After I went through the Whataburger drive through yesterday and they got my order wrong for the third time in as many trips (how hard is it to make a number 1 plain and dry?) I started to wonder if the unemployment rate was TOO low. I think I have my answer now.

Wick, you left out one important word in your post. Illegal. I think most people are okay with LEGAL immigration. It’s the whole “entering the country illegally, paying no tax or social security, clogging up the healthcare and judicial systems” issue that bugs most of us. I’m sure it was just a oversight on your part, though.

Wick,

I don’t the issue is so much economic as it is about the cultural fabric of our country. The flood of Mexican immigrants entering our country illegally creates an environment in which new immigrants are not forced to assimilate, but, instead, retreat to mini-Mexicos within our state. Drive through Balch Springs sometime, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. In my opinion, this kind of Balkanization isn’t good for the long-term health of our Republic, whatever its positive economic effects.

Here it comes again…
“It’s the whole “entering the country illegally, paying no tax or social security, clogging up the healthcare and judicial systems” issue that bugs most of us.” & “The flood of Mexican immigrants entering our country illegally creates an environment in which new immigrants are not forced to assimilate, but, instead, retreat to mini-Mexicos within our state.”
LEFTOUT - I pay taxes and I don’t have kids, I pay social security and will probably never get it, I pay health insurance and rarely use it and have never been inside a courthouse… I want my refund now!!!!
MARK - have you ever been to West, TX? They are know as a “Czech town”; have you ever been to Boston? They are known as an “Irish” town; heck there is even a town called “Polish Town in NY”… WTF?

A Wick post or a Trey post (where’s Trey?) can be identified in 3/10 of a second, by the header alone. IJS. Further elaboration available upon request.

LeftOut, give it a rest.You claim to be just fine with brown-skinned foreigners so long as they’re documented, but I’d wager you’re the first to bleat “No backdoor amnesty! No backdoor amnesty!” if a plan is proposed to actually help them become legal.

Correct me if I’m wrong, which I may be — but I doubt it.

The Mexican Wal-Mart is merely a response to market demand. Funny how the free market is all-knowing, wise and inviolable when someone dares suggest pollution caps on industry, but it’s an outrage when the end result is fresh tortillas, Spanish signage and the omnipresence of really bad music with accordions.

How can unemployment be so low? I mean, if you read the news you’d think we were in a great depression right now.

The media’s job is to sell fear. That fear is mostly ********, but they’ll keep shoveling it to us until we refuse to believe them anymore.

“Perhaps I am reading to much into prior comments, but is seems to me that Left Out’s opposition to “illegal” immigration is a cover for the kind of anti Mexican ideas shown by SB. ”

It’s the Mexican’s that have turned my hometown into a $hithole. Should I direct that blame at other racial groups for the sake of being “un-biased”, when they had nothing to do with it?

I had something great to say, but now I can only think about how hungry I am for Whataburger.

One thing we need to do is to heavily tax those envio-dinero-a-Mexico places. Send a wire transfer to a foreign country, pay a 19% tax. Dedicate a small portion of the proceeds to setting up free ESL classes. Dedicate much of the revenues to defraying the burden illegal immigrants place on targeted social services.

SB, your hometown turned into a sh*thole and then the immigrants came for the affordable, poorly aged (sh*thole) housing stock.

Unless, of course, an army of dishwashers bought up block after block of $400k homes and systematically degraded them.

Huh? beat me to it, sorry.

At the end of the day, we should do what is in the best interest of the United States, not necessarily what is in the best interest of the illegal immigrants. If we truly need more laborers then we should set up a guest worker program to accommodate that need. If we should control our borders to better monitor who comes and goes, then that should be a priority as well.

There may be racism on both sides, but the main arguments have absolutely nothing to do with race.

How are we going to replace the $13 billion annual contribution to Social Security made by these illegal immigrants? As an aside, unlike legal residents, it doesn’t appear that these folks have any entitlement to benefits, so this is basically an outright subsidy by the illegal immigrants to legal residents.

You are aware that illegal immigrants are basically this century’s slave labor, right? And yet, anyone who argues against it is a racist? Makes a lot of sense to me.

For those who cling to “illegality” as the keystone issue, keep in mind that “legality” and “illegality” are abstract categories of status only, and as such are subject to change. (If you have brown eyes, you have brown eyes no matter what anyone says. But if you have, say, a license to practice law, you only have such status because enough of the rest of agree that you do.) I’m not saying the distinction between “legality” and “illegality” isn’t a concept to which we must all adhere (at least theoretically), in order for society to function smoothly–what I’m saying is that laws can be changed, and are, in fact, constantly being changed. Slavery used to be legal. So pose yourselves this hypothetical: if, for whatever reason, the federal government were to suddenly grant citizenship to all currently illegal aliens as of tomorrow, suddenly making their status fully legal, would your objections to those people just as suddenly evaporate into thin air? If you can honestly answer “yes,” not in this comment column, but in your heart of hearts, then so be it. But I and many others doubt it very sincerely.

Good question Adam. If it is in reference to me, I don’t object to “people.” I object to crime.

I fully believe illegal immigrants are guilty of tax evasion. Would you or I not be prosecuted if we continuously refused to pay federal tax?

So, if illegal immigrants were put into the federal tax base and started paying taxes on their next check, I would fully support them and their right to live and work in this country.

Wick, you are so wrong. The folks you deride are upset over ILLEGAL immigration. Like so many liberals you tend to leave off a word like that to paint your opponents on this issue with a broad brush. I am not opposed to immigrants or immigration. I am opposed to illegal immigrants and illegal immigration. I have no problem with a legal immigrant getting a job in this country. I have an enormous problem with an illegal immigrant getting a job in this country.

Are we clear? Do you get it? Seriously? Do you?

Huh? - Who is this “we” that knows people are renting and is protecting those rights? When I rented an apartment in the past I do not recall registering with any entity charged with protecting “renters rights.”

Hasn’t something gone fundamentally wrong this the politically correct game when liberals argue for the continued exploitation of a minority race of people in the name of equal rights?

Is this the Cherry Pit thread?

Unemployment rates, immigration… those arguments are the Red Herring to the real problems in our culture… namely, education and the rapidly growing chasm between the rich and poor.

Unemployment in Texas would be even lower if we adopted the same immigration reform laws that Oklahoma passed(HB 1804). The pro-immigration activists cried that this would cause the Oklahoma economy to grind to a halt. That Oklahoma “needed” illegals. That never materialized. The result of the law is that Oklahoma unemployment has dropped to 3.1 % in March 2008, down from 4.0% in March 2007.

Hamburgers in Oklahoma now don’t cost $18, the lawns still get mowed, the pools still get cleaned.

Fact is, getting rid of illegal aliens put Americans back to work.

Oklahoma is “OK” with me!

He’s not saying that the bill explains the drop in unemployment. It just dispels the myth from the pro-immigration alarmists that unemployment would be rampant if we cracked down on illegal immigrants. The biggest lie being told in America is that “immigrants do jobs that Americans don’t want or refuse to do.” The numbers in Oklahoma seems to provide evidence that that isn’t the case.

How did “we” work it when “we” let practically the whole State of Florida arrive from Cuba? And still coming. And don’t forget they were some of the peeps in the Cuban jails and criminals. Remember? The Cuban Mafia? Did they get a free pass, did they all become good citizens, are they all paying taxes and speaking English? They are here because their country is effed up and so is Mexico. Are “we” too PC to try to make those countries make things better so their peeps want to stay in their countries of birth, you know they all want to be in their homeland. Not the Land of Plenty where everyone picks on them. Right?

Listen to this: (www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=90216206&m=90216202) from NPR about the growth in the US population in the next few years. For several years most of the Hispanic growth in Texas has been from children born in the US, not brought to the US. As such, these children are legal citizens with full rights to stay, and at a future date, vote. The students who marched out of school a couple of years ago didn’t leave because they were being denied rights, but because the discussion was to make their illegally immigrated parents FELONS. I think we’re missing the real cultural change.

SB - nice try with the “enslavement” argument, but it’s so disingenuous considering the truly pitiful lives these people would lead in their home countries. Nice try to be a nice guy, though.

Bethany,

I think you need to educate yourself more on the HB 1804 issue. Oklahoma got tough with it’s illegal alien problems, most of them left, the economy did not skip a beat.

Usually by this point in the discussion, someone will make a jack-boot-thug reference to ICE or law enforcement. Fact is, illegal alien arrests have gone down 50% since the law took effect. They left and also took other problems that follow them around with them. Crystal meth arrests dropped 75%(since the suppliers from Mexico left), uninsured motorist accidents have dropped 60%, burglaries dropped 25%. The stats go on and on.

The pro-immigration folks hold our ability to enforce federal law by creating a myth around the lie that the illegal alien is the backbone of our economy. That is false. Pro-immigration folks hold our economy hostage with a gun to it’s head. What we are too dumb to realize is that the gun is unloaded. Click-click-click.

I wish I had grown up hanging with Wick. Together we would have tossed cherry bombs into neighbors’ ponds and then shot our ‘B B’ guns at the goldfish that shot into the air.

As I post these…46 posts on this three line thread? I mean…Trey could not get that with a one liner like “taking a gun into a church is a God given right and I will shoot any priest, preacher or rabbi who tries to stop me”. Or Time with “I used to Southlake. Now I hate Coppell”. What about Zac posting “The reason Schutze blow smoke out his ass is because that’s where I crush out my butts”.
Let’s stir up this joint with incite-full media button pushers!

I wish I had grown up hanging with Wick. Together we would have tossed cherry bombs into neighbors’ ponds and then shot our ‘B B’ guns at the goldfish that shot into the air.

As I post this there are already what…46 posts on this three line thread? I mean…Trey could not get that with a one liner like “taking a gun into a church is a God given right and I will shoot any priest, preacher or rabbi who tries to stop me”.

Or Tim with “I used to Southlake. Now I hate Coppell”.

What about Zac posting “The reason Schutze blows smoke out his ass is because that’s where I crush out my butts”.

Let’s stir up this joint with incite-full media button pushers!

I didn’t say anything about the legislation, Bill. I said that it wasn’t entirely what pushed Oklahoma’s lower unemployment rate.

Are “we” too PC to try to make those countries make things better so their peeps want to stay in their countries of birth, you know they all want to be in their homeland.

Legalize and regulate recreational drugs in this country, watch as the Mexican drug cartels die, and then see the American investment capital flow into legitimate economic enterprises in Mexico.

Balk at that first part? Then expect more of the same and learn to love it.

SB, I think — well, I’m pretty sure — something died under my house. It’s near the center of the house and I’m too much of a weenie to crawl under there, let alone drag out the bloated, maybe-about-to-explode carcass of who-knows-what. I’d be glad to pay you, or anyone you might know who’s desperate for work, the legitimate American minimum wage to do this disgusting and somewhat dangerous job. I promise to file a W-whatever-it-is come next April. Pickupthephonegiveusacall.

Lee -

“We all pick and chose what laws we obey.”
Yes, we do. And, I am willing to use the legal system to get out of/pay the ticket when the time comes. Your argument would only make sense if you then decided not to give me a ticket because you didn’t want to offend me.

GMOM -

I’m not opposed to immigration. I am opposed to both sides saying there is a problem and yet nobody is strong enough to come up with a plan (without offending). Skrew offending somebody, lets just put a plan in place so we can put some closure on the undocumented humans living/working in our country.

Grant -

You may have solved Farmer’s Branches problem. Pass a law requiring a “credit” check for all renters. Then we wouldn’t REALLY be looking for an ID to make sure the renter is a legal citizen, we would merely be checking their payment history. Really. Why wouldn’t that work?

All -

I had lunch today at a local sandwich shop. The person who prepared my meal was not illegal. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t hispanic. But, after that experience, maybe DriveBy was right…..the unemployment rate is too low. As a matter of fact, maybe an illegal immigrant would have understood when I said “no lettuce, add peppers.” BTW - I got extra lettuce and no peppers.

I wonder what that ancient great sandal wearin’ liberal woulda said? Oh wait, I think I know…

Leviticus (19:33-4):”And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.”

(Ex. 22:21); “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt”

(Ex. 23:9); “Do not oppress an alien: you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens”

Then there’s that pesky Matthew 25:31–46 that says to mistreat the “stranger” is to mistreat Christ

I guess you’ve always got Romans 13:1-7 which states to obey the laws of the government….EXCEPT for that pesky Acts 5:29, which makes an exception for laws that obstruct God’s will. In this case, I suggest re-reading the first three.

Amen.

and yes, I realize Lev., and Ex. are Old Testament. But Matthew is anything but…

The truth of the matter is this:

Unemployment rates are all contrived BULLCRAP. LIES. LIES, and more LIES.

If you find yourself unemployed, and are not able to find a job in six months…then you become PERMANENTLY retired according to the Government folks that keep records of such things.

The hubby is trying to get Social Security disability, and the government does nothing but throw up road blocks…and they are doing the same thing with folks trying to get unemployment help.

I love my country….but I truly hate my government, and what it has become….but I don’t blame the illegals.

I instead blame the tax benefits that allowed companies to move highly trained jobs offshore. I blame the State…which sure doesn’t mind hiring illegals when it suits their purposes…..such as road construction, and maintenance.

And I blame the current administration, who funded a phony war so Halliburton, and other businesses that Cheney and Bush Jr and Sr were involved with….which just funneled more and more tax money away from the people and into the pockets of corporate bloodsuckers.

Do I sound bitter? Hell yes I am bitter! Bitter, and under employed.

Just a couple of thoughts on “Oh My Eyes.”

First, I wish you and your hubby all the best. Being unemployed or disabled has to be tough and I hope things get much better for you.

With that said……if a person is unemployed for more than six months, they might want to start setting the bar a little lower. I have been unemployed for months at a time, but there is a point when I have to take a job to take care of my family. I wouldn’t want to flip burgers or wait tables, but if it’s that’s only thing I could find………..

Huh:

We don’t live in Dallas anymore…we could not afford it.

Setting the bar too high?

Would you expect a Dr’s assistant to work at Braum’s, and maintain a household with that kind of money?

Would you ask a highly trained technician who made $20 an hour to live on wages from WalMart?

And what about all those computer programmers, and analysts who are highly trained in specific fields? They can’t just go get another job without taking a horrific pay cut.

The hubby was a highly trained specialist in a small town, where there is just one company that does his line of work. Even if he COULD work (although the steel rods in his back make lifting, bending, stooping, and standing for long is now impossible), what could he do in the podunk town we now live in?

And moving is out of the question, as we now live on family owned land…for which we pay no rent.

It is really easy to point the finger at Illegal aliens…but in the screwed up work situation in this country illegals are not the main issue: Corporate greed is.

Wait a minute, I just had my own personal Wachovia Road to Damascus Moment*. Now I understand deep in my heart: God on High is deeply aggrieved by Spanish-language storefronts!

He truly does see every sparrow that falls.

* Who says corporate naming rights have gone too far? God doesn’t think so — and now that I’m Born Again (TM), I consider myself qualified to speak for him.

Double doggone darn. I love it.

You see I do real work. Girls can’t do the kind of work I do. In fact the only people I can find that can do the kind of work that I do is usually an immigrant from south of the border and more often than not they’re here illegally.

The reason most of the Americans can’t do the kind of work that I do is because they were raised by their mothers. There’s something lost when daddy isn’t around for a boy growing up.

The first thing the men from south of the border bring to the table, work table, is they respect the work. Stop and think real hard for a minute, concentrate, now tell me when was the last time you met an American who respected the work?

One of the benefits of respecting the work is inherently there is a respect for those who have been doing the work the longest, elders if you will.

Just last week I had some masons on a job I’m doing. I knew something was up when the radio started blasting out hip hop instead of mariachi married to country rock.

The father gave me the same stuff all the mexicanos give me when they find out I work by myself. He called me greedy.

It took me awhile, not the sharpest knife in the toolbox all the time, but I finally figured out why the mexicanos saw me as greedy.

You see norte americanos see someone with a good job and they want a pay check. They want you to give them money.

The hispanicos see it differently. If you have work you have a responsiblity to share it. You have a responsiblity to share the opportunity to work.

There’s a big difference between sharing opportunity to work and sharing money, completely different concepts.

It didn’t take me long to put together the older man sitting in the truck smoking his cigarette between catnaps was the father. The young man with the hip hop irritating the bejezzuz out of me was his son.

There’s something about a soldier. It might be the measuring look they return when you shake their hand. Heck, it might be the chip on the shoulder. But there’s something about a soldier. I picked it up when I explained to the masons the way I wanted them to do what I wanted them to do. The son has just finished his military commitment and he’s working with his dad until college starts this fall.

I’d bet the pants against the underwear that the father was once an illegal. And the son got his work ethic from his father. That’s because girls can’t do the work I do. Neither can the boys they raise on their own.

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