On immigration, U.S. public leading its supposed ‘leaders’
In Georgia alone, more than 10,000 immigrants who were brought to this country illegally as children have applied for a temporary reprieve to protect them from deportation. That’s a significant number, especially when you consider that the program was only announced five months ago.
There are a couple of ways to think about numbers that large.
Those who believe that illegal immigrants are by definition criminals who pose a threat to this nation’s economic security, soveriegnty and even ethnic identity would find 10,000 an ominous number. The same would be true of the 300,000 that have applied so far nationwide. And of course, that 300,000 in turn represent just a small subset of the 12 million or so illegal immigrants now in the country.
But there’s another way to look at it as well. The 10,000 applicants from Georgia — all of them between the ages of 15 and 31 — are people who think of themselves as Americans, who have lived much of their lives in this country and who very much want to be Americans. Most speak excellent English. They are not here, as some stereotypes would have it, to live off the rest of us.
In fact, to even be eligible for the program, these children of illegal immigrants must have graduated from an American high school, have earned a GED or still be in school. And while qualifying under the federal program makes them eligible for a temporary permit to work in this country, it does not make them eligible for government benefits of any kind.
And again, some 10,000 such people have applied in Georgia alone.
I understand that many Americans who take the first point of view about illegal immigrants are unlikely to change their minds. But the question is, where does that perpective lead us? If we take that position as a country, what policy options flow from it? If we insist that those people be treated as criminals, our only options are to try to identify them and deport them by force — all 12 million of them.
As a practical matter, that simply isn’t going to happen. It would be far too expensive, far too time-consuming and far to disruptive to the communities in which those 12 million have made their home. And as a matter of morality, it shouldn’t happen. Because here’s the thing that is acknowledged too seldom in this debate:
The vast majority of those who entered this country illegally in the past 25 years were lured to make lives here under an immigration enforcement regime that was lax not by accident or incompetence, but by design. We did little to enforce our borders, and even less to patrol the workplace, because our leaders made a conscious choice that in a booming economy, we could look the other way and make good use of their labor.
We — as a nation — broke our own laws, out of our own sense of greed. To now turn around and try to boot these people out because they are no longer convenient for us is not the act of a great nation.
And the American people understand that fact. In the wake of the election, a lot of attention has been focused on how poorly Republican candidates did among Latino voters. But the American people as a whole are also eager ready to resolve this question. In exit polling, 65 percent of all voters said that illegal immigrants ought to be given the chance to become citizens. Only 28 percent said they should be deported.
The public, in other words, is far ahead of its supposed leadership on this issue.
– Jay Bookman
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488 comments Add your comment
josef
November 20th, 2012
7:00 pm
BROSEPHUS
Wait a second…Football IS a science at UA….
RF
What happens at deer camp, stays at deer camp.
Paul
November 20th, 2012
7:01 pm
Pleasant weekend and days of giving thanks, all -
Brosephus™
November 20th, 2012
7:03 pm
Football IS a science at UA
Not only that, one can major AND minor in football on the way to receiving a PhD in football.
josef
November 20th, 2012
7:04 pm
BROSEPHUS
“If there were more than one of us here, then one of us would be killed off before the opening credits finish running.”
Now thass a
Real Scootter
November 20th, 2012
7:05 pm
I got it RF! That was hilarious.
josef
November 20th, 2012
7:06 pm
BROSEPHUS
And then there’s tenure in R &D…
Soothsayer
November 20th, 2012
7:07 pm
Here’s a fun song you’re bound to enjoy! It features David (Dawg) Grisman, Vassar Clements from “Old and In the Way,” and Ricky Scaggs, Tony Rice and J.D. Crowe. Missing is Jerry Garcia. Give a listen!
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 20th, 2012
7:07 pm
Bro
And he’s likely an AUBURN Grad.
Brosephus™
November 20th, 2012
7:08 pm
josef
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackDudeDiesFirst
Brosephus™
November 20th, 2012
7:10 pm
http://voices.yahoo.com/why-dont-want-black-guy-horror-512616.html
Real Scootter
November 20th, 2012
7:12 pm
Soothsayer
November 20th, 2012
7:07 pm
Dang Sooth,if that don’t make ya pat your foot and clap your hands there is something wrong wicha!
RF
November 20th, 2012
7:12 pm
Here’s another Robin Williams video since I’m on that theme tonight that sums up politics in the last ten years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOE5ztEHFeY&feature=related
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 20th, 2012
7:13 pm
Bro
we know you are the sensitive type so it would probably be you.
Bent over taking care of someone and then whack with the axe LOL
RF
November 20th, 2012
7:15 pm
And here’s one he did in London after Obama was elected- really funny!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psh2a72_JfY&feature=related
An Illegal Immigrant Or A Racist Con?
November 20th, 2012
7:15 pm
Bienvenido a América
Thulsa Doom
November 20th, 2012
7:17 pm
The reason football is more important than science in Alabama is cause we got our priorities straight.
Respect Saban! Do it!
JamVet
November 20th, 2012
7:19 pm
Romney Camp Blames Christie for Election Loss
Riiiiight.
Your candidate was NOT the weakest GOP candidate in 80 years.
His cowardly flip flopping and endless pandering to the lunatic fringe did NOT stink on ice to most Americans.
He did NOT stick 47% of both feet in his mouth at least weekly.
He did NOT select another Palinesque VP running mate.
No sirree, Bob.
It was Governor Christie’s fault that he got steamrolled.
LOL at the Party of No Personal Responsibility!
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/christie-romney-election-obama/2012/11/20/id/464873
They BOTH suck
November 20th, 2012
7:19 pm
Paul
Enjoy the holiday and time with family and friends.
If you are traveling. Safe travels.
An Illegal Immigrant Or A Racist Con?
November 20th, 2012
7:22 pm
I’ll take 10,000 immigrants to 1 Racist con.
Brosephus™
November 20th, 2012
7:24 pm
we know you are the sensitive type so it would probably be you.
Bent over taking care of someone and then whack with the axe LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0hjSaYCRnA&feature=related
I know the rules. I don’t have to be the fastest person. I only have to run faster than the slowest. If you trip and fall, you’re on your own!!!
RF
November 20th, 2012
7:27 pm
“Christie allowed Obama to be president, not a politician,” one of them told The New York Times”
JamVet: imagine that, a president actually acting….presidential. Haven’t seen that in a long time, have we? Of course, Grover said all they needed in the WH was somebody with a pen to sign legislation anyway, so I guess Obama acting presidential really threw a wrench in the plans.
Brosephus™
November 20th, 2012
7:27 pm
He did NOT stick 47% of both feet in his mouth at least weekly.
I was reading earlier that the final popular vote tally, once everything is finalized, is projected to have Romney finishing at 47% of the popular vote.
RF
November 20th, 2012
7:35 pm
“I was reading earlier that the final popular vote tally, once everything is finalized, is projected to have Romney finishing at 47% of the popular vote”
How ironic would that be?? I LOVE it!!
Soothsayer
November 20th, 2012
7:41 pm
In a Youtube video I watched recently, Alison Krauss said she was very apprehensive about going into the recording studio. She thinks her voice isn’t “good enough.” I’ll let you be the judge. This was recorded when she was 18. This song and the album which it is on were monster hits. It’s also one of my favorites.
josef
November 20th, 2012
7:46 pm
Some great links…thanks…
47%? Heh, heh…that’s almost as good as a lesbian elected from Ryan’s homestate…
josef
November 20th, 2012
7:51 pm
speaking of illegal immigrants, did anybody catch this one…
http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/joan-rivers-mistaken-illegal-immigrant-5221349
middle of the road
November 20th, 2012
7:52 pm
Dang, I’m sorry I brought up my daughter’s stories. And my choice of sentences following one another was unfortunate. I did not mean to say that my daughter witnessed food stamps being used fraudulently. Her stories concerned food stamp recipients using food stamps to buy food and then use cash to buy cigarettes and alcohol and other items, which as far as I know is perfectly legal (although I don’t consider it right). The story about the Atlanta store proprietor fraudulently redeeming food stamps is from the AJC. But if my daughter had witnessed fraud, if she was even trained to spot fraud, she never mentioned it.
RF
November 20th, 2012
7:52 pm
Sooth: where has she been of late? I do so miss that voice! I tell you, she and Patty Loveless made me give bluegrass another try.
RF
November 20th, 2012
7:55 pm
josef: after all that surgery, she does kinda have that alien look…like the characters in that 80’s series ‘V’…they could just peel the face off and let the reptile out!! I would love to see the video for that one- I’m surprised Joan didn’t get herself locked up for sure!
josef
November 20th, 2012
7:55 pm
middle of the road
No problem….it’s sort of a running joke hereabouts…
josef
November 20th, 2012
7:57 pm
RF
She said her surgeon told her one more face lift and she’d be sporting a goatee….
josef
November 20th, 2012
8:10 pm
Where’d everybody go…?
They BOTH suck
November 20th, 2012
8:12 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyIt3atHEjQ&feature=related
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:14 pm
“She said her surgeon told her one more face lift and she’d be sporting a goatee”
I do so love her humor!!!
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:15 pm
So Rand Paul addressed the incoming republicans in Congress and told them they just had to hold the line on tax increases. Me thinks the Thunderbird is headed off the cliff ala Thelma and Louise come Dec. 31st…
They BOTH suck
November 20th, 2012
8:22 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXTgFjdD1n0&feature=related
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:23 pm
Well it seems even Abraham Lincoln had some trouble with the ladies…
http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/lincoln-mary-owens-m-just-not-002941697.html
“…when I beheld her, I could not for my life avoid thinking of my mother ; and this, not from withered features, for her skin was too full of fat to permit of its contracting into wrinkles, but from her want of teeth, weather-beaten appearance in general, and from a kind of notion that ran in my head that nothing could have commenced at the size of infancy and reached her present bulk in less than thirty-five or forty years ; and, in short, I was not at all pleased with her.”
Seems even the great Lincoln was guilty of looking for the pretty dames.
josef
November 20th, 2012
8:23 pm
RF
I told one of my private students to bring me what she was reading on her own. I’ve been having some trouble getting her to read for entertainment. She came in the other day with Rivers’ “I Hate Everybody.” We had a ball while she read me some of her favorite parts…I think she was a bit surprized it met my approval!
josef
November 20th, 2012
8:24 pm
RF
Oh, not the ladies…you don’t know the half of it…just ask Brosephus…
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:31 pm
“I think she was a bit surprized it met my approval!”
You sound like me. I don’t care if it’s an article from Playboy…if they’re interested in reading something, I just cheer!!! I even resort to reading rap lyrics with them and discussing what they mean. It’s amazing what even the kids who society has labeled “remedial” can do when they have some material they connect with.
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:36 pm
“Oh, not the ladies…you don’t know the half of it”
I’ve read some of it….it’s just hard to think of Lincoln that way…I suppose he might have been a bit more attractive as a younger man. That would just chap some arses in the conservative rank and file, what with a monument in DC and all…
josef
November 20th, 2012
8:40 pm
RF
Playboy? Back when I was in Junior High, I got “caught” with a copy of it. The teacher called my Mama in and was telling her that she knew Mama didn’t know where I got it and that “when I asked him he had the brass to tell me he got it from you/” “Well,” Mama said, “he did. We fight over it.” We did. Playboy published Vonnegut and Mama and I both were big fans. She told the teacher that and the teacher sniffed, “well I doubt it was the articles he was looking at.” It was Mama’s turn to laugh, “well, I do. Frankly, I’d be relieved if he was looking at what you think.” She and I were both big Gahan Wilson fans.
josef
November 20th, 2012
8:41 pm
RF
I’m at work now on researching and connecting the gay dots in the Washington of 1860…and lemme tell ya, what’s coming out is something else again…!
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:43 pm
Soothsayer: gotta love som Boz Scaggs. They don’t make ‘em like that any more. I ran across some Steely Dan the other day. This song takes me back to some good times as a youngun’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlTGOpjRDjs
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:50 pm
“Frankly, I’d be relieved if he was looking at what you think.”
LOLOL!!! I think my dad was hopeful when he found his “stash” had been rifled through….but alas, all he ever heard me talk about was the articles. Poor guy, he did try!
Back when I taught drama, I had a group of kids who wanted to do some Tennessee Williams and they chose Cat…they did it well and the administration backed us on presenting it. I was impressed by how the kids handled it without getting all wigged out about the homosexual references. I worked as a research assistant with a venerable professor at GSU who was doing a book on Williams and had a chance to really dig into some research on him.
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:52 pm
“and lemme tell ya, what’s coming out is something else again”
I suspect it is…you’ll have to let us know when it gets published. I’d love to read it.
DebbieDoRight - “When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.”
November 20th, 2012
8:56 pm
TBS: it is not the being conservative that alarms me, it is the stances on a few particular issues and the rhetoric that goes along it the topics arise.
Oh no worries about that. scout can be a real d##ck — I remember his Trayvon Martin/Georgie Zimmerman posts, his bigotry reached new levels at that time.
But, like we (josef and i) said, he has his moments.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bro: College football is more important in the state of Alabama than teaching the basic sciences
If you substitute the words SOUTH for “state of Alabama”, you’ll be more accurate with that statement!
RF
November 20th, 2012
8:59 pm
“If you substitute the words SOUTH for “state of Alabama”, you’ll be more accurate with that statement!”
Oh good lord, do I know that’s true in my school!! The kids think making varsity is akin to getting a free pass to Heaven. I don’t mind the worship of sports, but you’d think that maybe by now they would have figured out a kid has to be able to pass some college classes to be eligible to play!
They BOTH suck
November 20th, 2012
9:00 pm
RF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWfQTY_K-_o
godless heathen - Support Small Business Saturday
November 20th, 2012
9:01 pm
Your candidate was NOT the weakest GOP candidate in 80 years.
Yup. And he hardly got beat by The President. Imagine if the GOP had scared a decent candidate out of the bushes. (gh made an unintentional pun).
Predictions of the death of the GOP are premature, IMO.
josef
November 20th, 2012
9:03 pm
RF
I doubt it will ever see the light of publication!
As for Tennessee Williams, I’ll have to tell you sometime about my night on the town with him…it’s way too complicated to go into here but it has a lot to do with the low down on the high ups and my “invitation” to leave Mississippi by the Governor on the CBS evening news!
moonbat betty
November 20th, 2012
9:07 pm
Debbie,
Isn’t Bama due to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated next week?
josef
November 20th, 2012
9:07 pm
DDR
Whooo…wasn’t that one with Scout quite the, well, Scout unchained… !
Mick
November 20th, 2012
9:19 pm
moonbat
Just trying to find-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vohRMsqV4yM
They BOTH suck
November 20th, 2012
9:27 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arU4hjP49-w&feature=g-vrec
RF
November 20th, 2012
9:32 pm
“and my “invitation” to leave Mississippi by the Governor on the CBS evening news!”
Now that’s one I’d love to hear someday!! I’ll bring some Crown Royal for that one.
Thulsa Doom
November 20th, 2012
9:42 pm
“Isn’t Bama due to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated next week?”
When are we not due to be on the SI cover? Hell we were on 60 minutes the other night. We do like our exposure. And other programs hate that we get so much pub. But I think Saban likes that they hate it.
Saban doesn’t sleep. He waits.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 20th, 2012
9:44 pm
josef @ 9:07
I’ve been gone since 5pm and you’re still talking about me?
I’m impressed !
Gmare
November 20th, 2012
9:48 pm
Hi, Josef. I do hope it gets published. Really enjoyed MY MAMA’S WAR.
Sorry I haven’t been on lately; this recovery is going TOO slowly.
josef
November 20th, 2012
9:48 pm
SCOUT
Well, you better be good to me (and DDR). We dedicated our semi annual say something nice to your old tacky ass tonight.
RF
That’s one that is in the works and moving along…DDR gets the first read though since she’s the one who gave me the ummmph to to start pen to paper (well, wordprocessing anyway…)
Thulsa Doom
November 20th, 2012
9:51 pm
You right popular thar scout.
josef
November 20th, 2012
9:51 pm
GMARE
Sooooo good to see you in this p.m. I’ll leave you a longer. personal message at St. Elsewhere in the morning…
RF
November 20th, 2012
9:55 pm
“Sorry I haven’t been on lately; this recovery is going TOO slowly.”
Take your time and do it right…fools rush in, as they say. You alone know when you’re ready for the next step.
They BOTH suck
November 20th, 2012
10:09 pm
Gmare
Wishing you the best on your recovery.
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving.
DebbieDoRight - “When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.”
November 20th, 2012
10:17 pm
betty: Debbie, Isn’t Bama due to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated next week?
The swimsuit edition?
===================
Scout: ’ve been gone since 5pm and you’re still talking about me? I’m impressed !
You should be………….
===========================
josef: Well, you better be good to me (and DDR). We dedicated our semi annual say something nice to your old tacky ass tonight
Too funny!!
========================
RF: but you’d think that maybe by now they would have figured out a kid has to be able to pass some college classes to be eligible to play!
In the south — football is king and football players are little princes. And a few little princesses too.
DebbieDoRight - “When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.”
November 20th, 2012
10:23 pm
Allen West Finally Lets Go Of HIs Psychosis and concedes the election!!!
‘Bout time!!
West’s departure from Capitol Hill also means that that Congress will lose one of its two black Republicans. West and South Carolina Rep. TIm Scott, R, are the only two African American members of the GOP conference
DebbieDoRight - “When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.”
November 20th, 2012
10:31 pm
Rut Roh Repubs……………
CEOs offer Obama support to avoid fiscal cliff
By NBC’s Ali Weinberg
Follow @AliNBCNews
Business executives who met with Barack Obama Wednesday to discuss the fiscal cliff said the president was receptive to their suggestions but said the onus remained on Congress to avoid not going over the cliff.
Xerox CEO Ursula M. Burns said the meeting was “very constructive, very positive” but that the leaders “didn’t get into too many specifics.” She said they would stand by if the president required their public advocacy.
Rut Roh Raggy…………
getalife
November 20th, 2012
10:50 pm
Alabama got a lucky break with Kansas State and Oregon chocking from the pressure.
Thulsa Doom
November 20th, 2012
10:59 pm
getalife,
Kinda like when LSU got numerous lucky breaks in 2007 in order to get into the national title game with 2 losses.
Peace
November 20th, 2012
11:17 pm
In the interest of fairness, equality, whatever, shouldn’t illegals (undocumented) entering the U.S. from Middle Eastern countries be afforded the same consideration as those from our southern borders? Why should Manuel be treated differently than Mohammed? Just wondering.
Get Real
November 20th, 2012
11:26 pm
I have no real problem with this program although I would like to see how the check and balances would actually work for the applicants. That said, when do the holes in our border get fixed? I am tired of talking points from both sides, I would really like to see some action/enforcement…..
Oscar
November 20th, 2012
11:46 pm
Alabama got a lucky break with Kansas State and Oregon chocking from the pressure.
____
That’s why they play the games. And it’s played by excited 18-23 year olds. Not the most predictable people in the world.
Oscar
November 20th, 2012
11:47 pm
Who would ever have guessed the UGA is three wins away from a National Championship this year.
Oscar
November 20th, 2012
11:48 pm
RF: but you’d think that maybe by now they would have figured out a kid has to be able to pass some college classes to be eligible to play!
__
You think?
crankee-yankee
November 20th, 2012
11:55 pm
Keep Up the Good Fight!
November 20th, 2012
1:52 pm
I think all those poorly functioning licensing workers should be fired and replaced by, wait for it, charter licensing boards. After all, if they cannot do their jobs better after 40% cuts in funding, they must not know what they are doing. Privatizing the process is the answer, no doubt. Ask any legislator, after all, that’s going to be the answer to education in this state! Dirty pinko union commies must be running the office!
RF
November 21st, 2012
2:43 am
“Rut Roh Raggy…………”
DDR: seems Obama got all presidential on the cons and went to the source of all their “job creators” to discuss the potential impacts of the fiscal cliff. Seems even they are a might concerned about what hitting the 47% with a tax hike could do to their profit margins. It seems not every CEO jumped on the Koch bandwagon and wasted their millions on Mittens, perhaps.
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
November 21st, 2012
6:12 am
Good Good Thanksgiving Eve morning!
When will this be playing at the Fox?
http://cheezburger.com/6791748864
stands for decibels
November 21st, 2012
6:22 am
Happy TDay Eve mornin’ to you too, Corbin.
Some light reading.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Time-for-Clear-Headed-Th-by-Bayard-Waterbury-121112-845.html
This is where the clear headed thinking comes into play. The Eurozone nations are not like America. They are all operating from a common currency, the Euro, and have no control over deficit spending because of that. They don’t have their own reserve currency. They cannot print money, which, defacto, must be printed by the ECB. They must, like our individual states, find a way to balance their budgets. The fifty states in America must all balance their budgets or fail to pay their obligations. The Federal government does not have to. As we all know, the current deficit is in excess of $16.2 trillion, and growing. How did it get to be so big? There are lots of things which contributed to this, among them, the cost of the Iran and Afghan wars (which the Bush administration did not include in their budgets), the Medicare Drug Prescription (Part D) programs, and a failure, in general, to pay attention to the need to find a balance in our spending and taxation. Now, ask yourself a few questions:
First, how come we have such a remarkably large debt, and yet our bond ratings have remained stable, our currency has remained stable in world markets, generally, and the only talk of “default” is associated with a Congressional mandate to maintain a debt “ceiling” above which we cannot spend? (Which obviously is essentially meaningless, since it has been raised every single time it needs to be to allow for more spending.) If the US were a household, nervous creditors (our bond holders) would have long ago taken us into bankruptcy. They not only haven’t done this, or even talked about it (after all, how can you put a country into bankruptcy anyway), and continue to purchase our bonds without even requiring a higher interest rate in order to do so. There must be a reason for this.
This is where the story becomes interesting. The major reason why our currency has remained so stable, and why our bond interest has stayed so low, is very simple. Every owner of our bonds (our creditors) knows that the Federal Reserve can create money to pay them off any time it wants to. That is the key difference. So, let’s be clear. We have a fiat currency over which we have complete control; that currency is the world’s chief “reserve” currency; and the US has never, in its history, defaulted on a bond payment.
Yes, I know I’m becoming a little Sooth-obsessive about this topic, but, you know, it really does not make any sense that we are having a national freaking debate about the deficit at a time when we still have nearly double the rate of unemployment that should be acceptable, AND we have no inflation to speak of, AND our dollar is holding up just fine.
It makes no sense not to spend money to get people back to work. None.
JamVet
November 21st, 2012
6:38 am
Yep, life is good and there is much to be thankful for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TK34aQwC7Q
Joel Edge
November 21st, 2012
6:42 am
“We — as a nation — broke our own laws”
What do me “we”, sport. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t broken any immigration laws. Trying to do the old liberal spread-the-blame-around? Similar to when a person commits some heinous crime: ‘We all let this poor child/man/pitbull (whatever) down. We’re all guilty’.
Sorry, no winner this time.
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
November 21st, 2012
6:51 am
Stands,
That was a good read and I agree that it’s time to put our people back to work, especially on infrastructure. The Howell Mill bridge would be a good start…
middle of the road
November 21st, 2012
6:56 am
“We — as a nation — broke our own laws”What do me “we”, sport. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t broken any immigration laws.”
Have you bought any carpet made in Dalton, chicken that was processed in Gainesville? Then you probably indirectly supported illegal immigration. You subsidized the companies that used illegal immigrants. You could have bought your chickens from the farmer next dorr, but you would have had to pay five times as much, so you just bought the cheap brand and now say ” I didn’t employ those illegal immigrants”. Have you written your Congressman about requiring ALL companies to use e-verify not just on new hires but on existing workers? If you aren’t part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.
stands for decibels
November 21st, 2012
7:37 am
Corbin @ 6.51, it’s utterly bizarre that we don’t just spend the damn money for these things.
just one teeny tiny example: The westernmost portion of GA Route 20 in Gwinnett, can’t be widened because they haven’t been able to get one stupid freaking bridge built over the Hooch.
This isn’t some engineering quandry, it’s just a matter of spending the damn money. People need to work. People need to be able to GET TO work. And we can’t because austerity, or because Paul Ryan, or because some stupid-ass discredited, buried-at-the-goddamn polls ideology.
(not that it makes me irrationally angry or anything.)
But yeah, let’s argue over a sideshow issue like immigration. Like that is going to make a plug nickel’s worth of difference in our economic health. For f-ck’s sake, treat them humanely, give them every opportunity to be legal citizens, and move the f-ck on. Is this even remotely controversial, outside of AM talk radioland?
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
November 21st, 2012
7:53 am
Stands,
Again I agree. I suppose we need to hope that our “Leaders”, especially our State “Leaders” see the light.
MC
November 21st, 2012
8:24 am
Keep braying Stevie Ray. Every time they buy something they pay taxes. They are also a NET gain to this economy of 90 billion dollars every year according to the GAO.
GT
November 21st, 2012
8:29 am
One of the things that encouraged me coming from the battle field of last year’s election was American vision of reality through the smoke scene of a billion dollar campaign to misrepresent this reality. The Republicans were auctioning off a fat lady as a beauty queen with all the makeup and soft lights, yet the American public saw the real product and was loyal to principle. You can always find convenient fear and excuses for acts of weak character and the right facilitates these vices to their advantage, but despite a greed dripping selfish driven pressure 65% of the country like faithful guide dogs found the right direction. This moral compass didn’t come from the ego factory of aggressive forceful policy makers in first class, too good to live among us, pay their fair share of taxes, it came from the common decency still found in fly over country, tax payers who are the real authors of the American dream. They understand the hope of those less fortunate, the character of fighting from the button and have an ear for the truth. This is what made and makes this country great, not the detachment we are seeing from the one percent but the full hearted involvement of the other 99%. It must drive a control freak crazy to live in such a great country.
deegee
November 21st, 2012
8:55 am
Central American and Mexican workers have been crossing the border over the last 60+ years. It wasn’t difficult to do. They could pretty much come and go when they pleased. If they wanted to remain in the US, they could either marry a US citizen or find an employer to help them adjust status and become a legal permanent resident.
The law changed in April, 2002. It’s impossible for anyone that entered illegally to adjust status in the US. There is some process whereby you may return to your country of origin and request a hardship pardon, but the pardon is normally denied. The consequence of the denial is that you are prohibited from entering the US lawfully for 10 years.
Nothing is going to change the fact that Mexico shares a border with the US, and that a Mexican laborer in the US can earn in one day what they would earn in one week in Mexico. Let’s not pretend that illegal immigration just started happening in 2004. There are many highly educated and successful American citizens that were born of Mexican immigrants who came here illegally and stayed.
Over the centuries we have received a benefit from cheap labor. It started with the slave ships from Africa. The Chinese came and built the railroads. We imported millions of European immigrants on the trans-oceanic steamships like the Titanic. We tried child labor. Then we looked south of the border. It makes no sense to deny the people that have risked their lives to come here and work a chance to become lawful permanent residents and then citizens.
GT
November 21st, 2012
9:29 am
It does seem ironic the very same people who are “Slaves are Us” suddenly find indignation in illegals. Bullies have to have something to fight about, cause doesn’t matter, like deer hunters they just need something to shoot.