It has been quite awhile since I posted anything. Not from lack of topics, mainly simple disgust. Given the current state of affairs, I have to say something. The areas that need work, however, almost overwhelm the ability to know where to start.
The mid-term elections are only about 10 weeks away. While the major topic that will affect it is the economy, the illegal alien problem, or ‘immigration problem’ as some people call it, is a close second.
Arizona passed SB1070 several months ago, serving notice on the Obama administration that they were not going to sit back and wait any longer for the Feds to deal with the situation on the border. That bill does nothing more than mirror what is already on the books at the federal level. While the Arizona legislature revised some of the language of the original bill because of objections by some people, it was and still is nothing but a rubber stamp of existing law. It is, in fact, even more restrictive than federal law as far as what law enforcement personnel can do.
Federal law says it is illegal to enter the United States without going through proper channels, and that all foreigners must carry identification with them at all times while in this country. It also says that foreigners can be questioned by authorities concerning their country of origin, and if they are in this country illegally they can be deported. Pretty much the same as any other country, right?
You’d never know it from listening to the hue and cry raised by ultra leftwing liberal politicians, latino organizations, and even the Mexican government. Ignoring the fact that Federal law says exactly the same thing, they accuse Arizona of racial profiling, discrimination, and a host of other heinous crimes. They conveniently forget or ignore the fact that illegal entry is a crime. They forget that those people don’t have any right to be here, therefore they have no right to a job, no right to public assistance or welfare of any kind, etc.
Estimates of the cost of illegal aliens vary from state to state depending on how many each state has. California is nearly bankrupt because of the burden on their financial system. A report on those costs here in Illinois several months ago pegged it at $3.6 billion dollars annually to pay for services they use like hospital emergency rooms, welfare costs, and educating their kids in our public schools. Illinois is in dire financial straits. We simply cannot afford to pay for those who have no right to be here.
This is not an easy problem to solve. While I sympathize with those who come here to try for a better life, we no longer have the ability to absorb people in those kinds of numbers unless they can step up and pay their own way. Those who go through the legal process of immigration must show they can sustain themselves and not be a burden or they can’t get in. In fairness to them, we cannot allow illegals to come in regardless of how we might feel about it.
As of this date, there are about 30 states pursuing similar remedies to this problem, most modeled after the Arizona law. A number of those states have already enacted such laws. The federal government, at least in regard to Arizona, has taken the stance that states cannot pass such laws. They have filed suite against Arizona and Governor Brewer to stop SB1070 from being enforced. The supreme hypocrisy of that given the federal law is simply mind-boggling.
Just this week they have threatened Sheriff Joe Arpaio for continuing to round-up illegals and deport them. He has been doing that for years, with federal approval, until now. In addition to the feds, the ACLU, city governments, and dozens of pro-latino groups have been attacking Arizona over this bill. They all ignore the law already on the books, and want to throw the border open to whoever feels like coming across.
Aside from the financial burden placed on us by these intruders, we also have to deal with a monstrous crime wave, and a number of epidemic illnesses that have been reintroduced into the U.S. after being all but eradicated. People who live along the border have been warned that it isn’t even safe to be out on their own property because of the armed drug runners, gun runners, and coyotes bringing groups of illegals up from Mexico. A prominent rancher was gunned down in his ranch yard by drug smugglers last year. Phoenix has become much like Ciudad Juarez with all the kidnappings and murders involving drugs and illegals.
The Obama administration is doing nothing to alleviate this problem. In fact, they are facilitating it by suing Arizona, and refusing to complete the mandated — and funded — fence that Congress authorized several years ago. We all know the reason for that. All those illegals are potential voters for the Democrat Party.
The situation is going to change radically in about 70 days, however. The Democrats have so angered the public persona with healthcare legislation, bailouts, cap-and-trade, immigration issues, and a number of other things that it looks like this mid-term election will dwarf the takeover of the House in 1994 by the G.O.P. by adding the Senate, and as many as 36 governors to the ranks of the victors. Despite the derision heaped on it by the left, the Tea Party movement has galvanized the voting public across the land. Liberal Obama supporters running for reelection have been trounced all over the country during the primaries (as well as a number of Republicans who were a bit too chummy with their Dem counterparts). Incumbents are running scared, doing their best to distance themselves from Obama and his failed agenda. They see the writing on the wall, and quite a number have already decided not to run again simply because they know they’d lose.
So, while I am as worried as anybody about the economy, I’m starting to feel pretty good about the elections. The great Silent Majority has been kicked awake, and they are fired up and out for blood. Hopefully most of it will be liberal blood. But even if the Republicans sweep the House and Senate, Obama and his lackies are still in place for two more years. They won’t have the ability to cram bills down our throats like before, but they can still play billy hell with the economy and immigration. Keep you fingers crossed that we can figure out how to prevent them from burning it all down for good.
