Posted on 01/08/2004 3:34:13 PM PST by kellynla
I am beginning to think John McCain actually won the presidency in 2000.
Conservatives were relieved when the Straight Talk Express petered out during the 2000 primary season. John McCain, although tough on national security and runaway spending, was hardly a conservative on major issues such as campaign finance, healthcare reform and immigration.
Yet this is exactly where we find President Bush today (except unlike McCain, Bush doesn’t seem to have much of a problem with runaway spending). Last year President George Bush signed the McCain-Feingold bill into law, which is one of the worst assaults on political speech this country has ever seen. When conservatives (and many liberals) howled, the President’s advisers whispered that they believed the Supreme Court would “clean up” the more onerous parts of the bill which dictates the types of political ads that can air before a general election or primary contest. Of course the Supreme Court rubber stamped the entire thing and so the result is less, not more political speech in the U.S.
And now President Bush charges across the landscape to rescue us from our “unfair” and “broken” immigration system by rewarding people who came here illegally with the promise of legal status. This proposal essentially mirrors the immigration legislation sponsored by—you got it—Sen. McCain. Under the Bush/McCain plan, anyone outside the U.S. who wants to come into the country would only need to show proof of a “job offer” in order to get an initial three-year work permit that would be renewable for an unspecified period. Such temporary workers could also bring family members here. What prevents these people from staying on beyond their time premitted for "temporary" work? As it stands now, there seems to be no limit on the immigration —temporary or permanent— allowed under this plan. And as for the claim that this would be a big boon to the American economy? Illegal immigration costs taxpayers $20 billion each year, in extra education, healthcare, welfare, and prison costs. Today thirty-four percent of Mexicans legally in the U.S., and 25 percent of Mexicans illegally here are welfare.
How are those costs diminished under the Bush plan?
Most bewildering is the Administration idea that this plan is necessary for homeland security reasons. On the contrary, it would not be surprising if some would-be terrorists are among the millions of illegals who will become “documented” under the Bush plan. As Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) charged, "Guest worker programs and gradual amnesty provide cover for terrorists."
It’s easy to understand why Vicente Fox, McCain, big business, and La Raza are happy this week—but what’s in this new proposal for working class American families? How about those immigrants who a lot of time and money to comply with our immigration laws?
The real answer is absolutely nothing. The only reasonable prediction is that wages for a wide range of jobs will be kept artificially depressed by outside workers—now with “legal status” will work for peanuts. “I have worked construction for 30 years as a truck driver (18-wheeler),” wrote one of my listeners, “And every year my pay has gone down because Mexicans are flooding the trucking industry…."
When Bill Clinton says we live in an “increasingly borderless world,” we’re not surprised. It’s the usual globaloney blather. But when a Republican president advocates a policy that will make our borders effectively meaningless, we should be outraged.
With his approval numbers high, President Bush has made a devil’s bargain with business and Hispanic groups. Elites from both parties are ignoring the view of a strong majority of Americans that we need to stop illegal immigration, not high-five it.
Another listener wonders: “What happened to the ‘party of principle’? More like the party of pandering. Considering the massive numbers involved, this amnesty being floated really is Pandora's Box, once opened cannot be closed.”
President Bush has now done the equivalent of posting a sign at the border: “Help Wanted for $5.15/hour.”
Conservatives are right to be disappointed in President Bush. We are right to ignore the Administration’s promise that this time, non-amnesty amnesty will be good for the American people. Our citizenship and legal residence should be reserved for people who love this country enough that breaking her laws—whether at the border or on the street—is out of the question. The next time I hear from his Administration that it is doing all it can to protect our homeland, secure our borders, and increase our standard of living, I will laugh.
Now I know the definition of “compassionate conservative:” a person who campaigns as a conservative, then sells out key conservative principles.
LOL! There were several people in my office when that was posted. After our belly laugh, there was just shaking of heads....
That's what it's boiled down to.
And what to RINOs do best?
You can add a lot more jobs to the list, such as accounting, engineering, teaching, nursing, .... on and on.
Let's see; many of us supported him (GW Bush) with both our votes and contributions last time around, believing he would represent core Constitutional conservative values.
I don't live with my head in the sand and understand that the President is the President of all the American people and not just those that sent him to office, but his domestic agenda with a few exceptions that you have enumerated is troubling to say the least.
Don't get me wrong, this coming November I will again cast my ballot for GW Bush, as given the alternative, with the present global situation, he indeed is the right man, at the right time, for the right job.
But I don't have to be a member of the Amen corner around here at FR to do so.
What is really bothersome to me on a Conservative web forum is that when those of us who are not enamored with his domestic agenda freely speak our minds on the subject we are heaped with scorn, called DU implants, ingrates and worse.
Compassionate Conservatism is neither compassionate nor conservative. It is middle of the road pandering for votes.
Not anywhere close to leadership. Our President has out triangulated the original triangulator.
$100 billion a year is hardly gazillions. Last year, the Congress spent $33 billion on pork projects alone. Revisit that obscene Farm Bill of 2002, and you could easily come up with another $70 billion per year.
What is intrusive about law enforcement officials entering a place of business to check whether employees are legal? Government inspectors enter businesses all the time.
Posse Comitatus Act.
Posse Comitatus limits the use of the military for LAW ENFORCEMENT. It is quite in line with the Posse Comitatus Act for the military to patrol our borders and protect them from invasions, in this case an invasion of illegal immigrants.
Or is it your contention that if a hostile military ever attacked our homeland, the invasion would have to be repulsed by the sheriff's department?
And, in general, conservatives want a lot LESS of that, remember? We insist on things like "probable cause" and "search warrants," remember?
Posse Comitatus limits the use of the military for LAW ENFORCEMENT.
What's the term again? ILLEGAL immigration? Does that not imply that ENFORCING the LAWS against illegal immigration is LAW ENFORCEMENT?
It is quite in line with the Posse Comitatus Act for the military to patrol our borders and protect them from invasions, in this case an invasion of illegal immigrants.
Or is it your contention that if a hostile military ever attacked our homeland, the invasion would have to be repulsed by the sheriff's department?
Please explain which "hostile military" the illegal aliens belong to.
You've managed to argue both sides at once, AND lose both arguments at once.
Welcome to Azland
You've missed the point. What you want done, and what CAN be accomplished, are two very different things.
Sounds like we all need to learn how to speak Mexican and practice living 5 or 6 to a room.
No, it sounds like you need to THINK. I know that is probably difficult, but DO try to do it, lad. You might better yourself if you don't have a stroke. Bottom line: you need to think of a solution that can actually be implemented--that will not have the American public screaming bloody murder about inconvenience to them, personally, hat will not have the American public screaming bloody murder about the price tag, and that will actually work.
So, unless you're willing to think seriously about solving this problem that you view as being extremely important...why should anyone who puts it on a lower priority than you take your complaints seriously?
OK, do you want every gun control law enforced?
Probable cause and search warrants to check the legal status of workers?
That was the standard for any federal law enforcement entry into one's private property for many years, until the federal government expanded the concept of "interstate commerce" to a ridiculous degree. Now you absolutely ACHE for that sort of thing. Not very conservative of you, really.
The military can protect our border ONLY if a hostile military violates the border?
If you have a complaint about the Posse Comitatus Act, take it up with the folks who enacted it into law.
Does that apply to the Coast Guard?
Does that apply to the Coast Guard?
The Coast Guard is descended from the Revenue Cutter Service, and has a different set of laws. However, its authority ends at the end of the navigable waterway.
Then tell me, whenever Bush scrambles a couple of Air Force fighters to shadow an airliner suspected of having a terrorist on board, is that a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act?
Yes, if it's not done in the way Congress has provided for elsewhere in US law regarding national defense.
As I pointed out, your complaint is with Congress. Thank you very much for demonstrating an abject inability to read.
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