May. 25, 2006 - 17:29 MDT

ROUGE ET NOIR

Every day more visitors come north across from Mexico, while our Congress deliberates. An article in todays Rocky Mountain News by M.E. Sprengelmeyer of that paper has to do with what goes on in the Senate. Quoted in part herein:

BORDER BILL GOES TO VOTE

Allard's roadblocks foiled by full Senate

WASHINGTON -- "Senators beat back several attempts to scuttle immigration reform legislation on Wednesday, and the bill appeared headed toward Senate approval."

"After Colorado Republican Sen. Wayne Allard and other critics failed to block the legislation with parliamentary maneuvers Wednesday, the biggest remaining question is whether negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives will ever be able to agree on their two very different approaches to an immigration overhaul."

"The Senate is poised for a final vote today on legislation that would increase border control and immigration enforcement, include a more controversial guest worker plan and let some of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country today get on a long-term path to citizenship."

"The House has passed a tougher bill focused primarily on border control and enforcement measures."

"The differences between the immigrations bills will have to be hashed out in a conference committee, but the chances of a House-Senate compromise are a coin-flip at best, some observers say."

"I'd say it's a 50-50 proposition," Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Denver told reporters after lawmakers passed a cloture motion ending unmlimited debate some critics hoped would block the bill."

"Rep Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, who leads critics of illegal immigration in the House, said he would settle for a stalemate, rather than accepting Senate legislation he considers "amnesty."

"I don't see (a conference committee)producing anything that would actually get the Senate to go along with it," Tancredo said."

"The real battle, honestly, for this particular issue will come in November. Not November of this year, but two years from now," he said. "Stalemate, to me, means at least holding the line until we can get to the next presidential election."

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And in the meantime, the northward flow will continue as poor people will try to get somewhere they can make more money -- regardless to what it does to the economy here.

In his column this morning Mike Littwin puts it this way, "If you really want to end illegal immigration you get serious about prosecuting those who hire illegal immigrants. You don't need a wall. You need the will."

All this quibbling going on in the halls of Congress is somewhat off the point it seems to me. So, to me, it would appear that Congress should firm up what proof of our country's citzenship would be required. Knock off the guest worker program entirely. If things shut down for a spell I expect business and agriculture will come up with decent wages and our citizens will actually "do" that kind of work.

I cannot see someone trekking up from the depths of poverty stricken Mexico to cross the border to just be a tourist and have a happy sightseeing trip.

Seems to me much of the bluster going on from our pols is the fact that labor from south of our border is "cheap labor" and they wish to protect the moneybags who want all they can get for little or nothing. The great opposition and hassle is from those trying to purvey the old saw, "Work that Americans won't do," which is faulty, in the beginning that myth came from the fact that Americans won't work for as little as industry, agriculture and businesses want to pay. Pure and simple.

And to my way of thinking the only way to prevent the influx of cheap labor is to make it a heavily punished felony to hire a non-citizen of our country. Stop the cash flow, the rush north will stop on its own.

Sure there will be economic repercussions. We might have to actually pay for what we get, but America is not just one big Wal-Mart where employers can get it cheaper.

Congress I believe, should be concentrating on how one can prove citizenship or permission to be in and work in this country. And come to think of it, some of our folks who are existing on unemployment cash might actually have to go to work for a living.

One thing for sure, our southern border can not be controlled by Bush Boy patrolling a part of the border in a military dune buggy grinning for a photo-op.

The roulette wheel of Congress, spins and the ball goes bouncing down and eventually ends up in ? ROUGE ET NOIR . . . . . . . . . . .

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