Posted on 01/19/2004 2:49:47 AM PST by Main Street
Dick Morris is legendary for shrewdness and political acumen. But his analysis in “Hispanics : Key to GOP’s Future” is erroneous and misleading. Either (1) Morris wasn’t thinking very hard when he wrote it , or (2) Morris is working for the Clintons again, who are paying him to give suicidal advice to the GOP.
The Bush Immigration Amnesty Proposal would be a disaster. It will increase and encourage further illegal immigration. It will drive down wages for the American working class. It will expand the reach of the welfare state. It will cost a whole lot of money. It’s a slap in the face to the Border Patrol agents who put their lives on the line every day to protect our border. It will further erode national unity, promoting divisive ethnic identity politics and balkanization. It’s a bad proposal all the way around.
All these noxious effects are irrelevant to Dick Morris, who assures us, against all available evidence, that an illegal alien amnesty (or whatever you choose to call it) will save the Republican Party!
Mr. Morris tells us that Hispanics must be pandered to by making our immigration system even more harmful than it is already. If we would just do what Hispanic activists tell us to do, says Morris, then Hispanics will fall into the arms of the Republicans.
This is sheer fantasy. There is no solid reason to believe that, even if the GOP does all the bad things Morris wants it to, it will gain the majority of the Hispanic vote.
Not that all Hispanics support illegal immigration. Those who don’t must be insulted by Morris’ assertions. And for those Hispanics who already vote for the GOP out of conviction, the amnesty proposal has nothing to offer them.
Why should we believe that the majority of Hispanics who vote for the Democrats will become Republicans if the GOP supports an amnesty? That certainly wasn’t the result of the 1986 Amnesty, also enacted under a Republican administration.
Why would lower-income Hispanics support the GOP? Democrats can always outbid Republicans in offering more public benefits. The only way for Republicans to win that game is to be even more leftist than Democrats. And that would destroy the party.
Dick Morris also peddles the conventional wisdom that Hispanics are social conservatives. According to Morris:
“As Catholic voters, who take their religion seriously, Hispanics are a natural Republican constituency.”
The truth is most Hispanics are nominal Catholics, with the same social and moral pathologies as whites and blacks. In fact, Hispanic women have higher rates of both out-of-wedlock births AND abortions than white and black women!
The Hispanic rate of welfare dependency is higher than whites and almost as high as blacks.
(Don’t believe it? Check out this article). Immigrants from Mexico hail from a country with a strong secular political tradition. There is simply no evidence that the majority of Hispanic immigrants are attracted to social conservatism.
Morris ignores today’s reality when he writes :
“As Hispanics follow the traditional paths of upward mobility that immigrant groups have trod before them, they are likely to lean more and more toward the Republicans - just as Irish and Italians do these days, abandoning the Democratic orientation of their ancestors.”
But the Irish and Italians came here when America practiced assimilation and Americanization. Today’s ethnic pandering – of which Dick Morris approves – encourages Hispanics NOT to assimilate,and implies that Hispanic interests are not identical with American interests – a very dangerous idea indeed.
Are Hispanic interests the same as American interests? If they are, don’t pander, just treat Hispanic voters like other Americans. If they aren’t the same,maybe somebody ought to spell out the difference. Maybe all Americans, not just Hispanic activists, have a say in our country’s future.
Dick Morris has an explanation as to why the GOP has heretofore failed to win the Hispanic vote:
“For decades, Republicans systematically alienated Hispanics by insisting on English-only initiatives, opposing benefits for illegal immigrants and demanding an end even to free public schools for the children of those who came here illegally. These measures drove Hispanics into the waiting arms of Democrats. Bush has now acted to reverse the legacy of these initiatives and to welcome Hispanics into the GOP.”
Morris is telling us that Republicans should abandon their principles and support lawlessness in order to gain Hispanic votes. But the very policies decried by Morris are proven vote-getters.
English-only initiatives are attempts to prevent the linguistic balkanization of our country. The growing use of Spanish in politics, promoted by both Republicans and Democrats, encourages politicians to say one thing in English and another thing in Spanish. (For a detailed example, click here ).
Morris would persuade us that “opposing benefits for illegal immigrants” drove Hispanics “into the waiting arms of Democrats”. But wait a minute!
In another paragraph Morris said that “Hispanics are a natural Republican constituency”! So why aren’t they voting for the GOP already? Because they want “benefits for illegal immigrants”? Sorry Dick this just doesn’t add up! The evidence indicates, in fact, that even Hispanic Republicans are more in favor of taxing and spending than white Democrats! (http://www.vdare.com/sailer/pew.htm
Immigration reduction is a proven vote-getter. Look at Tom Tancredo.
Look at the recent California election. In a liberal state, the majority of the electorate chose candidates who were perceived to be tougher on immigration, and tossed out a governor who followed exactly the policies Morris tells us will help the GOP!
Near the end of the article, Morris falls into globalist pseudo-humanitarian claptrap : “America has 4 percent of the world's population but 25 percent of its wealth. It is incumbent on us to open our doors to those who seek upward mobility.” So what are you suggesting, Dick? That we open our doors to the entire 6-billion population of Planet Earth ? Most countries in the world, after all, are poorer than Mexico!
And speaking of Mexico, Morris informs us that
“ The only thing standing between subsistence and starvation in Mexico, and much of Central America is the money sent home to needy families by hard working men and women in the United States who tend our gardens, wash our dishes and clean our floors.”
On the contrary, mass emigration encourages the leaders of Mexico and other nations to postpone economic reforms! Vicente Fox was widely seen as a hope for change in Mexico when elected (with Dick Morris’ help) in 2000. Here it is 2004, and no substantive changes has been made. But Fox is still agitating for the U.S. to open its border.
Emigration from Mexico to the U.S. breaks up families, encourages deadbeat dads to abandon their children and gives Mexico’s leaders an excuse to put off economic reforms. Do you really want to help Mexico?
Close the border and you’ll see Fox and the opposition get serious about reforms.
Not only will the Bush Proposal not win the Hispanic vote, it will likely lose votes among the Republican base. American voter-taxpayers outside the country club are fuming over this proposal. I’m not talking about the Hollywood Left or other pathological Bush-haters. I´m talking about ordinary Americans, faithful Republicans who voted for George W. Bush, who have defended him, who supported the Iraq war. Many of these people feel betrayed. They feel that Bush takes them granted. Are their votes of no value? President Bush believes they will vote Republican come November because they have nowhere else to go. He might be surprised.
Morris is wrong. The Bush Proposal will not save the Republican party. It may however, help to destroy it.
Allan Wall, what a joke. Morris is shrewd except when his article doesn't mesh with Wall's narrow minded agenda.
Most average people yawn at the President's program fro undocumented workers. For those that hate immigrants, they should be happy. The social security proposal will encourage them to return home after working here. There is something in his plan for everyone to like.
Those of you who don't like this PROPOSAL ( and it is not a fait accompli) should make the effort to propose changes to the President's proposal, both here and to members of Congress.
It is necessary to face the fact that deporting all illegals is physically and economically impossible, as well as no doubt destroying the Republican party for the next generation. The media would crucify us, and public opinion would be pushed to support the illegals.
So let us have some positive discussion of alternatives and less of the insults to the President and his supporters.
You must be new to these immigration threads. Why I think Sabertooth has some 10 point manifesto that involves mining the border and sterilings their pets!
sterilizing
Morris and Wall are just selling ink.
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