I have this gut feeling that this whole immigration imbroglio is a sham .... the real issue is 2008.

[Stinky The Clown]

All this crap that Gin Blossom George is opposed by his own party may be real .... but I can't shake the feeling it is all a sham to let Republics trumpet their opposition to all things Bush, knowing that support of things Bush could kill a lot of them in the 08 cycle.

[shance]

1. I think the real issue is the election shams because of fraudulent tabulation of votes

Ban the machines and the optical scans.

And ban the private companies with vested interests and government ties that COUNT these votes.

Demand citizen tabulations of our votes today.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

2. BINGO FOR YOU

EVERYTHING THE REPULSIVES DO IS FOR SHOW

[Totally Committed]

3. Right on the schnozola!

Can you say "Wedge Issue"?

TC

[fishwax]

4. I think it's definitely an '08 strategy

for one thing, they're crafting it as the "gay marriage" of the '08 election, hoping it will mobilize their base. On top of that, as you point out, it gives them an opportunity to distance themselves from gw without actually having to disavow his most unpopular policies. It gives repub candidates a way to distract voters from the fact that they support the same failed policies that have driven bush's approval ratings into the 20s.

[gratuitous]

5. Yep, as important to the average American as the Estate Tax

And yet, there are millions of people all over the country, fretting (apparently) that Paris Hilton will have to scrape by on just a $100 million inheritance, instead of the full $195 million that she's "entitled" to.

Keep an eye on the immigration reform coverage, and count the number of times a real, concrete proposal is made. I've been watching it casually, and all I've heard reported is that we have a crying need for immigration "reform," but no assertions on just what that "reform" should look like.

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. I guess no one let McCain in on this plan, as

he supported this bill.

[Warpy]

7. Of course it's a sham. If they were serious, they'd enforce

the laws on the books that fine scumbucket employers for hiring and exploiting illegal workers by paying them far less than the prevailing wage.

If they were serious, they'd arrange a goof proof identity program using fingerprints or iris photos so that employers could easily know which immigrants are here illegally.

If they were serious, they'd raise the minimum wage to a subsistence standard, thus eliminating a prime means of underpaying and exploiting immigrant labor.

If they were serious, they'd have enough shitbag employers in prison to put the fear of the law into the rest of them, the jobs would dry up, and the flood of illegal immigrants into this country would dry to a bare trickle.

But they're not serious about anything but window dressing while they use desperate people from around the world to drive our wages down. We knew that, didn't we?

[Daphne08]

8. I agree. n/t

[Rydz777]

9. The basic sham underlying the "immigration issue" is that the

political and economic elite of this country have decided to annex Mexico as a source of cheap labor and (more quietly) to annex Canada as a source of raw materials. Open borders was implicit in the concept of NAFTA.