[Will88]

People see the cynical calculations on this issue and are loosing what little moral authority the govt has left.

That's entirely true, actually they have no moral authority, only the authority that comes with their positions. And their reckless and irresponsible fiscal shenanigans puts them into a serious deficit of moral authority. After this election, the Tea Party movement and others need to elevate immigration enforcement to their top few reasons for outrage and become much more vocal about it.

Whoever is in Congress in January, citizens will have to watch them like hawks and start working on the next members who need to be ousted.

[Mad_as_heck]

I think the key in getting traction on the immigration issue is breaking the matter up into its logical parts. Step #1 is building an effective border fence and ensuring that the legal and law enforcement foundations for preventing future illegal immigration are firmly in place. Obviously this is the ultimate case of closing the barn door after the cow has escaped but its an absolutely necessary first step.

Its amazing how utterly "issue free" the public sphere has become in this country. All cynical name calling and mud slinging. Fiddling while Rome burns. All the real issues are just ignored.

In a very real way that is why we are in the mess we are in now. Forcing the debate back onto the actual issues is not only essential in and of itself but the key to future electoral success.