May 17, 2007
GOP Caves to Good Economics
Hugh Hewitt has been hyperventilating all morning that the GOP Senate was about to "cave" on immigration reform. I resent this, because the language and tactics were taken from efforts to bolster the GOP House and Senate in supporting the troops and the war. Hewitt commandeers this pitch, implicitly comparing Immigration with the war.
I don't mind calling the war Dogma de Fide for the Republican Party (See, I learned something in Catholic Schools, Dogma de Fide, "of faith," is what you must believe to be Catholic.)
But there is a large body of intelligent opposition to Hewitt's immigration views, including Larry Kudlow, William Kristol, President Bush and me. If the four of us are "not Republican enough" you have a losing party. The Senate has passed a compromise bill. I don't know all the particulars but I applaud it. AP
WASHINGTON - Key senators in both parties announced agreement with the White House Thursday on an immigration overhaul that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border.The plan would create a temporary worker program to bring new arrivals to the U.S. A separate program would cover agricultural workers. New high-tech enforcement measures also would be instituted to verify that workers are here legally.
The compromise came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with President Bush's Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences.
Take a deep breath, guys, it's going to be okay... Immigration Posted by jk at May 17, 2007 2:12 PM
Citizenship. What about citizenship? The franchise?
"They could come forward right away to claim a probationary card that would let them live and work legally in the U.S., but could not begin the path to permanent residency or citizenship until border security improvements and the high-tech worker identification program were completed."
OK, but what is this "path to citizenship?" Permanent residency I'm less concerned with.
Posted by: johngalt at May 17, 2007 4:04 PMOne more day and some introspection later, I'm now more concerned with permanent residency.
Once these illegal immigrants become permanently and irrevocably legal we'll have a genuine two-tiered society split between those who can vote and those who cannot. What will be the persuasive argument that prevents granting the franchise to non-citizens? "They were't born here? They don't speak our language? They don't pay taxes?" Wait. Scratch that last one. This is a major argument in support of the legalization push. These lame reasons won't stand a chance against "No more taxation without representation" and "Non-citizen permanent immigrants are the new emancipated slave class - equal rights for the unfairly downtrodden!"
If the 12 to 30 million existing illegal immigrants are granted residency then their ability to vote themselves an ever increasing basket of goodies at public expense (read: wealth creating taxpayers) is a fait accompli.
Posted by: johngalt at May 18, 2007 2:57 PM | What do you think? [2]