Posted on 10/03/2011 3:48:49 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry suggested last week during a debate that opponent Mitt Romney (former Massachusetts governor who ran for president in 2008 before dropping out) was uncaring for questioning his stance on allowing the children of undocumented workers to pay in-state tuition to attend colleges and universities in the Lone Star State.
Perry basically said those against such a proposition had no heart.
There were echoes of boos and other disapproving outbursts from the largely white, conservative audience to the governor's statement.
Romney responded by claiming that being against Perry's stance meant one had a "heart and a brain."
It was the second time in a week that Perry faced pressure for policies running afoul of the increasingly-rigid Republican mindset.
So, what about it?
Should the children of undocumented parents be able to go to school and pay in-state tuition like thousands of others do from year to year?
Or, does the availability of higher education extend only to people whose families are officially citizens?
To my way of thinking, Gov. Perry is positively correct in arguing for educational accessibility to young people who seek to improve themselves and contribute their talents, abilities and potential to the greater community, state and nation.
The mere fact that one's arrival in the United States does not involve parents with official papers should not deprive said individual from pursuing the vaunted American dream.
I can hear the wailing of anti-immigration activists - "These people are taking our kids' educations!"
Hmm. Sounds eerily similar to the same lament about "illegals" taking "our jobs."
From my perspective, the vast majority of undocumented workers take on things like picking produce that stock the shelves of our favorite grocery stores, laying brick and tile with great precision for wages many natives would scoff at and being willing to work as many hours as it takes to put food on the table for their families.
There's no great sense of entitlement.
Aren't self initiative and personal responsibility two of the Republican Party's so-called valued principles? What about family values? Fiscal responsibility?
The answer to these questions is, of course, yes.
The Grand Old Party once claimed to believe such things, but no longer.
These days, the party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan has been overtaken by the likes of Sarah Palin and other entertainers masquerading as politicians.
Finding someone with credible experience in public life is as hard as getting the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville to play other in-state schools on the football field or basketball court.
Let me clarify something, though. It is not as if I find President Obama all that inspiring.
He has, I believe, been far too reluctant to use his considerable influence to make comprehensive immigration reform a priority.
Until that happens, the situation will remain unsettled and highly divisive.
George W. Bush and some level-headed Republicans joined with Democrats to push for reform a few years back before finding themselves cornered and forced to shelve it.
It was comforting to see a leading Republican refuse to back down in defense of human decency on the tuition matter.
Do I expect him to stay on track? Only time can provide the answer.
Education is the gateway to knowledge, possibilities and so much more.
Scapegoating people whose backgrounds aren't the same as affluent white suburbanites by stirring up passions among middle class and poor whites is disgraceful.
I'm not voting for Perry. Ron Paul is the only Republican I could support at this point.
As for Romney, well, backing him would mean shutting off my heart and brain.
******
Childress is a graduate student in political science of Jonesboro.
Or in other words, you heartless Conservatives!
Brains of mush!
Should we reward illegal activities? If the answer is no the conversation is over.
If it is yes, then why do we have laws in the first place and where do we stop rewarding illegal activity?
One more question:
What happens to any country once it can no longer control its borders?
Well, Anthony had me going there for a minute until he mentioned Ron Paul. Then the whole thing went into a pile of doo doo. lol
I support the Texas Dream Act because it means good outcomes for our state by getting these children educated to support themselves and off the welfare state.
Rick Perry or Herman Cain will get my vote if Sarah doesn’t run. I love the 9-9-9 plan and the Herman’s calmness and confidence. And if Rick Perry can’t uptick his debate skills and present his positions better, think better on his feet and dispel the democrats lies...then watching Herman Cain debate Obama in the general is going to be nothing but pure pleasure. And I think a Cain win will go a long way to healing the racism, division, and chaos that Obama has created. I trust Herman Cain to do what he says. I like Newt too, but I just still don’t trust his touting the fake Clinton surplus. Math tricks we don’t need.
Ask yourself this question. Has a single republican candidate committed to removing and deporting 12 million illegal aliens?
This is something I’ve been waiting to hear and have not heard a single soul even murmur about doing so.
The next question you need to ask yourself is if nobody’s willing to deport them? Then what?
Do you want them living in the shadows and on the welfare state? Or do you want them to have the ability to support themselves and the children that they are going to have here?
These were the question I kept asking myself when I represented my county’s ad hoc commission on state issues when this Act was proposed. And it was up to me and my committee members to make recommendations to our County Commissioners and in public forum as to the outcomes for this bill.
Maybe we need to get the question asked at the next republican presidential debate. Is anybody willing to commit to deporting 12 million illegal aliens once our borders are secured?
There are millions of American’s with college degrees who cannot find jobs. Many of the illegals want expense degree’s like medical school for 8 years. After school they cannot legally obtain work..There is no paper to sign for citizenship. Next there would be after college amnesty.Make my parents, amnesty, etc,etc,etc..
Another question we need to ask in the republican debates is....are any of our candidates willing to cut illegal aliens apron strings tied to our welfare state?
I think cutting off the welfare state would encourage a LOT of them to go back home. That is, if they’re not afraid to with the narco/terrorist war that going on in Mexico today.
I don't want illegal aliens to receive any type of taxpayer funded benefits. And since illegal aliens can't legally work in this country, what good is a college degree going to do for them?
The ruling elite on both sides see illegals as a source of cheap labor. They WANT it this way.
Isabel, they have to PAY tution. It is not taxpayer subsidized.
And before they can apply for it, they must apply for citizenship, or sign a contract with the US military.
They’re here. Have you heard ANY republican candidate claim they are going to deport 12 million illegal aliens? I haven’t. You KNOW the democrats aren’t.
This could be true. I know it was true in Europe. But I’m not that sure what happened here.
As I said previously, the Mexican nationals used to come up across our border in number of about 5M in the early spring. They spread out across the US in five fingers and followed seasonal work and the harvest and helped our farmers get their crops in and to market. Then they returned home to Mexico in the fall. Our economy was good, we could take the hit on the money going back to Mexico, and it helped keep our food supply costs low. They were not a threat to us, THEN.
In the 1980’s Cesar Chavez started organizing in California and Florida, The United Farmworkers Union and began to get sympathy from the liberals who then opened up the welfare state to them and they came and began to squat here. That was the serious mistake.-And then of course the liberals saw the opportunity for amnesty and more votes from another dependent society.
To unions, the migrant workers were nothing but another source of money to turn around and give to Rats.
Unfortunately, the last five presidents, including this one, have abandoned their oath of office in allowing the borders to be left open to any and all who want to get into the U.S. and collect SS, health care, free education, etc.
closer to 100 million of them have brought states close to bankruptcy. This has been a deliberate move to obtain cheap labor; eclipsing young American citizens from obtaining entrance employment; seriously damaging the viability of hospitals and welfare; overcrowding the schools and necessitating multi-language problems and over crowded classrooms.
Operation Wetback : How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico
http://politicalvelcraft.org/2010/06/16/operation-wetback-how-eisenhower-solved-illegal-border-crossings-from-mexico/
Yes, Vet, I am aware of what President Eisenhower did. And I truly think that’s what should be done. Especially now, for more than just the Mexican Nationals. I saw a report once a year or so ago that showed the breakdown by ethnicity of what’s been coming across that border, and the number that turned out to be mozlems was even more disturbing to me. (Needless to say, I can’t find it anymore and haven’t seen another one like it.)
My brothers have had a fishing camp down at Zapata they can’t even to go now because it’s too dangerous on Falcon Lake and they were told the risks by local deputies and the BPA’s. In the last two years, my retired brother who stays lengthy periods down there told me that many times he would go to the convenience store for bait and there would be clusters of what appeared to be ‘wetbacks’. They looked just like them. But they were always speaking to the store owner in Farsi or Pushtan, not Spanish. Clusters of five or six at the time. This is what disturbs me now. Just one little vial of biochemical brought with them could wipe out a whole city. And look at us, our own government selling these narco’s and terrorists guns.
My concern is that I have not heard any candidate or anybody else willing to even murmur about a roundup or deportation. They just say secure the border first. Nobody has even mentioned cutting them off the welfare state to encourage them to go home on their own. Which would get rid of the many. Why? Votes? Power? Are votes more important to them?
How are we ever going to get rid of the corruption in our own government much less help Mexico clean itself out?
I don’t want to leave the world in the mess it’s in for my grandchildren to have to live in danger or die to clean up. Is casting a vote the only thing we can do? The corruption is great, and casting a vote just seems so benign and futile. (Sorry to be such a downer. Guess I got up with the blues this morning.)
Thanks for that, 2nd DV.
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