Hernando de Soto wrote a book about trying to start a business in Peru legally some years ago. He gave himself the project of following the letter of the law and never paying a bribe unless every other avenue of success was closed to him. I can't recall the precise details, but I think it took him 18 months to a year to finally clear all the hurdles for an imaginary business. One of his conclusions was that you could not stop black market businesses with that level of bureaucracy --no one has two years to wait to work and feed his family.
That is the big point that I don't hear any Conservatives making in the midst of all the shouting about "law-breaking" and "illegals." Yes, for security reasons we need to be able to control our border. Yes, people must be assimilated. But an important path to assimilation is being on the path to legal citizenship --keeping them out of the "shadows" as is said-- and when it takes some seven or eight years to bring a family here legally, the disincentives are too high. Take a look at this discussion over at ninme's place and what Aussies and Brits have to go through just to visit here on business.
It's all Bureaucracy's fault. Bad laws and too many laws breed contempt for Law. Do you follow the preposterous speed limits on your local streets?
