Deal, or no deal?
Oh, yeah - oil supply right now is way ahead of demand. Just thought I'd throw that in.
Watched the President's speech on 'immigration reform', and was highly unimpressed.
I think that somewhere back in his cranium there really is a speck of intent for doing the right thing for the working but illegal immigrant, and all, but this was a ludicrous set of ways of going about it. He managed to basically torque everyone on all sides of the issue, without really getting anywhere.
We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone’s fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain. - George W. Bush
To quote Firedoglake: "Perish the thought." Dubya's been doing all of that for years, he should know.
We're going to be just fine in the fall elections. - Karl Rove
Uh-huh.
This is our government at work, and unfortunately it is run by Republicans. - Pat Robertson
Hispanics in America: In talking to Hispanic friends (and the ones here can comment on this, of course), the objection to this all is that the anti-illegal-immigrants thing becomes a anti-Hispanic tar-them-all-and-toss-them-back-where-they-came-from. Heck, even Meredith was asking some serious questions on all of this - she's very aware that she's an immigrant, and she doesn't understand - are these people mad at me, too? Of course, we sweat blood with INS and so on to do everything legally with her coming to America, and she's a citizen by act of law - but here's a Chinese-born kid who is feeling uneasy about all this, and I can imagine how Hispanics who are citizens must feel about this. I can only think that the combination of Republican responses on this, especially the 'hang them all' ones, will destroy the Republican effort to get out the vote from Hispanics. Mostly, this is supposed to impress the conservative Republicans, and I don't think it did that.
Biometric ID Cards: oh, where to start. First, especially after reading materials on this from many sources, especially people I know who are world experts on security issues, and going to IT security symposiums, I simply don't think they are all that good, or work that well. Too many bugs in the system yet. So we're talking waaaaaay after Bush is out of office before this could reliably be used for anything.
Amnesty? Second, if you think any of the illegal immigrants are going to get up, go back to their country of origin and apply for guest worker status, think again. They're here, why should they? Why go to the trouble? Why pay penalties? They're waiting for another amnesty, or they're just going on with their lives. If you think that they're all going to turn themselves in - you're dreaming. They have jobs, and they're not going.
National Guard: The biggest waffle of all. We're talking SOLDIERS - but they're not going to kick anyone's butt, they're only in support positions. We're talking 6000-10000 of them - but they're scattered across over 2000 miles of territory. Most of their equipment was left behind - in Iraq. And they way they're supposed to do this? Have all the guard units (still in the US) do their two-week training at the border. So there will be a gazillion guys coming and going to and from the border on two-week shifts; I can't imagine they'd have the time to do anything more useful in two weeks than build some roads or string some wire. It's a massive shuck, prime photo-op territory.
Cracking down on Employers: Don't make me laugh. The speech said this would be delayed until the Biometric IDs were ready. Years off. Under Clinton, many hundreds of employers were charged with violations; under Bush last year? Three (3). Don't want to disturb business has always trumped everything else with Bush, and that's still true.
More Border Patrol: Bush had it in his power by act of Congress to do this years ago, but never thought it was important enough to allocate the money to it. Will there still be sufficient resources? Sufficient staff? I doubt it. Places to stuff people while we try to send them back? Courts and staff? Um, er, ha....that would cost money.
High Tech at the Border: Nice, but no substitute for people. People are expensive. Bush has to seriously pay for people. Hey, let's contract it off to Halliburton!
Who pays for it? Bush is asking Congress to fund it - from what?
Watched the President's speech on 'immigration reform', and was highly unimpressed.
I think that somewhere back in his cranium there really is a speck of intent for doing the right thing for the working but illegal immigrant, and all, but this was a ludicrous set of ways of going about it. He managed to basically torque everyone on all sides of the issue, without really getting anywhere.
We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone’s fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain. - George W. Bush
To quote Firedoglake: "Perish the thought." Dubya's been doing all of that for years, he should know.
We're going to be just fine in the fall elections. - Karl Rove
Uh-huh.
This is our government at work, and unfortunately it is run by Republicans. - Pat Robertson
Hispanics in America: In talking to Hispanic friends (and the ones here can comment on this, of course), the objection to this all is that the anti-illegal-immigrants thing becomes a anti-Hispanic tar-them-all-and-toss-them-back-where-they-came-from. Heck, even Meredith was asking some serious questions on all of this - she's very aware that she's an immigrant, and she doesn't understand - are these people mad at me, too? Of course, we sweat blood with INS and so on to do everything legally with her coming to America, and she's a citizen by act of law - but here's a Chinese-born kid who is feeling uneasy about all this, and I can imagine how Hispanics who are citizens must feel about this. I can only think that the combination of Republican responses on this, especially the 'hang them all' ones, will destroy the Republican effort to get out the vote from Hispanics. Mostly, this is supposed to impress the conservative Republicans, and I don't think it did that.
Biometric ID Cards: oh, where to start. First, especially after reading materials on this from many sources, especially people I know who are world experts on security issues, and going to IT security symposiums, I simply don't think they are all that good, or work that well. Too many bugs in the system yet. So we're talking waaaaaay after Bush is out of office before this could reliably be used for anything.
Amnesty? Second, if you think any of the illegal immigrants are going to get up, go back to their country of origin and apply for guest worker status, think again. They're here, why should they? Why go to the trouble? Why pay penalties? They're waiting for another amnesty, or they're just going on with their lives. If you think that they're all going to turn themselves in - you're dreaming. They have jobs, and they're not going.
National Guard: The biggest waffle of all. We're talking SOLDIERS - but they're not going to kick anyone's butt, they're only in support positions. We're talking 6000-10000 of them - but they're scattered across over 2000 miles of territory. Most of their equipment was left behind - in Iraq. And they way they're supposed to do this? Have all the guard units (still in the US) do their two-week training at the border. So there will be a gazillion guys coming and going to and from the border on two-week shifts; I can't imagine they'd have the time to do anything more useful in two weeks than build some roads or string some wire. It's a massive shuck, prime photo-op territory.
Cracking down on Employers: Don't make me laugh. The speech said this would be delayed until the Biometric IDs were ready. Years off. Under Clinton, many hundreds of employers were charged with violations; under Bush last year? Three (3). Don't want to disturb business has always trumped everything else with Bush, and that's still true.
More Border Patrol: Bush had it in his power by act of Congress to do this years ago, but never thought it was important enough to allocate the money to it. Will there still be sufficient resources? Sufficient staff? I doubt it. Places to stuff people while we try to send them back? Courts and staff? Um, er, ha....that would cost money.
High Tech at the Border: Nice, but no substitute for people. People are expensive. Bush has to seriously pay for people. Hey, let's contract it off to Halliburton!
Who pays for it? Bush is asking Congress to fund it - from what?