Third Party & Independents: Archives

Dang they didn’t waste much time huh? Unbelivable, the one thing the country seems to be united on and we get this crap. If reps were surprised that the people didn’t forget about the spending they are gonna be shocked if this passes. Just the mere fact they keep trying to shove this thru is enough to make changes imo.

NumbersUSA reports 24 hours later:

“The feedback we are getting from you about your phone calls and the intelligence your NumbersUSA Capitol Hill Team is picking up suggests that Senate Republican Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is not nearly as solid in passing the Bush/Kennedy amnesty tonight as he was last night.

A couple of the Republicans who we thought were likely YES votes on amnesty are telling constituents they are definite NO votes.

And we’re starting to see signs that a couple of last week’s Democratic YES votes are turning to NO. “

David R, you have been (absolutely) correct about these politicians for a long (long) time, brotha. I told you last week that the citizens of Georgia protested Senator Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, two of the Republicans in on the “back-room deal” immigration bill, and (as a result) they voted against the cloture vote. Nice. They both sent this letter to the President that most Americans can be proud of.

“As we travel around Georgia and continue to hear from our constituents, the message from a majority of Georgians is that they have no trust that the United States Government will enforce the laws contained in this new legislation and secure the border first. This lack of trust is rooted in the mistakes made in 1986 and the continued chaos surrounding our immigration laws. Understandably, the lack of credibility the federal government has on this issue gives merit to the skepticism of many about future immigration reform.”

Then you see the rassmusen poll that shows you (exactly) where the American public is (and has been) on this issue.
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters would favor an approach that focuses exclusively on “exclusively on securing the border and reducing illegal immigration.” Support for the enforcement only approach comes from 84% of Republicans, 55% of Democrats, and 69% of those not affiliated with either major party. Overall, just 21% are opposed to the enforcement-only approach.

Added to which, you hear this ********* Trent Lott besmirching talk radio b/c they were the medium that helped defeat this bill; a bill that Lott was in favor of. What a friggin douchebag!! These politicians are a bunch of elitist and they cannot take it when the American people stand up and speak up for OUR nation; bunch of friggin elitist!! You were right David R…

Thanks, rahdigly. I take no joy or comfort in calling this the way it is. It disturbs me intensely as a father of a 16 year old, who must face and carry the burden beset upon her for decades to come, by these incumbent representatives of the special interests who put wealthy campaign donors and political party way ahead of representing our nation and her people, present and future.

China is beginning to build an auto manufacturing plant just across from the U.S. border in Mexico under the NAFTA provisions which will permit the Chinese to export cars into the U.S. duty free using far cheaper Mexican labor.

I mention this only because it demonstrates the kind of long term planning and commitment that authoritarian capitalist nations are using to tear the economic leadership role of America away from us. But, they can ONLY do this BECAUSE our politicians refuse to take that long term planning and commitment vision into their own deliberations and legislation. And they refuse to do so precisely because of our current campaign finance system which forces politicians to look to the next election’s financing as their first priority when it comes to governance, and that means putting the people and the nation in the back seat and the wealthy campaign and party donors in the front seat.

We cannot compete with nations like China, Russia, India, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, etc, by constantly taking the short term view demanded by special interests looking to next year’s and the next couple year’s bottom line. Not with many of these other nations planning and working for dominance in the latter half of this century.

China began sacrificing ideology for their Mexican auto plant across our border at least before we negotiated our trade agreements, especially, NAFTA which, opened the Mexican door for China to compete with our own manufacturing just a mile or two from our border. Our politicians are incapable of this kind of long term strategic planning and optimization because of our campaign financing system which forces them to heed the short term interests of their donors.

This is why I truly believe America’s salvation lies in the voters kicking incumbents out in increasing numbers while demanding effective campaign finance reform until the newly elected recognize they have no political future without that reform passing.

David, it seem to me that if these Senators flip their votes on a bill they’ve already voted against, we need to at least pay attention to whatever compromise provisions lead them to do so.

I’m not optimistic, considering that the majority of Democratic Senators are dead-set on providing massive amnesty and lax border enforcement, but I’ll at least take a hard look at a new bill with different provisions if one is offered.

I don’t think the problem is with having ANY immigration bill. The problem is that the first one was terrible, and a second version is going to have be quite different before it deserves to be supported. The major villians in this story are not 15 wavering Republican Senators, but virtually all of the Democrats and the president.

The major villians to me, as a person inclined to vote R, are Mccain and any other R he can influence. He’s going down hard with this and I couldn’t be happier he’s always been a squirrel. The Pres. is lame duck so all anger towards him is useless.
As for the D it’s business as usual, didn’t expect anything less, always looking for a new victim, I mean voting base. In this case it comes at whatever cost.

MEXICANS ARE GOOD PEOPLE

It is very important to remember that unlike Black Americans, bigotry against Mexican Americans is still not being fully addressed.

Amnesty should continue to be part of our approach when attempting to solve our immigration problems with Mexico. The contributions hard-working Mexican Americans make to our society easily wipe out any so-called “free benefits” legal or non-legal immigrants may obtain through local, state, and federal programs.

Unlike some other Americans, many Mexican Americans are good people who possess a deep faith in Almighty God. Therefore they deserve to be treated with compassion & respect. In addition, we should double or triple the number of immigrants allowed on an annual basis with our friends from Mexico.

We must not forget that it is only with great difficulty & through hard work at low-paying jobs few other Americans want that many Mexicans eventually become citizens of the United States. It truly a blessing that so many Mexicans seek the opportunities the USA offers, & we should be honored to receive them in greater numbers into our country.

Vincent Bemowski
Website: Catholic Messages USA

Loyal Opp, I agree with everything you say, except whose to blame. All of the incumbents who got reelected in Nov. 2006 are to blame regardless of party for not having forced the President to enforce the laws Congress had previously passed. Then there are all those who voted for a Comprehensive Immigration bill, instead of a Border Security Bill first and foremost and stand alone.

Look, the great charade going on here is that effective Border Security is going to put a huge hit on the deficit unless taxes are raised or other spending is cut significantly. We are talking somewhere in the 50 to 100 billion dollars or more if ports and borders are to be secured.

The Democrats don’t want to cut spending. The Republicans don’t want to raise taxes. The Compromise is to do a comprehensive bill that does a little of everything and nothing solidly, (hence the reference to “Swiss Cheese” in referring to the Amnesty Bill) while keeping the cost from punching up the deficits in a dramatic way.

So, as far as I am concerned, they are all lying, and they are all to blame, even those minority Republicans calling for Border Security first, because when they had control of Congress they didn’t even touch the issue. Now they are using the issue to bash Democrats with, which is to say, they are using the issue primarily for political purposes.

Vincent, our illegal immigration problem has nothing to do with bigotry or prejudice. If we lived next to Russia or Scotland, the problem would be the same. And of course, the Border Security issue which absolutely should have been addressed in the months following 9/11, has nothing to do with Mexicans, but, everything to do with controlling easy entry to our country by our enemies.

Raising the prejudice issue is a Red Herring designed to throw focus off the real problems and issues of security, wage pressures, tax liabilities, and uncontrolled and illegal growth in population numbers.

andy, I have to give Democrats credit for making this an issue. Something only a handful of Republicans tried to do when they had control of Congress. Republicans weren’t interested in the border security and illegal immigrant issues until it could be used against the Democrats after they took control.

Vincent Bemowski

“It is very important to remember that unlike Black Americans, bigotry against Mexican Americans is still not being fully addressed.”

this is a boldfaced lie. no one i know has a problem with mexicans immigrating to this country in a legal fashion.

“Amnesty should continue to be part of our approach when attempting to solve our immigration problems with Mexico.”

no that would be a mistake. the minute the bill is signed 1000s more will steam across the border to take part.

“contributions hard-working Mexican Americans make to our society easily wipe out any so-called “free benefits” legal or non-legal immigrants may obtain through local, state, and federal programs.”

this is another lie. they tend to have large families, and those born here are then entitled to public educations, and many social programs, not to mention the cost to our ERs. the cost of the services provided far out weighs any benefits they may provide.

these are typical arguments used by the catholic church used to bolster thier ranks, with the rest of us being left to foot the bill for the services provided.

david

you are absolutely correct, these senators have no other interest than protecting thier corporate contributors. the people of this country have spoken loud and clear on this subject, NO AMNESTY, SECURE THE BORDERS, TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE EMPLOYERS, the arrogance of these over inflated blowhards is absolutely amazing. BTW many of the dems ran on being tough on illegal immigration. it will be interesting to see whether they honor thier commitments to thier constituants, or bow to the pressure of thier leadership, after all they see millions of new voters. if this passes, and i hope it doesn’t, the next election cycle should be very interesting. this may actually make people angry enough to actually vote out these incumbents. exellent piece.

Thanks, dbs, for your comments. The majority of Americans hold the same view. The trick is trying to get us all to act in one direction to change the circumstances.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform is like trying to patch a leaking hose still under water pressure. It can’t be done, effectively. You must turn the water pressure off (stop the flow of illegal immigrants), before the patches will work.

This simple common sense understanding of the American people is being DENIED by our politicians. It’s not because they are idiots. It is not because they are more foolish than the average American. It IS because the special interests won’t allow them to BOTH receive campaign financing AND turn off the water pressure.

Our politicians are choosing to retain their campaign financing, rather than turn off the spigot. So, what are the voters going to do in 2008? Reelect them, or, vote them out by voting for challengers to their offices?

Voting out incumbents is the only rational choice as far as I can see. And doing so has the potential of getting far more problems than border security and illegal immigration solved, when the new guys see the American voters won’t tolerate the sell-out to the special interests anymore.