The Political Consequences
John Hawkins, on the political consequences of the Ted Kennedy Amnesty:
For a moment, let’s just set aside the fact that…– This legislation is a disaster for America and will lead to more illegals pouring over the border in hopes of a future amnesty.
– The same people who snuck into our country in the dead of night and were out in the street this week-end waving Mexican flags and claiming America is stolen land, will be offered citizenship.
– This is a huge slap in the face, a big, “You’re an idiot,” to all the people who obeyed our immigration laws and actually waited in line to enter this country legally. When lawbreakers are rewarded and people who respect the law are treated like fools, expect more criminal behavior.
– We’ve already had one massive amnesty back in 1986. Back then, they promised we’d never have another one and that we’d tighten up security. Now, 20 years later, here we are right back in the same position. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Setting all that aside, consider the politics of this bill.
You’ll notice, even in the article above, that a significant majority of Americans oppose allowing illegals to stay here and apply for citizenship. Furthermore, the Republican base is — and has been — breathing fire over this issue for years. So, in an election year, when the base is already demoralized, the Republicans in the Senate are going to tell us, and the majority of American citizens, to go straight to hell on a critically important issue? Does that really make sense politically?
Furthermore, let’s say all 11 million illegal aliens become US citizens. Which party do you think they’re going to vote for? Even if they split 60/40 for the Democrats — and given that they’re mostly poor, uneducated people, from mostly socialist countries, who don’t respect our laws, those are probably extremely generous numbers for the GOP — this will add more than 2 million potential votes for the Democrats.
Oh, but that’s not all! Inevitably, because of this amnesty, more illegal aliens will pour into the country. Which means what? Another amnesty in 5 or 10 years and another 2 or 3 million net votes for the Democrats?
But wait, there’s more! Since the “solution” suggested above will take years to implement and really won’t fix the problem, it guarantees that this issue will continue to be a sucking chest wound for the GOP that won’t go away for years.
In other words, this bill is a complete disaster for America and the GOP. It’s the political equivalent of the Harriet Miers fiasco, McCain-Feingold, and the Dubai Ports World deal all rolled up into one big, ugly package and it absolutely must be stopped.
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