Posted on 08/25/2006 5:27:28 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
It’s the question of the decade if not the question of the century: “Why is there such a disconnect between the political class and the people of the United States on the issue of illegal immigration?” The easy answers are that Republicans want cheap labor for their big-business contributors and Democrats see a near-limitless source of new votes.
Conventional wisdom rarely goes beyond that point, but really, labor and votes are mere surface issues. To some extent, and perhaps even unconsciously, our political elites seem to feel that many of their problems -- stuff like the recent Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal -- are really the fault of their constituents. Those darned voters sometimes organize, write letters, go on the blogs, and complain about high taxes -- sometimes they even vote a politician out of office. The nerve!
Perhaps a better class of constituents could be found that in time might begin to replace the whiners that our officials have to deal with now. You know -- a new type of voter that could be shaped into a perfect constituent that would never demand term limits or open government.
That’s the conclusion of Fredo Arias-King, who met privately with at least 80 members of Congress while handling public relations for then-candidate Vicente Fox in 1999 and 2000. The Harvard-educated Arias-King made 14 trips to the United States for Fox and attended both of the American political conventions. He says 90 percent of the officials that he spoke to wanted big increases in immigration. A few, he says, disparaged their white constituents calling them “rednecks” and apologizing for their views on immigration.
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
Someday Washington will learn to respect the sleeping giant awakening......
This article sums up the problem better than any other writing on this topic.
Yep, we've already seen the truth in this during the national referendum on immigration in Utah.
"Those of us who support Rule of Law have asked this question about President George W. Bush and about so many of our officials. Why would anyone want to take a country such as the United States that has worked remarkably well as a democratic society and change it into something that resembles a third world country with few property rights and no middle class?"
Why indeed?
The replacements would be drawn at random from the pool of registered voters who voted in the last election. They would be in the same proportion as the current Republican:Democrat representation in the Congress.
And we would be better served...
The McCain-Feingold Incumbent Protection And Media Empowerment Act of 2002 should've told us what was in store.
PRIX, all of em.
" disparaged their white constituents calling them “rednecks” and apologizing for their views on immigration".
"Yep, we've already seen the truth in this during the national referendum on immigration in Utah."
Take a conservative agriculture state, like Utah.
Take a solid conservative candidate, with ACU ratings as close to perfect as usually found.
The citizens and voters of Utah are NOT one issue people. They considered Cannon across the spectrum of topics, and how he had served in the past.
I hardly call that election a tell-all for the American people on illegal immigration.
Poll after poll clearly shows how the political class is out of step with the voters on illegal immigration.
My sense is that writers who bring up illegal immigration 2 months before an election are actually trying to sow discord in the Republican Party prior to an election. Whether it's Pat Buchanen, Charles Krauthammer, or whoever else, they want discord. Perhaps it's to gain an advantage in readership. Who knows?
Some of them are hoping to injure the party. They do not want Pres. Bush to be able to appoint any more Supreme Court justices.
They certainly don't want another constitutional conservative as our next president because that man will appoint more constructionist judges.
Their hope is to derail first, this election, and afterwards the 2008 election.
Somebody should have told bay buchanan and tom tancredo that before they poured so much money and so many volunteers into an election "they" labeled a national referendum on immigration.
We voted against Joe Schwarz here in Michigan. Tim Walberg concentrated pretty heavilly on immigration in his campaign and won. We may be a "blue state" but you couldn't tell that from our referendum votes.
Chris Cannon was on the brink of losing the primary, until his opponent claimed that Satan was trying to defeat his campaign.
Supply and demand. For wage and salary costs for jobs that can't be cut physically outsourced abroad, persons are insourced via immigration.
The Casinos, Chain Restaurants, Developers, all that are putting money into this campaign via pressure groups, ethnic front-orgs and campaign contributions are rational actors. The want to juice profits. The economic well being of Americans is seen as a market barrier.
The politicians don't look ahead to the health of their "party" 20 years from now. There is no such loyalty or foresight. Rove and others might have started the ball on this by claiming we had to let in millions for the sake of the Republican Party but that's just a coverstory for the money. The money doesn't care where the people come from. The consequence for this policy is not how America will look like Latin America, but how it will be economically stratified like Latin America.
"My sense is that writers who bring up illegal immigration 2 months before an election are actually trying to sow discord in the Republican Party prior to an election."
Wait until you see Republican politicians bring it up in the next months. 10 seat R pick-up I predict.
Yeah right. Rich Republicans can tell these poor humble immigrant servants to vote GOP and they will just say, "Si senor boss man, I do whatever you say!." Total baloney!!!! For every 100 immigrants there will be 105 votes for Democrats!!!! Any one who does not think so is kidding themselves.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.