Perry in position to lead on immigration policy

Houston Chronicle ^ | August 31, 2011 | Geoffrey A. Hoffman

[triumphant values]

Imagination is the key tool missing in the political arena.

Immigration policy, especially, suffers from a lack of creative solutions and imagined possibilities for a better future, not just for immigrants but for all of us. The undocumented population recently was estimated at approximately 12 million. However, no one knows for sure how many there are in the United States. By definition, the undocumented are unrepresented in our political process, but also in our census. There is no way to accurately count them. There is no way for them to forcefully represent themselves, their interests or to communicate their political will unless citizens and advocates do it for them.

This lack of imagination is starkly illustrated by recent proposed legislation - for example, the so-called HALT Act, aimed at stripping immigrants of some forms of discretionary relief, as well as overreaching state legislation, which aims to tighten restrictions on noncitizens and their families by making it easier to question, detain and deport them. The alternative (not yet imagined in the minds of legislators or the public) is to address the salient question: How do we utilize the talents of the millions who have been relegated to the shadows? Imagine tapping into the creative energies and ideas of these people, bringing them from the shadows to the forefront of our economy and society, educating and empowering them so they can serve as future leaders and engines of empowerment to others and engines for our teetering economy.

[editor-surveyor]

Wake up!

Perry clearly endorses completely open borders.

[MestaMachine]

I know perry supporters already despise me, so I am not taking much of a risk by making the following statement.
rick perry was talked into this run by very wealthy Texas businessmen. They absolutely want to keep their illegal employees as proven by their opposition to the proposed immigration law they had trashed before it ever left the Texas legislature.
These are the same moneymen who are filling rick perry’s campaign coffers and they WILL control him if he ever makes it to the Whitehouse.
From what I see, rick perry is like a Fourth of July sparkler that has been lit too soon. Oh, it’s pretty and bright right now, too hot to touch, really, but they burn fast and then burn out.
So it will be with rick perry because his baggage is just too heavy to carry all the way through a LONG election season.

[cripplecreek]

I know perry supporters already despise me, so I am not taking much of a risk by making the following statement.

Count me as another person who is to damned old to care wgat people think of me. As I get older, I think about the fact that I'll have to face my maker and explain why I tossed my principles overboard in elections.

I don't think God would be very interested in why I stood in support of the lesser evil.

[b9]

Great post!

Pilot lights are much better than fireworks,
in dating, marriage, and politics.

We all burn and learn. In CA, Arnold taught us a lot. Well, many saw through him but I had to learn the hard way. No more.

As Buzz Lightyear says, “To infinity and beyond!”

[MestaMachine]

I have actually been shocked at what the rabid perry supporters have been willing to overlook to send Texas to the Whitehouse. And I will just leave it at that.

[cripplecreek]

Yep. In Texas, windmills are suddenly a fine source of energy yet they then turn around and attack Michelle Bachmann for suggesting that we can drill for oil virtually anywhere if we do it safely.

[MestaMachine]

Listen. They could put an oil rig on the roof of my house if it would stop my money from enriching islam. Believe it.

[cripplecreek]

I’m with you. DRILL EVERY FREAKIN WHERE!!!!!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2772174/posts

[editor-surveyor]

I agree completely.

All the Perry-bots here are in full denial mode WRT his really shabby record on immigration and on statism.

If elected Perry would be at least as devastating as Obama has been, and I strongly suspect that Obama’s controllers may be shifting to Perry to finish the job.

[Liz]

BUDDIES----PERRY WITH MEXICO'S VICENTE FOX

At a 2001 "border summit" in which he sucked up to Mexicans-----Perry advanced a “bi-national health insurance” program that would cover both US and Mexican residents along the border.

Fast forward to 2011--- Perry now considers Medicaid to be "unconstitutional." His 2001 speech reads like it comes from another world — or a different person. Perry's past praise for a “unified,” trans-national health care program is in stark contrast with the view Perry expresses in his book "Fed Up," in which he declares that the Constitution forbids “a federally operated program of health care.”

His past remarks show Perry was ready, willing and eager to spend US dollars for (1) border residents in Mexico, AND, (2) illegals violating US borders.

Predictably, Perry's 2012 campaign is now trying to downplay the speech and Perry's embracing a “bi-national health insurance” program.

THERE'S MORE As then-Texas Agricultural Commissioner, Perry wrote a suck-up letter praising then-First Lady Hillary Clinton for her efforts to reform health care----which was brought down by mass GOP opposition. “Hillarycare” is still derided by conservatives as the precursor to “Obamacare.”

[cripplecreek]

I think we're seeing the Overton Window effect in action. (Not Becks book but its namesake Joeseph P Overton)

They whipped the window too far one way with Obama and Perry is an attempt to push it back but not as far as it was.

This page has an interactive demo. I think all Americans should study the theory. Its about halfway down the page.

Overton window of political possibility

Sure seems to me that every democrat president leads to a republican further left than the one before.

[rabscuttle385]

Perry's past praise for a “unified,” trans-national health care program...

Has Perry been channeling Romney lately?

[dforest]

Silly me, I thought he may have accepted the position at La Raza. LOL

Perry's past praise for a “unified,” trans-national health care program...

You know what that means don't you? It means US citizens get to pay for healthcare for all of Mexico.

kewl

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Those members of Congress who opposed the act, which would grant conditional permanent residency to some undocumented students, could not appreciate the benefits of the act due to a paucity of political imagination.

Oh, I have an abundance of imagination. If a general "path to citizenship" became law, I can imagine a future of overwhelming leftist majorities forever, destruction of the economy, and loss of freedom. What these "elites" don't realize is that eventually, the future would be destroyed for the illegal aliens too. Imagine what the world was like after the Roman Empire fell.

[arasina]

I know perry supporters already despise me, so I am not taking much of a risk by making the following statement. rick perry was talked into this run by very wealthy Texas businessmen. They absolutely want to keep their illegal employees as proven by their opposition to the proposed immigration law they had trashed before it ever left the Texas legislature.

These are the same moneymen who are filling rick perry’s campaign coffers and they WILL control him if he ever makes it to the Whitehouse.

I agree and I'm beyond caring whether people think I have an entire wardrobe made of tinfoil. Have you read this NewsWithViews piece? It's quite interesting.

Rick Perry Run Carefully Orchestrated by Global Elites?

[CajunConservative]

Someone on another site explained that it would allow US insurance be used in the border medical complexes that are set up to provide quality medical care at a much lower cost. My brother went to Mexico for a procedure because his insurance wouldn’t pay for it here. His surgeon was a US board certified physician who got tired of the bureaucratic red tape. He opened a hospital and offers the procedure at 1/3 the cost.

Look up medical tourism to see. A lot of people here go across the border to get their meds for a fraction of the costs too. I imagine with the onset of 0bamacare a lot more US doctors will do the same.

[cripplecreek]

I see a future with a marxist government with an “elected” president for life who likes to call himself “General”.

People need to understand. We have dozens of congressional seats that are illegitimate due to illegitimate population. Congressional lines aren’t set by voters, they’re set by whole numbers.

Imagine how much better off America would be with 20 or 30 less democrat seats in congress. Not to mention the load lifted off infrastructure and the lightening of the tax burden.

[DoughtyOne]

LOL. I hear ya...

Funny how Perry is defended on the border issue, but for some unknown reason, amnesty advocates seem to like the guy.

[DoughtyOne]

Look at the standard of living in Mexico and health care costs there, and look at the standard of living and health care costs in the U.S.

Can someone explain to me how an equitable trans-national health care program could be devised without the U.S. side subsidizing the Mexican side?

I do not want to develop trans-national plans like this. It’s the slippery slope to unification.

Not no. Hell no!

[MestaMachine]

No, I hadn’t seen that, but I didn’t need to. The research I have done for myself speaks volumes. I just wish people could put aside their own biases and do OBJECTIVE research. I didn’t set out to hurt perry. I was hoping he actually was what his supporters claimed he was. He wasn’t. That’s all.