Good or Bad for the Jews

"Good or Bad for the Jews"

Many years ago, and for many years, I would travel to Morocco to visit uncles, cousins, and my paternal grandmother. Some lived in Tangiers;...

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Immigration (Again)

Sorry for the long delay in posting.

I have been in another one of my blue funks wherein I see nothing happening worth commenting upon--or at least, nothing happening to which I can add anything useful. So much of what's on the news---both in the MSM and the Off-Broadway media--is so weird and much of it is likely fake that I don't know what to say.

I have, for example, no idea what Congresswoman and former DNC head Debbie Wasserman-Schultz  was doing or thought she was doing with those bizarre Pakistani IT "experts." Was she being blackmailed? Were these guys some sort of clever ISI operation? Were they just crooks? I suspect that whatever was going on we will never find out as the media will decide--and the Republicans will agree a la Whitewater--that it's all too complex and not worth examining.

Anyhow, let's look at the perennial immigration issue.

Back in March 2016, I wrote that it appeared that immigration would become the big issue in the presidential elections,
Do voters consider the immigration issue a high priority? I think, yes, absolutely, regardless of what some exit polls suggest. I think voters meld the immigration issue into national defense, national pride, and the national economy. They do so, correctly. It is part of all of these, all part of the return of the Carteresque "national malaise." I don't think voters separate out the immigration issue as some of the pollsters seek to do. Part of the political genius of Trump is that he realizes this. If he can continue to hammer home this message, I think he could pick up considerable support from African-Americans and from the large, legal, Hispanic and Asian communities, as well. Illegal immigration affects the lower ends of the economic scale much more than it does the upper ends. Huge chunks of the populace labelled as poor, are, in fact, illegal immigrants.
I think that holds up.  Even prior to that piece, I had written quite a bit about immigration. One piece, "The Right of National Defense", which I wrote in May of 2013, noted the disaster in Europe, especially Britain, brought about by deliberate policies of unfettered immigration and that,
[I]t does no good to have elaborate military and police organizations, and committees looking into extremism, if we let the enemy enter through our front doors. Make no mistake, as I noted before, "We should be at war; instead, we are under attack." It should be a total war, not just restricted to drones and incursions in far away hamlets in Pakistan and North Africa. We need to look, inter alia, at our energy policies that send billions of dollars to corrupt Islamist regimes, and at our immigration and public assistance policies that let the enemy into our countries and then pay them to live here, and transform our societies into a copy of the corrupt societies from which they came.
Perhaps more to the point about what I want to discuss today, I wrote in June 2013, that our immigration debate misses the point because,
I do not hear discussion about whether we need none, little, some, or a lot of immigration, and if we do, what type of immigration we should seek. Do we need millions more of semi and unskilled people from Mexico and other poor countries? Absent widespread elimination or reduction in minimum wage, taxation, public assistance, and zoning laws, how will these people contribute to the economic growth of our country? This is not nineteenth century America with small factories and workshops on every street corner, and belching smokestack industries eager for cheap workers. This is the America of EPA regulations, OSHA bureaucrats, job killing minimum wage and health insurance laws, outsourcing, and of a growing ethos that sees single parents living on the public dole as an honorable existence. It is also the America of multiculturalism whereby immigrants are encouraged never to become Americans. 
The rubbish being put out by Obama and others on the taxes that these new immigrants will pay is just that, rubbish. They will draw public assistance and not pay taxes. What impact will this continuing flood of poor migrants have on the job and advancement prospects of struggling poor and middle class black, white and brown Americans? I haven't heard much said about that, but I predict it won't be good.

Is our immigration law going to continue based on the idea of family reunification? Will adults be able to petition for their adult siblings and those siblings' families? Will we continue to ignore promises that the new immigrants will not become a public assistance burden? If so, we are in for an endless cascade of new immigrants petitioning for their relatives and on and on and on. Yes, sure, technically we will have solved the "illegal alien" problem by making them all legal. Is that what is best for our country, I stress for our country not for the Democratic party?
That, too, holds up today--in my humble opinion, of course.

I see that the Trump Administration, apparently, will make an effort to reform radically our immigration system. That's good. I also notice that there seems to be an emphasis on merit and extra points for speaking English and having a skill (ABBA does well on both!) Those are also good things. I see, also, the beginning of a debate, very quiet one for now, on the key issues I raised above, to wit, do we need immigration, how much, and what kinds? This is all good. I continue to believe that the President should suspend all or nearly all immigration for a period of time until we draft a new immigration code.

Now, of course, every silver cloud has a dark lining. Given the abysmal Congressional/GOP performance on what should have been a no-brainer, the repeal of the odious Obamacare, how many of you believe that we will see meaningful action on immigration? What's happening with tax reform?

If you thought Obamacare was rife with politicization and misrepresentations, just wait until you start arguing immigration! The number of interest groups, many of them overtly malevolent, vested in our current system is astounding. The media will go to town on this topic like you have never seen before! I doubt there are many Congressmen or other politicians willing to withstand that sort of withering fire. I don't think it will happen. I hope I am wrong.

Now back to worrying about Russia . .  .

36 comments:

  1. I'm beginning to think that Trump's best option is to withdraw from the Republican Party. Heck, plenty of Demos have done this over the years, claiming to now be "independents" (i.e. Bernie!) so they could hardly squawk.
    The Republican Congress seems incapable of pulling their nether cheeks together to accomplish anything without self-destructing.
    Go it alone, Mr Trump -- they didn't really want you, and they still despise you. Let them fail for themselves.

    Find another way to accomplish your agenda -- it worked for Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I too have been in my own blue funk. Gone forever I fear are the days when representatives, be they senators or congressmen, actually put what is best for the country first. Personally I am at a loss, as both of my countries (Israel and my adopted country, America) are are treading a dangerous path. I guess it makes sense, what with Trump and Bibi such good pals. both talk a helluva game, but when push comes to shove, they both cave.
    And one more thing if I may.......how the hell can such a successful, savvy and astute businessman make such piss poor hiring choices, such as McMaster, Mueller, et al? Makes zero sense.
    Stay safe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The end result of generations of electoral democracy as well as the State taking the place of God in a 'new' religion that now governs nearly all.

      Delete
    2. I don't know if we should be too critical of Trump for making problematical hiring choices, when most of them were hailed as excellent at the time. As Nancy Pelosi might have said, maybe we have to hire them to know what they will actually do.

      It looks like Trump is getting better at dumping people he discovers are not working for him, and maybe that's the only personnel policy that really works.

      The swamp has been great at self-preservation. That's why it's a swamp.

      Delete
    3. Can't say I disagree with you...until you get to McMaster. Trump doesn't need to hear his own opinions replayed back to him. The McMaster choice stands, at least in my mind, as a move by a man that wants advisors with different view points helping him make the best decisions. I think you probably didn't mean to include Mueller as he is not a Trump hire. What hacks me off is Sessions' decision to recuse himself. For that reason we have Mueller, an appointee by Sessions' stand-in at DOJ. Blue period is right.

      Delete
    4. TFHR: is Mcmasters really a good hire afterall? Why then is he firing loyal Trump hires and retaining and promoting staunch Obamaistas?

      Delete
    5. trump may not need his own opinions played back to him but he doesn't need a nsa who fires those who disagree with his pollyanna view of islam and the threat it poses to the west. msmaster has an incredibly distorted misunderstanding of islam and its relationship to terrorism. do you really think the president should have a nsa who refuses to acknowledge the link and actively discourages any discussion of the issue?

      Delete
  3. Mr DiploMad, your excellent texts hold up very, very well and they are valid on the European situation as well. Unfortunately this means that the situation hasn´t changed. In fact it is much worse. Former colonial countries like Britain and France always had their share of problems but the rest of us really woke up in the autumn 2015. It was like an avalanche, it was as if someone gave a starting signal and said:" Now . Go !".
    You write: " The voters meld the immigration issue into national defense, national pride and national economy".That is certainly true. Maybe you can add national culture ?
    Americans should be happy to have a leader who wants to radically reform the immigration system. I wish we had some Trumpesque leaders over here as well. Well, Hungary has a brave and outspoken PM, but the MSM and the EU are doing their best to paint him as a backwards Neanderthaler we all better ignore. However, if Trump is successful he could perhaps inspire our European milquetoasts.But the mad Congress will probably stop his efforts just like they did when he wanted to mend relations with Russia. Maybe it instead will end with Trump signing some paper that gives the US totally open borders. Sigh.
    Swedishlady

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some folks say, in one form or another,that President Trump is a flim-flam artist, spouting b.s. to make the sale, really offering nothing. I am not among them, but I can understand their argument.

      He has made a lot of anti-illegal immigrant noise, which caused thousands of Latin Americans to repatriate, starting the ninth of November. Actual citizens left the country. Green-card holders ran for the border. He has backed up some of that, with rounding up convicted felons who were in the country illegally and deporting them, providing plenty of material for the sob-story "news" on television in English and Spanish. (I am fluent in both.)The idiots do not realize that these tearful accounts by people who were 'only' guilty of drunk driving, escorted to the plane by ICE, reassure the Right that Trump is actually doing something, while spreading terror among the Left's desired client base. Long may they wave!

      Sweden has a reputation for being serious about drunk driving, better than we have done, historically. Mexico, as any one-time college student will tell you, is much more relaxed about the whole thing. There's a potential clash of cultures here, that can be prevented by having strong border control. Since my weekly alcohol consumption is usually limited to Communion wine, I should have no probs in Sweden. The people who like to take the party on the road need to know to turn back at the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande) bridges.

      Always enjoy SL's comments. (It's OK, my wife is also brilliant, and not the jealous type.)

      Michael Adams

      Delete
    2. Oh, Michael Adams, the reputation is true. You can hardly drink any strong beverages at all before driving, more than 0,2 promille in your blood is unlawful in Sweden. Most people have incorporated this as a rule of conduct and assign a driver before partying but some calculate with the risk of discovery, especially now when the police is so very busy with all things connected with immigration. But you wouldn´t have any problem, some Communion wine now and then is fine for body and soul.
      Swedishlady

      Delete
    3. Sweishlady, you said it better than I did. The issue IS National Culture. People have a right to preserve their culture.

      Delete
    4. Yes, preserve the national culture, but also leave it open to wholesome influences from without.

      While traveling in Switzerland, Alsace, and SW Germany, I was struck at how often barns reminded me of barns in the USA--while when I traveled in England, it seemed that rural outbuildings had a different feel. Perhaps the rural American barn is, then, a heritage from the southwestern areas of what was once the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation rather than English--even if our laws and basic political culture bear a definite English stamp.

      Delete
    5. What shall we do when nuclear powers Great Britain, France and/or Germany become sufficiently Islamized to elect Muslim prime ministers?

      Delete
    6. Swedishlady: Almost certainly too late for western Europe. But not Eastern Europe. US policy should be to strengthen ties to any European state that is willing to actively resist the Islamist tide while we insulate ourselves from those western European states that are destined to be Islamist dominated in the next 20 to 30 years. If we are lucky, we can rescue quite a few of the Europeans who haven’t drunk the multicultural coolaid while their countries settle into an Islamist regression and Dark Age. Er... we may want to disable or grab their nukes first though.

      Silent T

      Delete
    7. yeah, those wholesome influences from the middle east are certainly improving swedish society.

      Delete
  4. You mentioned the congressional IT staff situation, there have been many articles on this issue of the Democrats' IT people, yet this question has not been answered to my knowledge; are they US citizens and did they have a security clearance to be able to access congressional members computers/E-mails/servers. I know the fraud is important, but our national security for this veteran is much more so.
    The Russia, Russia, Russia cries show nothing of note, yet this IT staffer issue does and everyone seems to be ignoring the basics. And no non citizen should have access to anything in congress we wouldn't allow the Russian to see. My security information has been compromised by hacks because of government incompetence and now this.
    I couldn't even work independently under a contact with the DoE because they would not recognize my military top secret clearance; I had to be escorted for 10 months until the DoE investigated me from scratch to get a clearance.
    I just do not understand why the citizenship and security clearances of these IT staffers is not public knowledge; no one seems to care. I don't have the damn bully pulpit to go public or access to people to get this information or I would certainly do so. Nobody I have contacted in the media and political office including the President will comment on this. So damn sad and disgusting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. amr?

      "[T]his question has not been answered to my knowledge; are they US citizens and did they have a security clearance to be able to access congressional members computers/E-mails/servers."

      https://fas.org/irp/congress/2016_cr/hpsci-hac.pdf

      So ... very likely.

      JK

      Delete
    2. I knew about the request for funding, but it doesn't answer my question. I Tweeted some writers on the scandal, the DOJ and my Federal Rep. My Senators are Dems, so no chance of help there.

      Delete
    3. Might then amr, keep an eye on this ongoing case. MAY be able to infer from some of the documentation (embedded link)

      http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2017/08/media-ignores-fed-lawsuit-dems-accusing-dnc-wasserman-schultz-fraud/

      Hope that helps.

      JK

      Delete
  5. Re: Mexico, wall, call transcripts, New Hampshire, etc. Althouse is actually reading the call transcripts (so we don't have to?), and comments on the conversations.
    http://althouse.blogspot.com/2017/08/why-is-there-so-little-talk-about.html

    I sure hope that AG Sessions' new emphasis on leakers uncovers who it was who leaked these transcripts and charges them to the fullest extent possible. Private conversations between heads of state are not presumptively public property, and jeopardize all of our international relationships, bar none.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's unfortunate that the entire Kennedy clan wasn't wiped out during the prohibition/smuggling days of old Joe the patriarch. No Kennedys, no Teddy and if we were lucky no 1965 open door to third-worlders alien admissions act.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Massachusetts wins the prize for spawning nincompoops ... the Kennedys, Barney Frank. Liz Warren (transplant) and pretty much the entire state gov't. The damage that this state has done to our country rivals California. Yet the natives here refuse to recognize that they are misguided. Generally good people, but importantly flawed. What's that quote? 'Forgive then for they know not what they are doing.'

    ReplyDelete
  8. There are 3 or 4 liberals out of 52 GOP senators.

    Reaction 1: They couldn't deliver, even though they had a majority. How disappointing. Let us strive to have a wide enough majority that even a few defections won't torpedo us, because a few defections are inevitable.

    Reaction 2: Those terrible people betrayed us! All is lost! Abandon the field to the Democrats! Burn the Republican Party to the ground! All hail Speaker Pelosi! (But mighty Trump will protect us.)

    One of these two is, to say no more, politically unsophisticated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A6z:

      If only it were as simple as one of two reactions.

      If it was just a question of 2 or 3 elitists your prescription would be sensible. But what we have seen not just in 2017 but since the GOP took control in 2010 election and thereafter is an intentional deception by party leaders. So the rot is far more pervasive than you suggest.

      That said, the GOP can be commandeered. 2018 will need to replace as many of these chickensnit Pubs as possible. If enough elitists lose that could well convince the remaining sheep to go along with the Trump agenda. But Trump has to get out there and push for new blood in the party if they won't support the voter's choice.

      Silent T

      Delete
  9. Try this on for size: our liberal immigration policies have actually had the effect of perpetuating corruption, poverty and misery in much of the third world (from where most of the "refugees" come). As long as the US allows itself to be the giant crutch and pressure relief valve for 3rd world nations (typically governed by corrupt elite), there is little incentive for said countries to get their act together and actually do the needful to create viable economies, jobs, investment, etc. Instead, far easier to export your citizens to relieve pressure on the corrupt regimes and who can send billions of dollars in remittances to their home countries, thus benefitting those at home.....all the while the corrupt elite steal from the state and receive USG aid on top of all this. It's a winning formula for the corrupt ruling elite, and it incentivizes the status quo. It's like a vicious welfare cycle....it will take tough love to break the cycle. Less carrot, more stick.

    ReplyDelete
  10. An aside: What was Wasserman-Schultz doing with Pakistani IT spies? Imo, they worked for Muslim Brotherhood, which is infiltrating American gov't. Much like Communist infiltration during Roosevelt and Truman Administrations. And biggest coup - Huma Abedin at Hillary's side.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard reasonably-reliable talk that's not Huma Abedin's only position with regard to Hillary.

      Delete
    2. So they say. I'm female and straight and probably very sheltered. I've never picked up personally any weird vibes that way from Hillary (although I'm aware of the multitude of claims suggested about her). DWS is the one who to me sends off very hideous signals. E.g., she can afford a decent hair colorist and stylist. What's with the hideous cheap dirty blond dye and the hideous style? That's some sort of identification, but I don't know of what.

      Delete
    3. A certain high-level Democratic party operative was speaking indiscreetly on a cell phone where the hired help heard. Hired help talked to somebody. Somebody mentioned it to me. All details intentionally omitted here.

      Delete
    4. TheOtherSean

      Er, completely elucidating. I now understand everything about everything. (Not!) It probably goes along with that glimpse a source of mine had of....well, you will guess of whom doing what.

      Delete
  11. JK

    Why would ISI want to screw up Hillary winning? I tend to like Seth Richard for Wikileaks - was he killed because he was screwing up Hillary? I don't know if that theory is correct, but, imho, it hangs together logically. Abedin is clearly MB, whether bimbo helper, or secretly cunning mastermind, I don't know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well Msher,

      Bear in mind there was a time when "most" figured she'd be the sure thing (I'll even admit that, until the very moment I waited in the early voting period I rather accepted I'd be the sole ... well me 'n the ladyfriend [holder of a Bachelor of Science degree which sorta puts the lie to all the other side's contention "it was only ignorant females voted for Trump] Anyway I figured me and the Lady would be the only Trump votes in my county.

      Refreshingly I found waiting in line my county would go heavily away from my expectation.)

      I sort of Msher, go along with your tending however I'd wager Mr Richard figured he'd need some "help" and that the sort of help he'd need would be technical rather than operational ergo, the Awan Network.

      And (in working theory) as the Awans had been around the DNC's network since at least 2004 that they could've managed to elude the notices of the ISI seems to be nearly incomprehensible.

      And further, that the ISI "works both sides of the street" (you'll recall who was in Abbottabad?) is, I think you'll agree, a given.

      That she was/is MB, no doubt - "Cunning Mastermind"?

      Two word answer: Anthony Weiner.

      JK

      Delete
  12. JK, that photo would truly hurt your delicate condition:)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jk

    P.s., I don't understand the point you are making about Weiner. Surely Carlos Danger cannot mastermind anything.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've quoted you and linked to you here: https://consul-at-arms2.blogspot.com/2017/08/re-immigration-again.html

    ReplyDelete