No More Troops To Border
The Los Angeles Times reports that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has refused to send an additional 1,500 National Guard troops to help secure the border with Mexico. On June 1st of this year, Schwarzenegger agreed to send 1,000 troops to the border after a long standoff with the White House over who would pay for the border effort, but the Governor finally relented when the Pentagon agreed to foot the bill, estimated at $1.4 billion dollars.
The Governor's decision come at a time when he is facing re-election, while his support among Hispanic voters is dwindling. He has said publicly that he does not support "militarizing the border" and that he prefers to keep the 1,500 additional troops available for training and any possible disasters or emergencies.
But what this really about is votes. Not national security. Not the safety and welfare of all Californians or Americans. Just votes. Schwarzenegeer wants things both ways: he wants the support of the Bush White House come election time, so he agrees to send an insignificant number of troops to the border initially. And now, when the request for more troops comes, he can be seen as standing up to the White House by refusing, a move designed to gain Latino support.
But, as The Uncooperative Blogger reports, the numbers are staggering. There are between 12 and 25 million illegals here already, and more are coming to the tune of some 900,000 per year. llegal aliens get some $3 billion dollars a year in government assistance, although most of them do not pay taxes, accounting for billions of dollars in lost tax revenue. And if you believe that illegal immigration is a "victimless crime", read this piece by Michelle Malkin. And this one from
A Lady's Ruminations.
An overwhelming majority of Americans want immigration reform. They want the borders closed. They want to know who is coming into our country and for what purpose. They want migrants to obey our laws, pay taxes and learn to speak English. But still our elected officials refuse to do anything to improve the situation because they are afraid of losing votes.
Clearly, everyone knows the magnitude of the problem. And still, our elected folks on both sides seem to think that using the situation for political gain is more important than giving the American people what they clearly and overwhelmingly want. The situation will not go away, but will get even worse until something happens that angers the American people enough to force the government to take action, to the mutual benefit of all of us. Until then, we wait and hold our breath.
The Governor's decision come at a time when he is facing re-election, while his support among Hispanic voters is dwindling. He has said publicly that he does not support "militarizing the border" and that he prefers to keep the 1,500 additional troops available for training and any possible disasters or emergencies.
But what this really about is votes. Not national security. Not the safety and welfare of all Californians or Americans. Just votes. Schwarzenegeer wants things both ways: he wants the support of the Bush White House come election time, so he agrees to send an insignificant number of troops to the border initially. And now, when the request for more troops comes, he can be seen as standing up to the White House by refusing, a move designed to gain Latino support.
But, as The Uncooperative Blogger reports, the numbers are staggering. There are between 12 and 25 million illegals here already, and more are coming to the tune of some 900,000 per year. llegal aliens get some $3 billion dollars a year in government assistance, although most of them do not pay taxes, accounting for billions of dollars in lost tax revenue. And if you believe that illegal immigration is a "victimless crime", read this piece by Michelle Malkin. And this one from
A Lady's Ruminations.
An overwhelming majority of Americans want immigration reform. They want the borders closed. They want to know who is coming into our country and for what purpose. They want migrants to obey our laws, pay taxes and learn to speak English. But still our elected officials refuse to do anything to improve the situation because they are afraid of losing votes.
Clearly, everyone knows the magnitude of the problem. And still, our elected folks on both sides seem to think that using the situation for political gain is more important than giving the American people what they clearly and overwhelmingly want. The situation will not go away, but will get even worse until something happens that angers the American people enough to force the government to take action, to the mutual benefit of all of us. Until then, we wait and hold our breath.
posted by Cop the Truth at 4:21 PM
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