The Payoff for Annoying Congress
Oh it sounds impressive. ‘A failure of leadership in a flawed political culture’ conjures images of great moments in history. But that is not the case. It is more of the same pathetic concerns displayed by some members of Congress and the White House. How do they keep the money rolling in from lobbyists representing those who profit from illegal immigration? How do each of the major political parties sway the most Latino votes? In every case, those who support amnesty have only a financial incentive that is blinding them from following the law and doing the right thing.
The review of the illegal immigration issue and its implications on national and economic security is not difficult to understand. The fact that the government would ignore existing immigration law and allow millions of illegal immigrants to enter the country exposes the US to obvious and unnecessary security risks. How many terrorists can enter the same way and pose an unacceptable risk to national security? Not to mention the fact that not all illegal immigrants are here with good intentions.
The strain placed on public funds including programs for housing, food and medical services as well as social security and law enforcement and the very agencies and departments set up to manage immigration and border security, will damage our economic security.
The WaPo article hints that the public wants Congress to offer a solution to illegal immigration. Again, more legislation is not the answer. Had the government enforced existing law before we would not be having these discussions. Doing nothing or offering amnesty are one in the same. The flow of illegal immigration will continue under either condition.
The real question is what can Congress do to enforce immigration law? It is the legislative branch and enforcement is not their responsibility. It would be fair to say that the President is the country’s top executive and has it within his power or the power of the Office of President of the United States to demand and oversee law enforcement. Since the President is obviously in favor of amnesty and all the Congress can do is pass laws, little hope exists for solving this problem as things currently stand. And the next President will be a question mark on immigration unless it would happen to be Tom Tancredo. Or at least the country’s best bet for fixing immigration problems is Mr Tancredo.
Next in line on immigration enforcement chances would be Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson. None of the other candidates offer any chance of the situation on illegal immigration improving or being solved.
Another joke in the WaPo article is implying a third party candidate may be necessary to end the stalemate in Congress for ending illegal immigration. Since the historic best performance of a third party Presidential candidate remains H Ross Perot at about 19% of the votes, the chances for a third party victory are slim. And WaPo’s mention of Michael Bloomberg is ridiculous even if he ran and won. There is no way he would oppose amnesty and correct the problem eliminating illegals.
And it was not ‘anti-immigration forces’ that put the pressure on Washington. That is just another ploy to lay blame and subtly refer to the opposition as racist. It is more correctly ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION forces for the truth challenged. With over 500 initiatives in various states and locales around the country to fight illegal immigration, it should be clear to the open borders crowd that a vast number of American citizens are fed up with illegal immigration and everyone involved with it.
And the one final item in the WaPo article worth mentioning is about leadership. The illegal immigration issue aside from its own importance is telling about one more fact and possibility. The White House and Congress have show proof of an unwillingness to represent ordinary Americans. Being unwilling more than unable to solve illegal immigration does point to their lack of leadership and willingness to solve other major issues. The possibility is that everything is coming together to foster an uprising of sorts by long established American citizens to take back their government for real. If the pressure on Washington continues through 2008, politicians may be convinced that power of an angry electorate will trump the lobbyists and take back control of these United States. One cannot only hope. One can continue to force the voices to be heard as is happening right now. This will bring necessary change and become self-sustaining with a few more successes.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com
A Failure of Leadership in a Flawed Political Culture
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 8, 2007; A04The collapse of comprehensive immigration revision in the Senate last night represents a political defeat for President Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the bill’s most prominent sponsors. More significantly, it represents a scathing indictment of the political culture of Washington.
The defeat of the legislation can be laid at the doorstep of opponents on the right and left, on congressional leaders who couldn’t move their troops and on an increasingly weakened president and his White House team. But together it added up to another example of a polarized political system in which the center could not hold.
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June 8th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
In every case, those who support amnesty have only a financial incentive that is blinding them from following the law and doing the right thing.
Youre right on spot Stanford!
June 9th, 2007 at 1:08 am
We The People DEMANDED that the CONgress NOT pass this non-amnesty amnesty bill. The CONgress Critters are angry with US. They have “forgotten” that they have been elected/chosen/hired to do OUR bidding and NOT the other way around.
This war is NOT over by a long shot as reid has so stated.
June 9th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
I believe our next step is to research a few things, like who hires significant numbers of illegal immigrants over citizens and legal immigrants and hurt them where they live: in the wallet. Sure, it might mean a little sacrifice on our part because we’ll have to pay more for some products, goods, and services but if we don’t, these conversations will continue the way they are now and nothing will be done.
If our government doesn’t want to enforce the existing laws that’s their problem… and it’s quite apparent that they don’t want to enforce them.
So, let’s hit them all where it hurts. I believe the sacrifices we make in such an endeavor will be quite less than the sacrifices we’ll make if we allow things to continue as is. I’m sure there are other ways we can fight this. We just have to put on our thinking caps and start organizing movements.
June 9th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
This may be a unique opportunity to continue the pressure on Congress as well as the White House to cause Washington to actually listen and act upon demands of citizens. For so long it was just special interest. The current failure of S. 1348 is evidence that not only special interest can be effective. Continue the pressure on this and other issues. We have until the end of the 2008 election cycle to retrain politicians. Simple emails are sufficient to make a point.
I received responses from every Senator from an email form submission. Granted, they were form letter responses based on the email form I filled out. I used their address as mine to avoid getting deleted automatically. The fact that they all returned more than a autoresponder message was a surprise. Now I use my own address, etc., and still get answered. They feel the pressure. Keep it up.