I'm supposed to be the heartless conservative! Death to gays, starve poor people, etc. :)

To stand back & put this in context, this new immigration proposal would be good if a) it's followed by a massive, unstoppable crackdown (can we stand the liberal whining over this? Nooo you can't take their drivers' licenses away!) and b) we truly simplify the law &, more importantly, define exactly what we're aiming at with our immigration policy.

For years we've been told we MUST allow immigration. Why? What do we hope to accomplish, how is this good for us? I personally think we don't know anymore, it's just become a liberal mantra, like diversity.

I'm not saying there is no good reason, just that we should spell out what it is. A full debate in congress is an excellent idea.

And consider this: it's estimated that there's about 8 million illegals in the US at any given time. That's 8 million unknown, unchecked foreign nationals. Any Wahabbis in there? How would we know? Something has to be done.

Most of the jobs done by these illegals are jobs we simply won't do. Pick apples for minimum wage? So what will cost us more - importing men for labor or paying the additional cost of $10/hr apple pickers? There is also the fact that many of these men send a large percentage of their wages home to their family. Starve their families? That's supposed to be a Republican thing lol! And the goodwill generated (America IS the land of opportunity) is priceless.

Considering Mexicos' feelings in this matter is important, realistically. We share a long border & economic interest.

Politics-wise, it's a brilliant move by GWB, not because of the minority vote (the majority of the minorities [haha] vote Democrat), but because unfettered immigration is a Democrat issue, the vast majority of Americans think it's gone too far, and the Dems are either going to defend it (and look VERY bad) or basically do whatever he says (handing the Reps a victory), all in an election year. And he's stupid? No wonder the Dems are so defensive!

One could always act Floridian, vote for Buchanan (God help us), and take care of immigration once and for all!

Pete