Having written about immigration before, I won't go into all my previous thoughts on it. Anyone interested can go back to those earlier blogs, and I haven't changed my mind on any of it. What this is about is the 'current' supposedly compromise bill and two aspects-- the rush to vote and what amnesty says about the rule of law.
The rush to get this omnibus measure passed and signed into law reminds me of how the so-called Patriot Act was pushed through with those in Congress not even bothering to read it. The immigration bill is a thousand page document that the senators are making no pretense of having read nor are they planning to read nor understand all of what might be in it. From what I heard, they plan to limit debate and vote on it by the 25th.
It's beyond me to understand why they would rush through laws this important. Why they would say they don't have time to read the thousand pages of this bill? Do they trust those who wrote it that much? Bush is eager to sign it. Do they trust him that much? It's not like the legislators are good at writing bills that only relate to one topic. They shove all kinds of goodies, unrelated to the originals, into all that they do. What's in this one? Who will know? What will it actually cost? Do any of them care?
It reminds me of when a salesman comes to your house or some kind of con artist. You have to decide right now, today! This offer won't be available tomorrow. Only once was I duped by that, ordered a set of encyclopedias when there wasn't the money to pay for them other than time payments. The next morning we had buyer's remorse, called and cancelled the order. If there is any buyer's remorse with the legislature regarding this measure, there won't be any morning after to cancel it. If you think there will, think-- Patriot Act and Iraqi War.
I understand that many who favor amnesty do so for what they see as benevolent reasons. They say it's fair to those who came here for jobs-- and we all came here one way or another. The difference is when our families came, most anyway, they didn't break the law to do it. Today when people come up from Mexico or from countries all around the world, they are breaking our laws and soon may be about to be rewarded for doing so. How do we tell our children and grandchildren that laws have any meaning when they don't?
Hearing all of this reminds me of how I feel when I am in some cities and stand politely at a cross-walk waiting for the light to turn to walk while people rush past. I am sure many in other nations, who did obey our immigration laws, are feeling that way about now. Obeying laws is dated, passé not to mention stupid, and our Senate, President and probably House will soon vote to confirm that fact; and in their case, it's not based on benevolence but on whether it makes a profit.
Even the nice looking and usually fair sounding Democratic Senator from California, Diane Feinstein has shown that where it comes to money, laws are kind of just sort of maybe could be things. Committees, on which she chaired, as well as belonged, directed a billion dollars in no-bid contracts to companies her husband controlled -- Feinstein's Cardinal shenanigans. (I was given that link awhile back from Ingineer.) We should not be surprised when ethics are hard for Congress to figure out given the way so much in this country seems to be calculated by--can it make a profit? Okay, it's gotta be good.
In the case of allowing of 12 million (and that's just the start) illegals to become citizens eventually, does anyone really know what the financial impact will be? What happens if the borders are truly rushed by the millions around the world who would like the same deal? The true economic impact of this measure is unknown, but the legal and moral ones are pretty clear-- forget obeying laws and our borders mean nothing.
Congress and the President are saying, what they said in 1986 when under Reagan they did the same thing, we'll close the borders right after this. Yeah right. If we believe that, gullibility is indeed our middle name.
Please voice your opinion here on this; and however you believe, write your newspapers, call your senators. Demand they at least read the damned thing before they vote. Don't let this be another Patriot Act. This is a big change, and if it goes through, as seems likely, will we have any borders? Can a system of law and order work without any?
(This particular piece was only about the ramifications of amnesty and what it does to the rule of law in this country but there are a lot of articles out there about the ramifications of this on Mexican families who have already been here and have part of their family still there or have been sent back when they were caught. It's not simple. Because Americans have for so long been allowing this system so that they would get cheaper produce, hired help for their gardens, their homes, inexpensive service, this is the human side to what happens now. How do you fix something that should not have been started at all?)
5 comments:
I think I have figured out why the rush to push this thing through. Everyone in Washington wants to say that they did "something" on immigration because they know it is an important issue for Americans. The problem is they are not doing the "right" thing only "something". This bill is full of problems and has a million little regulations which will not be followed by most illegals and probably will not be enforced by the US (see immigration reform of 1986 if you have any doubts about that). But all of our elected representatives will be able to say THEY passed a bill on immigration. What a farce.
what is going on here. The Republicans and the Democrats want to pass this bill because there are things that both sides want that is in it. The fact remains that it is Big Business issue and all the the politicians are rolling over and playing dead. Well, in my opinion, I will kick asses and take names. There is little good in this whitewash where blatant lies and mis-information is provided as proof and the loser is the common citizen, the taxpayer. This bill is a giveaway, the stupid politicians are considering a stupid bill written bey an even more stupid president. Three wrongs do not make a right.
You are right that this will go through. Even if all 250 million American citizens personally pounded on the desks of Congress, it will go through. Why? Because once elected, they no longer care at all about anything except lining their own nests and trading off favors and deals with their comrades in crime.
We have almost totally lost control of our country and I for one am growing extremely pessimistic about our chances to ever recover. The checks and balances we thought would result from the Democratic victories in the midterm elections have never materialized. The Dems have done absolutely nothing except play along and let Bush run roughshod over everything and everybody.
Washington has too much corruption, is too big and powerful, and is too well armed. Make the wrong kind of noise and you disappear into one of Bush's concentration camps, never to be heard from again. Yes, he has that power now.
I fear this is only the beginning. How could it get worse? Prior to the '08 election, Bush uses the omnipotence that Congress has granted him and declares a state of national emergency. Elections delayed indefinitely. The first ruling czar of the US is in place already. Insane fiction that could never happen here? I hope so. I fear not.
I apologize for the long rant. Should have made a quick comment and then blogged it myself... Oh, well...
Rain, I'm afraid you nailed it when you said it was about money. Isn't everything? And this is very scary. The whole mess boggles my mind. We were in El Paso TX a few years ago, visiting a local family. I listened to them complain and bellyache daily, about how the whites there were becoming a minority, and how many illigal immigrants there were. All this - while their yard man and maid (both illigal immigrants)were performing their duties! I had to keep my mouth shut - but wanted to shout "Hello!! What are you thinking?! If no one paid them - they wouldn't be here!"
Too many of these immigrants now days, whether legal or illegal, do not seem to me to really want to be Americans. They want us to change our society to accommodate them and the society they grew up with. Many no longer bother about nor worry about learning to speak English. They want to bring all of their shoestring relatives into the country, regardless of whether or not they are capable of doing anything other than collecting welfare. I can show you more than one home in my town that has the Mexican flag flying over it. Literally, that flag on a flag pole flying over the house. Look at what they are displaying when they march in their protest marches.
I thought it would make sense to come up with a work visa that would allow some of these people to come into the country and work for six months, then return to their homes in Mexico. I thought they would leave their families there where it costs so much less to live. But that doesn't seem to be what is happening. And the professional politicians in Washington, DC are just rushing to be able to say they "did something about the problem." Never mind that it really isn't what they should do.
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