Recently, Peggy
Noonan and others on the Right were justifiably offended when some people in the Administration attributed their opposition to the immigration bill to racism or lack of patriotism. Even the Wall Street Journal editors have made blanket statements about opponents of the current immigration reform, like saying that "that crowd" is "foaming at the mouth."
I have a strong feeling that the people in Washington and the
WSJ editors were reading web sites and blogs on the other side, which are also attacking them and their motives. We need to get away from that. I like the way Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about politics. When he talks about an issue, he starts by recapping his understanding of what the other side thinks and why, and he implicitly attributes only the best motives to them. Then he explains why he thinks the way he does. It's very persuasive, and it helps clear away some of the anger, so that debate can be more rational.
I don't know exactly where Schwarzenegger stands on immigration, but if I were to use his tactics, I might say something like this: People on the other side respect the law, and they don't want to reward people who have broken the law. They want to control the border ("
bordah") with Mexico, because no country can be
sovereign or secure unless it controls it's borders. They don't want to see illegals exploited, and they want to have one set of rules for everybody. To do this, they want to close the border first, and then either deport the illegals, force them to return to Mexico by cutting off jobs, or fine them.
I agree with everything here ("
heeuh") except the tactics. If you build a wall without fixing the underlying problems, you will still have many enforcement problems because no wall is totally secure. Also, you will wall in all of the illegals who are here today. If you try to deport 12,000,000 workers, you will fail. But in the effort you will create deep animosities that will last for generations. If you try to punish the businesses that hire the labor, you will hurt our economy. Not destroy the economy, but hurt it and make it grow more slowly, which is bad for everybody and worst for the poorest people. And all of the walling and enforcing and rules and regulations will cost money, and hurt all businesses, even the completely legitimate businesses.
I say, make the border with Mexico strong and secure by opening it to people who want to work. Then the people they come into America through checkpoints, where you can check them for the criminal records and the drugs and so on and so on. Now the only people who are not crossing at the checkpoints are the real criminals, like drug dealers. They will stand out more, they will be easier to see and arrest and put in jail with the
shanking and the homosexual shower raping.
I say, respect the law by not making new laws that can not be enforced. Respect the law by changing laws that are not enforced and can not be enforced today. Deporting 12,000,000 hard working people just can not be done. Expecting them to go back to Mexico for six months voluntarily, as the President does, won't work. Do with the immigration laws what we did with the speed limit on the highways -- raise the speed limit. If you are Mexican and you want to come to America to work and pay taxes to America, then come. The border is open to you, and when you want to leave, the border is open so you can leave without fear. The taxes you pay to Social Security today will be redirected to the schools and hospitals you use, instead of to the welfare programs that you will not have any access to. The wealth you create in America, and the jobs you create for the doctors and the engineers and the builders and the small business owners will be good for everybody.
Finally, I want to say one more thing. In America today, there is one industry that does not hire any illegal workers. That is the government industry. The Federal
government and the state governments are the only places in America where the number of unionized workers has gone up over the last 20 years. In the rest of America, as the number of immigrant workers have increased sharply over the last few years, the number of union members has gone way down. Did unemployment go up? No, unemployment went way way down. Today we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in our history and in the world. If we close the border to people who want to work, then labor will become a scarce commodity. The unions, who want to control labor, would make a comeback. With active unions, American companies would hire fewer people, and move many of the jobs that remain outside the country. Every time Delta wants to hire a gate agent, or you want to paint your house, you would have to talk to Tony Soprano. I tell you that if you close the border, unemployment will go up, not down. That will be bad for everyone, but worst for Americans who just want to work.
I ran across a story in the news today about cars that can drive themselves. As loyal reader of my blog will attest, I am obsessed with this idea:
