Happy St. Joseph's Day. Just for the record, nothing convinces me that the WOP (Without papers) demonstrations have little to do with immigrants than their choice of the Communist "International Day of the Worker" as the day of their big boycott. (Can anyone say ANSWER?) So. . .did it hurt? WaPo's reporting no one in my area really noticed. WaTi reports it hurt more elsewhere. It also had a front-page report this morning on how immigants (legal and il)help the economy.
I keep repeating my refrain: I want control over who comes across our border, but I also think we're fooling ourselves if we think we don't need a heckuva lot of immigrants as a hedge against the impending retirement tsunami. On the talk shows, an argument I hear repeatedly is that illegal immigration is unfair to those who wait for the legal process. I tune in only for a few moments here and there at random, but I always seem to be tuned in for the call from the guy who says, "I went through the legal process and I had to wait 157 years before I got my green card, and it was after 168 interviews and the Feds lost my papers a billion times, and my wife is still not here yet, yet now I am a proud American citizen and these people who cut in line make me sick." And then everyone agrees that illegal aliens are horrible people. That strikes me as cheap. The Conservative response is: now I understand why so many people don't bother to come legally. Why the hell does it take so long? Let's streamline the process and "incentivize" (to use a neologism I can't stand) legal immigration.
Remember the old days when Conservatives understood that people don't kill economies, stupid laws kill economies? The pundits are missing a great teaching moment to educate people about the damage welfare laws do to people, families and economies. Somewhere during Holy Week I read a rant about how Mexicans are destroying California because high taxes needed to subsidize burgeoning social services rolls are driving out small businessmen and families. Excuse me, but Mexicans are not destroying California. California's lenient welfare laws and regressive economic policies are destroying California. If you subsidize indigency and tax entrepreneurs and families, you will attract indigents and drive out businessmen and families. Mexican or not. Legal or not. Close the border and CA will still draw people from all over the States who know a free lunch is a good deal. I'd like to hear a lot more from Conservatives about how stupid state and federal policies have contributed to the influx of illegal aliens. And a lot less whining about "cutting in line." We've got the system we ourselves set up.
