CNN: Senate immigration bill suffers crushing defeat

First up, I have had just about enough of the media spin put on this thing. Every poll I have read puts the majority of voters against this bill, either one way or the other. It's impossible to think that CNN would run suggestions of a Rebulican blockade against such polling results. Impossible? Yes. Surprising? Hardly.

As for Bush's support for the bill... riders here will imagine a drum-roll... bullshit of the highest order. The president is sorry that congress could not act. 'Feh, I am not sorry that congress failed to write legislation that myopically determines policy that will impact future generations of existing Americans. At a time when the expense of existing entitlements, such as Social Security, and national healthcare (shudder) are being considered for current citizens, opening a flood gate to an unknown amount of low-skilled immigrants is just about the last thing that makes sense. Compromise my ass. From the start, this bill has been a shakedown of the highest order.

But you know, we are all about solutions here. So here it is for the galactically challenged congress: How to fix the immigration debacle of the last twenty years.

1. Tighten border security by increasing physical barriers, enabling verification of current and future employees, and establishing a respectable protocol for removing illegal aliens.
2. Establish a system where the employers are encouraged to sponsor existing illegal employees, thus creating a pathway to citizenship through employment.
3. Remove federal funding for law enforcement, for states that refuse to enforce the federal immigration policy.

In three steps we can reduce the amount of illegal immigration into this country by physical means and by removing the economic incentives; developing a federal policy that uses both existing and new laws to create a system of immigration that is more attractive than illegal means; encourage states' adoption of these new policies.

The catch is that no grand bargain is required. These laws can be effectively enacted through three steps: 1.) Stop the flow; 2.) Develop a process to deal with current and future illegals; 3.) Use the federal coffers to encourage cooperation.

In the meantime, congress would be well-served if they were to investigate the economic and social ramifications of any future immigration policy, prior to ram-rodding a self-serving half-asses piece of legislation up America's ass.

Red, white and blue,
yankee fucking dandily-doo,
god-dam uncle sam,
glad to be an American, I am

happy Fourth.