I agree. This group of free-trade libertarians have a single minded focus on the business side of economics...whatever allows a business to sell their product cheaper and drive wages lower, even if it involves illegal immigration. They NEVER talk about or consider the staggering social costs to taxpayers of immigrant welfare and subsidies or how the rising population of 3rd world immigrants is displacing the dominant American culture. Nor does this group ever talk about how immigrants are inducing more socialism in America by influencing both parties with their votes to move to the left. It is all about the “fast-buck profit” right here, right now and to hell with everybody else including America. And ironically, though these libertarians like to talk a conservative free markets game, their very support of uncontrolled immigration works mightily against their own ideologies of greater capitalism. I saw this years ago. Why they and Bush don’t see it is mystifying.
This is why I consider these folks true liberals. However conservative they may try to sound the upshot of their immigration and trade policies (which carries great weight in the beltway) results in expanding socialism, higher taxes, the debasing of the American Culture and the destruction of Middle Class America.
As a final note, I used to be a big fan of Bob Bartley but over the years his purist one-world views on trade and immigration in the Review & Outlook column of the WSJ became too much for me to accept. In fact he did an op-ed piece in the WSJ about the virtues of a borderless America about 1 week before 9/11. Needless to say he and the WSJ haven’t revisited that topic lately.
Same here. I too used to enjoy reading the Wall St. Journal editorial page for its well thought out, conservative opinions. But they have become so one-sided on the immigration debate it is impossible to stomach them any longer.
Paul Gigot especially is intolerant of anyone who disagrees with the open-border mantra, and will even go as far as play the liberal game of hurling the "race" card at anyone who dares oppose it. He did this last year against FAIR and Numbers USA while they fought against the re-election of Spencer Abraham.
Anything short of the status-quo, which is mass-immigration, virtual open borders is unacceptable to them. That is unreasonable in politics, where compromise is what makes the system work. As it is, their position is on the fringe. The last time I saw the polls, 80% of the population want immigration controlled.