Republican Base Forgets It Lost Election - Immigration Bill As Good As It Gets
Republicans - Get a hold of yourselves!
We had to know that the Democrats would try to ‘solve’ the immigration issue, it’s a political bonanza for them and American voters gave them the power to do whatever they wanted. But Democrats know that can’t do ‘whatever they want,’ because Americans are fed up with illegal immigration. The sordid tome we’re being handed by our Republican senators might be the best we’ll get considering we’re in the minority, and hardly in a position to demand much. Ponder this.
Stopping illegal immigration will take more than shutting the door. We can make that our first priority, but walls don’t go up overnight. Our next priority must be finding out who’s here.
To do that, an attractive incentive to illegal aliens so they will come out from the shadows is a must. If you make the penalty for unveiling yourself too onerous, too expensive, illegals stay in the shadows and the black market for labor thrives. Inviting them to come out makes them tax payers and raises wages because they are less willing to be exploited through fear by employers.
If your answer to controlling the alien population is to round them up and deport them, that is both logistically and politically disastrous. A majority of them have been her for years, starting families and holding down jobs. Sending troopers rummaging through seedy apartments and scaling walls down dark alleys means a police state we shouldn’t wish on our worst enemies, much less ourselves. We don’t need a hundred thousand more state control officers. As a matter of efficiency, and to protect our own freedoms, we need illegal immigrants turning themselves in, leaving a smaller number demanding agents to pick them up. That means having an attractive incentive.
Proponents of illegal immigration say illegal aliens are coming here for work, not welfare. I believe them, and so it follows that it makes things much easier for us to use employers to police our workforce instead of more IRS agents and federal officers. Where we can, we should opt for more self policing (database and ID cards) and less intrusive government. This bill cracks down on employers. That’s good. An attractive incentive paired with a dwindling pool of employers willing to hire illegals means a smaller population we need to hunt down. It also gives us a better idea of who is here, and who has got to go.
The switch from family reunification to skills based immigration is a huge victory for Republicans - and might, by itself, be enough to urge passage over Pelosi’s objections. There’s also agreement on fence building and prisoner deportation, not to mention promises of extra border enforcement. The devil is in the details, and anything with Ted Kennedy’s name on it must be met with skepticism. But there are some good Republicans that fought through this bill, before we dismiss it and disparage them, the Republican base needs to take a deep breath and remember where we are.
Evrviglnt: Political Vindication
May 19th, 2007 at 7:06 am
You say that the Republican base forgot it lost the election. I say that the Republican leadership has yet to figure out WHY it lost the election, and until they do, they’re destined to be the minority party.
When you say this:
“If your answer to controlling the alien population is to round them up and deport them.”
You’re setting up a straw man. I know of almost no one who is advocating that. What people are advocating are common sense things like, oh, say, deporting those here illegally that commit crimes. Targeting the businesses that hire them. Oh, and yes. Building the fence.
May 19th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Shane, you wrote….” but walls don’t go up overnight ”
Well, if it was determined that 80 to 90% of the illegal aliens entering the country would become U.S. citizens AND that same percentage, 80-90% would vote Republican, there would have been a wall built last year.
May 20th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Republicans (as a party) lost the last election… so the Republicans who WON their elections should ignore the will of those who sent ‘em?!? Fah!
Look, learn something from the Democrats: Just because you are in the numerical minority, you don’t go around with your eyes averted and accept the will of the opposition. You go out in front of the cameras (hopefully with somebody more palatable than Pelosi, Reid, Daschle, but with their fire) and you state your case to the Nation. Then if you cannot get your way through Legislation, you blame the opposition for doing it wrong.
Right now there is a Golden Opportunity for the Republicans to send SOMEBODY out there with the message that this plan is not good enough… there is not enough fence, there is only ONE DAY to find fault with an applicant, etc etc… and then tell how the need to bow to the will of the Democrats in order to get ANY kind of Bill is only happening because we recognize the emergency nature of the problem.
Instead we get Republican Leaders coming out standing behind the Democrat’s plan, shouting their talking points, and setting us up for failure. This may pass the Senate, but it just won’t pass the House… and the Republicans are going to be held responsible for failing to address the National Security issue of the Open Border.
Come election year, the Dems are gonna be all over this as the Republican’s fault… and you know it.
Republicans need to remember they lost as a Party alright… and start acting like an opposition party, not an acquiescence party.