Paul would veto nearly every thing from congress except for the military. It would be the least expensive four years in our history.
When the primary is held here in TN, if Cain is not on the ballot I do believe I will vote for Ron Paul.
Ron Paul is nuts.
Let me know when Rick Perry comes out says “As President I will make sure an effective border fence is put up”.
If he really wants to be President, Rick Perry has to wise up on illegal immigration. His know_it_all Texas strut on immigration does not fly nationwide and is partly why he is down in the Republican primary polls.
He's done; he just doesn't know it.
Help Texas watch the border:
http://www.texasborderwatch.com/
24 live night vision cameras.
Easy to register, easy instructions on what to watch for and report .
This is what should be done for the entire border. We need a lot more fence than what we have. We don’t need a fence the entire length of the border. Some areas have terrain that acts as a natural impediment like a fence.
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