Question:
How would that bill match up to the $317+ billion spent on a war on a war
with WMDs that haven't turned up yet?
I'll bet the bill for the former would be a pittance compared to the latter.
Answer:
anybody remember that young Republican woman who made such a splash a
few years ago from up in the NE somewhere, I think her name was Susan Moliari
or something like that- Right wing was touting her as the best thing since
sliced bread- young, vibrant, intelligent, witty, a real force to be reckoned
with and going places- Where is she now, anyway?
But I digress.... I will never forget how dasmed dumb she was, mouthing off
about closing our borders to keep everybody out, then giving a tearjerking
speech at the Convention about how her grandfather or greatgrandfather slipped
over here in the back door with nothing and now here she was giving an address
at the Republican Nat'l Convention.
Why is it that we allow those who can easily get here illegally, yet we keep
out those who would immigrate legally if given the chance
Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa, India China
they all want to come here but can't
Susan Molanari retired from congress to raise her family
She is married to Gerald Soloman
Her father came over during a period of open but controlled immigration.
but it was her Italian-immigrant grandfather she referenced. And the
thing is, this was during the time the welfare reform bill was being pushed
through by the GOP-controlled Congress denying benefits to legal immigrants.
No wonder she's not in politics anymore ;-)
I thought she was married to a congressman named Paxton, I must have been
mistaken.
Immigrants here in an illegal status have the same rights as legal immigrants.
They also have the same rights as American citizens. They are not treated
unfairly. They can't even be picked up by the police and held because of their
illegal status. They have more rights here as illegal immigrants than they have
at home as legal residents of their own nations. This is the best country in
the world to be an illegal immigrant. Chances are very good that you're going
to be allowed to stay. Immigration advocates see changes coming due to 9-11.
They're panicking. Thus the motorcade around the nation. Similar to the fuss
being made over our "disappearing civil liberties," this is much ado about
nothing. Just another reason to go after Bush :-) Sleep well, all of our
constitutional guarantees are in place, just as they were on 9-10-01.
All you're demonstrating is that you have no idea how much we currently
spend on social services. During Fiscal 2004 it's going to be something around
$600 Billion give or take, and if we took on everybody in the world who wants a
welfare check it would probably triple, and maybe even quadruple.
Don't get me wrong, it would be a very nice world to live in where we could
take care of every need on the planet. But unfortunately there's no way the
American taxpayer could hope to foot that bill.
Instead of being a blowhard, contact Landau's office and make
the offer. Unless of course... you just want to keep blowing..
with that $600 billion amount are you talking entire social services
for Americans...or for those who are illegal immigrants?
I was pretty much responding to the dollar amounts that illegal immigrants
use up....and comparing it to what we spend on folks who aren't even on our
soil (the Iraqi people, whom we have, uh, graciously attempted to liberate).
If that $600 billion amount is for illegal immigrants alone, I'll gladly
concede to what you write...
Of course not...and anyone who thinks otherwise would be too much an
idealist even for my liking. I'm not sure what this "problem" is like in
your neck of the woods (one of the Virginias, if I recall correctly), but
this is something that faces us out here in California on a daily basis.
Believe me, my job as a teacher would be much easier if this weren't the
case (but no one ever promised me it'd be easy...and it's certainly not an
impossible situation with which to deal). Still, even out in California, a
good many folks in law enforcement, the medical community and the education
community often combat the curtailing of benefits for illegal immigrants.
And the reasons aren't entirely altruistic (although, in some
instances...particularly where they affect children, the reasons are).
Bottom line, we'd wind up with an even worst case scenario if such benefits
were to go away.
And, by the way, this has nothing to do with allowing privileges such as
drivers licenses...which, in this day and age (and political climate) is
just downright foolish.
I think all you neocons who have problems with Bruce's message should
boycott his shows and stop buying his records. Like ya'll did with The
Dixie Chicks.
I will leave an email address ready to take up any of the tickets you
wish to reliquinish due to the fact that your conscience can not support
these odious beliefs any longer.
That's the social services estimate for all Americans.
What do you think it would cost to open our borders to everybody from other
countries who wanted to be here? I mean, we'd have to feed them and clothe them
and house them, right? It would be the Mariel boat lift times a thousand IMHO.
all them lazy foreigners. Personally, when I hire through
universities there is a disproportionate number of foreign students
who excel. The steady pattern of Chinese people who had a very high
position in China, came to America and studied their *ss off, and make
it clear they are willing to work at whatever level to move up in the
company, is nothing short of inspiring. Compare that to the number of
good 'ol Americans who choose not to go to college even though every
oportunity is laid at their feet.
My take is America, such as it is, was built by immigrants. Give most
of them a chance, and the benefits may be huge.
No problem ~ I understand your point, just the same (as you expand on it a
bit in the paragraph below).
I know you're right ~ and I find it heartbreaking, because there is a
promise that this land offers that most don't.
And I know that it's one that my ancestors were able to take advantage of.
But, when it comes to working with the illegal immigrants who are already on
USA soil, I'm gonna have to trust what folks in the medical, educational and
law enforcement communities say ~ it is in everyone's interests to see that
they are tended to.
But if "they" number in the millions or tens of millions who's going to pay for
their tending? Movie stars and rock singers? I realize that 99% of us
originally came from immigrant stock, but that was a different world in many
important ways, plus it was a slow trickle compared to what open borders would
currently bring. And a huge percentage of those that would cross our borders
would be nonproductive for at least a while, if not a long while, and they
would need to be cared for. The American taxpayer cannot be financially
responsible for every problem all over the world.
If all the people who are trying to get here illegally would spend as much
energy on fixing what's wrong with their own countries as they do sneaking into
ours, they wouldn't need to sneak into ours.
I can't argue with anything that you write above...not for a second.
All I can comment upon are what we do with those who are here.
And, as I've written, there are many who find it in our best interest to
tend to those who are here.
No doubt, without better control at the borders, then there is the potential
for a fiscal nightmare.
Regarding those who do come here...suggesting that they spend as much energy
on fixing the wrongs of their countries of origin as they do sneaking into
our country...I don't know if that would really be possible. I work with
many such folk. They have good hearts and want what's best for their
children and families....I can't find fault with that. However, very often
they have an incredibly high rate of illiteracy (which brings about a whole
other set of burdens on both them and for America). Their demeanor is much
like that of a doe caught in a car's headlights. Needless to say, very
often these aren't folks who feel terribly empowered...nor are they often
folks who have the tools to be shakers and movers in their own countries
(particularly if their country of origin is pretty intolerant of trying to
shake up the tree). In other words, Che Guevaras they aren't. And, at
least in California, we aren't getting a lot of folks who are already
doctors, lawyers, nurses, accountants, etc. ~ such folk...already educated,
literate and in possession of useful career skills... would certainly be
less of a drain on our resources (and, if anything, their presence winds up
benefiting America).
It's a hard one, for sure ~ when we see that many of us who benefited from
the sentiment of "Give me your tired, your poor,. Your huddled masses etc."
are suddenly finding that we have to close our hearts, out of necessity, to
the very promise/sentiment that landed our families here many years ago.
Neither can I. There are people swimming across the Rio Grande tonight who want
nothing more than the opportunity to improve their lives through honest work,
and the second their boots touch our soil they're better Americans than many
who were born here. But I also know that there are many who come here illegally
who's main purpose is to break our laws and prey on our citizens, and others
who have no intention of ever being productive citizens but know that its
better to be a bum here than in Mexico. How do we as a nation control which of
these groups are allowed in, and which are not?
Right now I'm in the middle of eight months of INS paperwork trying to get my
wife into this country. She's an editor with the largest magazine in the
Southern Hemisphere, from a nation that's always been one of our staunchest
allies, and yet we've had to jump through hoops every step of the way. Half of
it is bullshit bureaucracy that makes no sense (one question she had to answer
-- "have you ever talked to a lawyer?" Not have you ever hired, but ever talked
to...), and the other half even the INS doesn't seem to understand. We're
married with all the documents and proofs to show, and still it looks like
it'll take a solid year to convince my Gov't that she belongs here. I'd love to
say "fuck the rules", but in the end all of those hoops keep out more bad guys
than good, and that's how it should be.
