The Straight Talk Express was running on three flat tires and just had a blowout on the good tire that was remaining. I don’t think he has a spare. He might run for a while on the rims. But it looks like his trip to the Whitehouse in 2008 is practically over.
Although the new immigration bill is not Senator John McCain’s bill, or the McCain - Kennedy immigration bill, McCain was a key architect and strongly supports it. The bill is being called Bush - Kennedy and it comes in great part from John McCain’s fellow Arizona Senator Jon Kyl. On May 17th, the day that news broke that a deal was reached, McCain rushed back to Washington. He hailed the deal as “historic”.
How quickly will it kill McCain’s chances? That depends on how much his name gets associated with the bill in the media and at political events related to the 2008 race. It depends on how much the other 2008 presidential candidates scoff at the (McCain) amnesty bill; how much it is talked about with derision.
Mitt Romney was right to speak out against it immediately. By doing so he connected with those who are concerned about the illegal immigration problem.
“I strongly oppose today’s bill going through the Senate. It is the wrong approach. Any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, as the new ‘Z-Visa’ does, is a form of amnesty. That is unfair to the millions of people who have applied to legally immigrate to the U.S.
“Today’s Senate agreement falls short of the actions needed to both solve our country’s illegal immigration problem and also strengthen our legal immigration system. Border security and a reliable employment verification system must be our first priority.” –Governor Mitt Romney On The Senate Immigration Agreement, May 17, 2007
Besides these very compelling reasons why Governor Romney believes that it’s wrong, let me suggest a few more.
- We as a country have not enforced our current immigration laws. What makes anyone believe that we will be able to enforce a new set of laws as laid out in this new bill?
- The proposals - that illegal immigrants pay $5,000, that the head of household must return to his former country and re-enter legally, and that they must pay back taxes, make it likely that illegal immigrants will stay in the shadows (as they are currently) rather than try to meet the requirements.
- The bill doesn’t do enough to secure our borders. Secure borders should come first.
- It’s entirely possible that once news of this compromise hits Mexico, a virtual stampede of illegal immigrants looking to take advantage of the opportunity will cross into the U.S. placing a huge burden on our government and social services. As Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says, “illegality only promotes illegality”.
- It says to the world that we do not enforce our laws and that we as a country have no backbone.
- It rewards those that have broken our laws. Those illegal immigrants that have used fake or stolen social security numbers and have not been paying taxes do not deserve amnesty. “You cannot both reward border infiltration and stop border infiltration”. –Mac Johnson
- Elected Senators and Representatives pledge to uphold the constitution and sustain the law. This legislation flies in the face of those who respect the oaths of office.
The agreement stinks.
Proponents of this insane Guest Worker Amnesty Program want to rush it through the process as fast as possible. I frankly cannot blame them for this. If I were attempting to deceive the American people and those decent politicians who truly want to represent their constituents and all citizens of our nation, the faster I could push this bill through the process the better. Legislation that smells this bad needs to be moved very quickly so that no one realizes how bad the stench is until it is too late and it is a done deal.
John McCain said, “We all know this issue can be caught up in extracurricular politics unless we move forward as quickly as possible.” This is how con artists operate. I find it reprehensible that there are members of both houses of Congress and candidates for the highest elected office of the United States who would act as mere charlatans! Any politician who could conduct himself in that fashion has made it clear that he is not worthy of our trust and should have his political head handed to him. –Exclusive: So Much for the 9/11 Commission Report’s Recommendations, May 20, 2007
Empty our jails of illegal immigrants who are non-violent offenders and deport them. It’s too much of a burden on our tax payers to keep them incarcerated.
The American citizenry, irrespective of political stripe, are compassionate people. But let’s also have compassion for the American taxpayers who are already footing the bills for these illegal aliens, which are regularly utilizing our criminal justice system, social services (mothers with anchor babies), health care and education systems (for their children). Although the exact numbers are in dispute, my sense of it is that at least one in four illegal aliens are having run-ins with law enforcement, with drug-related crime, assaults, domestic violence, driving while intoxicated, and driving without a valid license cited as the usual activities. Criminal aliens comprise about 30 percent of the prisoners in federal facilities. –Conservatives poised to battle over immigration proposal, May 21, 2007
