Blum and Gloom LV

[Week 54 / Week 55 / Week 56]

Delay Pro Immigration

Speaking to a gathering of College Republicans in the DC area, ex-Majority Leader and Texas crook Tom Delay admitted the need for immigrant labor.

"If we had those 40 million children that were killed over the last 30 years, we wouldn’t need the illegal immigrants to fill the jobs that they are doing today."

Since Delay recognizes that we currently have a labor deficit, maybe he can use his behind-the-scenes power to persuade some of his Republican friends to support immigration reform?

Of course, there is the dilemma over on the far-right. With former Education Secretary (and part-time high rolling gambler) Bill Bennett's observation that we could bring down crime in America if only we were to abort all the black babies (sounds biblical, dudn't it?), Delay may be willing to allow some abortions, even if it means letting in a few brown people.

Immigration Dead

They are reporting that immigration reform is dead until after the '08 election. Do you really want to wait until 2009 to begin the next attempt to resolve this issue? What's especially psychotic is the breakdown of the votes. The Senate is essentially equally divided if not tilted slightly in favor of the GOP when you count Sen. Bernie Sanders (Socialist from Vermont) among the Democrats and toss Joe "the Schmo" Lieberman in with the Republicans. With Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) sidelined since December with a brain hemorrhage, he does not vote and so the GOP benefits from a 50-49 advantage.

The immigration bill needed three fifths of the Senate (60 votes) to proceed. It didn't even get a simple majority (43 yea, 56 nay). This is being reported as a defeat for Bush, who supported gittin'er done with the immigration bill. He was joined by a majority of the Democrats however, including such stars as Clinton, Kennedy, Kerry, Obama and Oregon's own Ron Wyden. A majority of the Senate Republicans (including Gordon Smith, R-OR) however opposed the bill and they were joined by several significant Dems including the "Dean" of the Senate, Bob Byrd and rising star freshmen Jon Tester (D-MT) and Jim Webb (D-VA), not to mention the Socialist, Sanders. (Lieberman voted not surprisingly with Bush).

Is your head spinning yet?

Reasons for supporting or rejecting the legislation are as varied and contradictory as the Senators casting their votes. Many championed the "comprehensive" nature of the bill, filled with everything for money for border fences and a crackdown on illegal employers. Though no senator would admit it, some oppose a wall because it would dry up the cheap labor enjoyed by their corporate donors. It is also possible that some equate border security with xenophobia. Certainly there are doughy eyed "give me your huddled masses" Dems in the rank and file (or is it forest and meadow) who oppose any restrictions on immigration and anything resembling a wall.

The bill also set forth a pathway to citizenship for millions of presently undocumented workers as well as a program for "guest workers." These were poison pills for many on both sides of the isle. Most Republicans consider it "amnesty" to grant citizenship to any illegal immigrant, despite the fees/fines imposed and English language requirements. Many liberals consider a guest worker program a formula for eternal second class citizenship. (In fact, it makes no provision for citizenship at all) and therefore believe that the bill wouldn't end the current exploitation of the estimated 12 million undocumented workers in the US.

The Wall

I consider myself to be a dyed in the hemp liberal. So it rather concerns me that conservative bloggers are picking up on "my" idea that any rational immigration policy must start with border security.

Most conservative bloggers see border enforcement as the priority, an issue they say the president can enforce on his own without having to push a bill through Congress.

According to several top conservative bloggers, Bush simply has a credibility problem when it comes to border security.

CNN: June 15, 2007 [more...]

My Immigration Plan

The immigration issue hit home today when federal agents raided a local business. I am just an ordinary American, but take seriously the proposition that walling up America's borders is not only the most progressive answer to America's immigration crisis, but is in the end the only way forward on this divisive issue. Any resolution seems to be mired in the fact that the natural political groupings (Democratic, Republican) are split as to legalization or deportation. Opinion as to whether or not the estimated 10 million undocumented laborers ought to be allowed to work here openly may be broadly broken down as follows:

1. Legalize the immigrants' status (or at least let them stay for a while):
– Businesses both big and small which rely on these low wage undocumented / under the table workers.
– Well-meaning left leaning types who oppose their exploitation.

2. Send the immigrants back:
– Socio-ethnocentric citizens with jingoistic tendencies.
– Union Democrats who want to better control the size of the labor pool.

To form a coalition large enough to move legislation through the Senate, I propose the following:

Secure our borders. A wall would make for a nice public works project (assuming it's not outsourced to Halliburton). I've traveled back and forth across the "Iron Curtain" in the days of dogs and guns. Imagine what could be done with modern technologies. The opposition from those in group 1 above could be overcome by presenting this as a homeland security issue. Blast corporate America for putting profits over national security.

With the flow of cheap labor reduced to a trickle, Big Money will finally be motivated to negotiate. They'll support an amnesty/citizenship plan and sell it to the American people. (Advertising works!) This would placate the liberals from group 1 and with reasoned constraints on the number of immigrants to be legalized, the labor Democrats from group 2 should also come on board. The only constituency who would remain vocally dissatisfied should all these steps be taken would be the bigots from group 2.

The concept of "illegal alien" is in some sense artificial, yet also a reality of our own making. My grandparents and great-grandparents came from Europe in the late 19th century. Their labor was needed and they didn't need to sneak into the country. A hundred years later, we still have a labor deficit, but we force non-native born workers underground. This is immoral and a national disgrace.

Lou Dobbs has similar views... "Give it a rest, Mr. President"