I had been planning to put a few of my thoughts out for discussion regarding my favorite Democratic presidential hopeful, Ms. Hillary Clinton. However, a friend sent me an article the other day that really made me think and reconsider my stance on the relationship between the United States and Mexico.
According to Mexican president Felipe Calderon, immigration is a natural and inevitable phenomenon that the United States should embrace so that more Mexican workers can come here. He also stated that the Mexico is losing it's best people to the United States. I think that he may be correct. We probably are getting the best from Mexico. The people that come across the border illegally show no respect for the rule of law and are contemptuous of everything that it means to be an American, including learning the English language. If this is the best that Mexico has to offer, then it is easy to understand why Mexico is rife with poverty, corruption and lawlessness.
The "official" number of "undocumented immigrants" is around 12 million. We used to call them "illegal aliens" but I guess that is not politically correct. It is very likely that the true number is much higher. But, even 12 million is millions too many. Especially when there are tens of thousands who are trying to enter legally and who can contribute more than they take. Even if Mexico is sending us their best, their best are still a net drain on the economy. When the cost of education, health care, social services etc. are factored in; it is unlikely that they have a positive effect on our economy. Unless cheap produce and artificially low unskilled wages are seen as positive.
Seasonal work would be a valid excuse for temporary migration. But, it is seldom temporary and more often than not, becomes permanent. Over time, they create isolated communities that demand special recognition and accommodation. They have children who are American citizens by virtue of the fact that they were born on American soil. These children also require special accommodation since their parents can't speak English and contribute to their education. Enter bi-lingual education at a significant cost to the taxpayers. Even though their parents were in violation of American Law at the time of birth, they are American citizens. If we closed the borders today, this 12 million would still become 24 million then 48 million very quickly. I might support amnesty if it included a change to the Constitution that would prevent automatic citizenship for the children of these criminals. While it may be unfair to the children, there should not be a reward for lawlessness.
This bring me back to Hillary. I recently read that she wants the US government to provide every child born in the US a $5000 savings bond or similar instrument. Her proposal would make it even more tempting for more people to come here illegally to get the $5000 per child reward. For the sake of simplicity, let's assume that there are only 12 million illegals. If we also assume that the average birth rate from the US Census Bureau of 14.1 per 1000 applies (it is probably higher than this) we have 168000 new US citizens born every year to parents who are criminals. Hillary is thus proposing to spend $840,000,000 annually for the baby shower. Plus these children then have all of the rights and privileges of being an American. This horrible idea could not even be funded for legal residents of this country. The fact that illegal offspring would benefit is even more galling. Fortunately, most will probably never see the $5000 or the amount that is is supposed to become. The whole program will just be another "trust fund" like Social Security that greedy, disingenuous, self-serving politicians can use to buy more votes.
I believe that both Democrats and Republicans are spineless when it comes to this issue. The Democrats are hoping to convert all of the illegals into loyal Democrats beholding to the government that supports them. I was especially galled by the Democratic candidates who participated in the Spanish language debate. This is the ultimate expression of political pandering. Likewise, the Republicans like the lower priced labor that is available when they look the other way at this violation of US law and national sovereignty. The simple fact that the pandering politicians are overlooking is that a country without borders is no longer a country.
Monday, October 1, 2007
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There are many ways to look at this. None of them are good for the U.S.A.
El Presidente is losing his country's best but he doesn't care? Why? He doesn't say that outright but his actions certainly do indicate that he does not care. One possibility is that they are not at all the best his country has to offer. If they were, he would want them to stay. All of these people have broken at least one law by getting in and being here illegally, many of those think nothing of trashing innocent Americans lives by committing identity theft, and an additional subset think nothing of committing even more heinous felonies (rape, murder, etc….all the makings of a Kennedy/Clinton clam bake). So in this scenario he is just playing along with spineless politicians in this country to try and convince people we don't need to take this VERY seriously. Our pols get their illegal votes and/or cheap labor, and El Presidente gets to offload some of his problems. A win win for the politicians. Snake Eyes for the honest, hard working American.
Could these people really be the best a country has to offer? There is absolutely nothing dishonorable about working hard with your back and hands. It's important and a necessary part of maintaining a civilized society. But somehow when I imagine the "best a country has to offer" I imagine a little brain with the brawn too. Oh yeah, and people who respect and obey laws.
And as for her Majesty Hillary Rodham Rodham, she should be laughed at for proposing something as ridiculous as 5K for each baby. But, sadly, she will not be by many. I would ask her, though, if we can afford this much money for a "baby shower", why can't we afford enough to build a BAF. (First word BIG, last word FENCE, middle word her party's mascot) And by the way, while running the math on 5K times whatever number you pick yields a breathtakingly high number, that doesn't even begin to account for the cost of administering this new program. The overhead could EASILY double it.
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