Tuesday, May 10, 2011

give us your poor

all quotes are from President Obama's May 10, 2011, speach in El Paso, Tx... all snarky comments are mine...
Now, about a week ago, I delivered the commencement address at Miami Dade Community College, one of the most diverse schools in the nation.
...
A handful had discovered only in adolescence or adulthood that they were undocumented. But they worked hard and gave it their all, and they earned those diplomas.
how many "undocumented" earned their citizenship?... or did they reap the benefits of our state and federal tax dollars, which built and funded these institutions, without contributing back to the country?

We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants – a nation that welcomes those willing to embrace America’s precepts.
and by embrace, we mean to become legal residents... if you don't agree to that, you haven't embraced a thing... you're just a criminal.

This flow of immigrants has helped make this country stronger and more prosperous. We can point to the genius of Einstein and the designs of I. M. Pei, the stories of Isaac Asimov and whole industries forged by Andrew Carnegie.
all legal immigrants...

It doesn’t matter where you come from; what matters is that you believe in the ideals on which we were founded; that you believe all of us are equal and deserve the freedom to pursue happiness. In embracing America, you can become American. And that enriches all of us.
key phrase, "you can become American"... if illegals don't become legal, they don't become American... and that impoverishes all of us.

At times, there has been fear and resentment directed toward newcomers, particularly in periods of economic hardship.
newcomers are welcome... criminals elicit fear and resentment.

But they’ve broken the rules, and have cut in front of the line. And the truth is, the presence of so many illegal immigrants makes a mockery of all those who are trying to immigrate legally.
but... well... yeah, that about sums it up.

Well, one way to strengthen the middle class is to reform our immigration system, so that there is no longer a massive underground economy that exploits a cheap source of labor while depressing wages for everyone else.
this is what we've been saying for DECADES!

Today, we provide students from around the world with visas to get engineering and computer science degrees at our top universities. But our laws discourage them from using those skills to start a business or power a new industry right here in the United States. So instead of training entrepreneurs to create jobs in America, we train them to create jobs for our competition. That makes no sense.
not necessarily... international schools have been ubiquitous for centuries... it creates competition, but competition is actually good, economically speaking... it raises the wages of impoverished countries, which reduces the glut of people trying to leave home and come here... this, in turn, raises wages at home... it also lowers the cost of products (supply and demand)... it raises the federal income from tarrifs... this isn't all bad.

[Intel, Google, Yahoo and eBay, each were] founded by an immigrant. We don’t want the next Intel or Google to be created in China or India.
you forgot something... "legal immigrant".

Everyone recognizes the system is broken.
funny... you didn't seem to think it was broken before.

The Border Patrol has 20,000 agents – more than twice as many as there were in 2004, a build up that began under President Bush and that we have continued.
did he just say Bush did something right?...

They wanted a fence. Well, that fence is now basically complete.
really?... define "basically".

But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I suspect there will be those who will try to move the goal posts one more time. They’ll say we need to triple the border patrol. Or quadruple the border patrol. They’ll say we need a higher fence to support reform.

Maybe they’ll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat.
build the moat, the alligators will come on their own... i say get frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads!

Even as we’ve stepped up patrols, apprehensions along the border have been cut by nearly 40 percent from two years ago – that means far fewer people are attempting to cross the border illegally.
no... that means that ICE has been told not to detain (or outright release) illegal immigrants who haven't commited a capital crime... so, if they aren't covered in the blood of babies, they get released... and you don't count them if you don't keep them.

But I want to emphasize: we are not doing this haphazardly; we are focusing our limited resources on violent offenders and people convicted of crimes; not families, not folks who are just looking to scrape together an income.
remember, if you don't keep them, you can't prosecute them... or convict them... or deport them... and they may be a family, but each person has already broken the law... that makes them criminals, by definition.

I know some here wish that I could just bypass Congress and change the law myself. But that’s not how a democracy works.
never stopped you before.

And I’d point out, the most significant step we can take now to secure the borders is to fix the system as a whole – so that fewer people have incentive to enter illegally in search of work in the first place.
i have an idea... how about you make it illegal to be here without documentation... and then, enforce the law!

There are Democrats and Republicans, including former-Republican Senator Mel Martinez and former-Bush administration Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff; leaders like Mayor Michael Bloomberg; evangelical ministers like Leith Anderson and Bill Hybels; police chiefs from across the nation; educators and advocates; labor unions and chambers of commerce; small business owners and Fortune 500 CEOs.
how about inviting the Governor of Arizona?... or Sherrif Joe Arpaio?

Now we need to come together around reform that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants; that demands everyone take responsibility.
everyone?... like the illegal immigrants?

[T]hose who are here illegally have a responsibility as well. They have to admit that they broke the law, pay their taxes, pay a fine, and learn English. And they have to undergo background checks and a lengthy process before they can get in line for legalization.
you mean, they have to follow the law (which they already don't)?... and if they don't (which they aren't), what are you going to do about it?

We need to provide farms a legal way to hire the workers they rely on, and a path for those workers to earn legal status.
maybe like hiring legal workers?... or something temporary, like a work visa?... damn, you're smart.

And we should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents – by denying them the chance to earn an education or serve in the military.
right... parents should be able to come to America, bring their children, and let their children inherit citizenship... then, you'd let their parents stay so we don't separate families... it's called a backdoor... we see it being unlocked.

but hey... he's admitted that there is a problem... and isn't that the first step to recovery?


NationalJournal.com - TEXT: Obama's Speech on Immigration From El Paso, Texas - Tuesday, May 10, 2011

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