First, God bless the blogosphere. This is a tough and huge issue with a million facets: political, economic, security, cultural and moral. I have enjoyed reading other opinions before I rush to my own.
Many of my favorites have come down strongly against the President. John Derbyshire, Victor David Hanson -- almost everybody at National Review is fulminating, Melissa at ZogbyBlog has written a thoughtful but very charged piece against it. This post started its inchoate life as a comment to her.
On what came to be my side, I read equally thoughtful posts by Alex at Pstupidonymous and Andrew Sullivan. The Wall Street Journal Ed Page unsurprisingly comes out in favor this morning. I am pro-growth, pro-Immigrant. Another of Melissa's commenters accused W of simultaneously pandering to Hispanics and "Cheap Labor Conservatives." I guess I am a paid up member in the CLC.
In our defense, it's more than cheap labor, it's economic dynamism and comparative advantage. Immigration is great for the economy unless the immigrants are terrorists. That's what this plan is about.
It also codifies an economic reality. These people are here and are part of the economy. I love Michelle Malkin and John Derbyshire and VDH, but they live in a dream world if they think we can find, process and deport millions of workers.
Citizenship would be amnesty, and I would oppose it. This is a legal, traceable framework. As WSJ's Political Diary said, it's Good Politics and Good Policy.
Posted by jk at January 9, 2004 10:17 AMI agree JK. The important question to ask of any immigrant (other than the terrorism one you mentioned) is whether they will be a producer or a dependant. I care less about what kind and color of registration card they are given than about what entitlement programs they sponge off of.
I don't support Bill O'Reiley's militarization of the border to halt the influx of ALL illegal immigrants. Instead I advocate the elimination of welfare programs that beckon the parasites of the world to come to America and live the good life at someone else's expense.
Posted by: johngalt at January 10, 2004 11:38 AM