Conservatives are Blowing it on Immigration

They are seriously being shortsighted on this entire immigration issue. Lets face it Illegal Immigrants are just the kind of people that would make good Americans. For the most part they are hard working, God fearing folk that are just happy to be in this country at all.

I mean many of them have faced death just to sneak in here so they must want to be Americans pretty badly. Plus the Hispanic block of the Republican party has been growing and might one day form its solid bedrock. Being on the right side of this issue could win the next election for the Republicans and perhaps elections for many years.

Bush knows that and that is why he is sticking to his guns so admirably on this issue. He has been really close to this issue for years being the governor of a state that borders Mexico. That is why his amnesty and guest worker programs have such resonance. He knows what will happen if Illegals are able join the rest of us Americans. It will put millions of people on the tax rolls and allow them to share in the regular part of the economy not the shadow economy of cash payments paid under the table. That means millions of people saving for college, taking out housing loans, banking, and buying crap on credit. They can live the American dream and not have to hide like some fugitive.

Some of the talk out of the conservative camp is extremely idiotic. For instance Bill O'Reilly is all about using the national guard to block the borders for some asinine reason. Um, Bill those guys are needed in Iraq and for natural disasters and not wasting their time guarding a massive border. And building a fence is hideously expensive and will probably just make the smugglers tunnel their way across instead of drive trucks. I mean we do need a way of stopping al-Quida and criminals from coming across but a massive fence and mobilizing the guard is not the answer. We just have to think about the illegals that are already here as potential Americans like Bush does. I mean they are here and sending them all back is extremely counterproductive.