Posted on 01/27/2004 10:50:21 AM PST by Spiff
MESA, AZ (Talon News) -- In direct response to President George W. Bush's recent call for a temporary worker program for illegal aliens in the United States, the Arizona Republican Party overwhelmingly supported a resolution that would protect Arizona taxpayers from the financial impact this would place on them.
During the Arizona Republican Party convention on Saturday, delegates voted 317-109 for the Protect Arizona Now (PAN) petition, which was drafted to help protect taxpayers against the consequences of granting amnesty to illegal aliens including overcrowded hospitals, increased crime rates, rise in prison populations and escalating health care costs, among other things.
The petition itself states that it wants to prevent "abuse or fraud" by illegal aliens of the government services paid for by Arizona taxpayers.
Supporters of the PAN petition are hoping to get the initiative on the November ballot. If the measure is voted into law by Arizonians, then it would require proof of citizenship to be shown prior to receiving government support and benefits.
However, despite the immense support for the PAN petition by most Arizona Republicans, it is not favored by either state or national GOP leaders.
Regardless, state Rep. Randy Graf, a PAN supporter, said voting for this measure equates to upholding the rule of law by ensuring the rights of all Arizona taxpayers and voters.
"This initiative protects the sacred right of voting in this state," Graf stated. "This has nothing to do with any federal law or guest worker program. It is simply about protecting citizens."
However, state Sen. Carolyn Allen expressed her concern that supporting PAN would ultimately be detrimental to the Bush campaign.
"We want to re-elect George Bush and Dick Cheney in this state," Allen explained. "If this passes, we will suffer."
Allen added that the Bush administration is not happy with this proposal.
"The White House is very concerned about this initiative," she said. "This is not going to help our president in this state."
State House candidate J.T. Ready said concerned Republicans should realize that PAN is a common sense approach to dealing with the problem of illegal aliens.
"Why shouldn't we pass this?" inquired Ready. "After all, Blockbuster Video requires two forms of ID to rent a video."
Ready is extremely concerned that Bush appears to be circumventing the law with his proposal to allow for a temporary worker program for illegal aliens.
"I support the president, but the question is if he supports the U.S. Constitution," Ready expressed.
Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) told the GOP activists in remarks made early in the convention that his meetings with Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft helped educate him on the proposed national Temporary Worker Program.
"My suggestion is as Republicans, we take a breath, gather the facts and not criticize the president other than in our opinions," Kyl instructed.
Kyl admitted that while "virtually all Americans oppose amnesty," Bush's proposal would actually help minimize the continued influx of illegal aliens by holding employers more accountable for who they hire.
"We try hard on the border to keep illegal immigrants out," Kyl stated. "We could do a better job, but we are winking at those hiring illegals. There is a disrespect for the rule of law. It's not good for everybody or the taxpayers who end up subsidizing lower wages."
Arizona Republican Party Chairman Bob Fannin even expressed his concern that the rift between conservatives and GOP leadership over illegal immigration should not be divisive and encouraged the state executive committeemen to support Bush's plan.
Yet Fannin's call for unity was met with criticism and disgust by the committeemen. They believe Fannin should be addressing their sincere concerns with the Temporary Worker Program with the Bush administration directly.
GOPUSA Arizona Editor Dennis Durband warned national GOP leaders to listen to the concerns of the base or else risk losing them as voters in November.
"The lesson to the story is that the Republican Party needs to take in opinions and information from below and give rank and file Republicans legitimate consideration -- as opposed to dictating unpopular policy on an unwilling constituency," Durband wrote.
He continued, "The White House had better start listening to the people and re-thinking its position, because a lot of Republicans are saying Bush will not get their vote as things currently stand. The White House can choose this day whom it will serve. If the White House gets behind PAN, Arizona is in the bag for the president's re-election chances. It's that simple."
Talon News will continue to follow developments in this story.
Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
And that's what keeps them impoverished. Instead of getting on their own two feet, developing their own natural resources and wealth, they're content to live off our economy --- like a giant welfare society. There is no reason that Mexico could not be a mostly middle class society --- they've got the same kind of resources we do --- Japan with just an island has done more for it's citizens -- a lot more.
Only some are family oriented --- overall they have a 42% illegitimacy rate --- higher among those from Mexico than those who have lived here for generations or never came from Mexico. You can visit any Mexican city and see many street children --- children whose parents have abandoned them --- that's not "extremely family oriented", in that they as a society are far worse than we. South of Juarez you can see 14 to 16 year old single mothers living in cardboard boxes with their babies. Where are their own families? It's common here to read of a group of children locked inside (locked in from the outside)a home which burned while their single mother was off working in a maquila in Mexico. Many of Mexico's extreme poverty problems are in part due to a lack of good family values.
I have a feeling your husband is from the small middle or small upper class in Mexico. 2 or 3 kids is what many of the Mexican girls have before they drop out of high school in this region. The values of the Mexican middle class are pretty much like ours --- but that isn't where many of the immigrants filling our government housing projects are from and it's not their values. Massive immigration and migration is also in itself causing the destruction of that society --- many women and children are abandoned by fathers heading north, many children are left with elderly grandmothers when their mothers head north. People are losing their family and neighborhood ties, being uprooted. Ciudad Juarez wasn't too bad a place 20 years ago but it's hell now.
How easy was it to start a farm back in 1850? Land might have been cheap but the land had to be cleared, buildings put up, transportation was difficult, all with no power tools or tractors. Life was quite difficult back then. The immigrants of old built this country. The new immigrants of today are just moving in to a country that already has an interstructure. No comparison.
(I hope we aren't stuck in the ridicule phase.)
If Bush is not re-elected, then we will have a Republican congress which will evolve from its present form and will stop amnesty in its tracks.
I agree with you and think that, far short of receiving special treatment, that Mexico should be punished for their contempt towards US immigration law and American citizens (i.e. a moratorium on Mexican immigration, both legal and illegal).
Having said that, I think Bush wants to prop up Mexico because Mexico is an embarrassment to the USA. Our message to the world is about the benefits of democracy, free trade, and capitalism, yet our closest neighbor, which has all of these things, is an abject failure and would absolutely be in ruin without our help (80-90% of Mexican exports are to US, American tourist dollars, illegal remittances back to Mexico, bailouts, etc.). Bush, therefore, says we must take the hit for their incompetence and corruption. We will be required by our politicians to accept the excess Mexican population that Mexico cannot provide for, and that flow will never end.
True. And why is that? Why? Culture.
Despite the doctrine of the cult of multiculturalism, all cultures are not created equal.
Therefore, are we wise to allow the mass importation of a substandard, third-world culture? Is not the end product of such an experiment the reduction of America to a third-world nation?
I like your idea, but I'm going to be travelling for the next few days and may not have Internet access where I am going.
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