From talking to a co-worker, who is also a good friend, I was inspired to open a discussion that I would love to see some reply on from the liberal side of the aisle, especially the Clueless and Old segment....
I'm not sure how many people are old enough to remember the 1992 election cycle, with good ol' Jug-eared and more than a little insane Ross Perot running as the third party candidate that helped usher in the era of Bill and Hillary Clinton by stealing away votes from the incumbent George H.W. Bush, but I definitely remember that time and the debates that occured along the way.
Those debates provided great fodder for Saturday Night Live and helped propel Dana Carvey into star status with his spot on impersonation of Perot and George H.W. Bush... "not gonna do it... wouldn't be prudent" and "don't worry about me, I've got $6 billion back home in the bank" which accompanied graphs and charts were pretty funny, both in real life and in the mocking that Carvey did.
One of the big discussions of the time was on the NAFTA treaty, and the possible after-affects that would be seen if that treaty was passed and signed. Perot used scare-mongering to try to convince everyone that wasn't already convinced (unions were already sure of the possible consequences and had no problem climbing on board for Perot's arguments) that we were gonna hear a giant sucking sound if NAFTA -- the North American Free Trade treaty -- was passed and signed. He was convinced, as were many of the unions, that NAFTA would cost millions of 'American' jobs (Jobs in the good old U.S. of A.) as companies took their businesses and moved them south into Mexico once the treaty was passed. After all, with NAFTA in place, Mexican products would be part of the North American free trade zone, without tarriffs and without punishment that would make such products and goods cost more in the U.S.A.
Flash forward to modern times. Do we hear any sucking sound? Well, I want to tell you that yes we do, and yes we have. We've heard it all along... Only the thing is that the sucking sound is not coming from where we were told to expect it from back then. Instead, the sucking sound is coming out of the U.S.A. vacuum that is pulling from Mexico, as citizens of Mexico continue to cross the border illegally into the U.S.A. seeking jobs and income. Looking for the 'American dream' and promises of financial security for themselves and their families.
It seems in recent years that the sucking sound has gotten even louder, as we continue to have far too many issues with our border security, and with illegal immigrants coming into the country. As congress argues over immigration reform and border security, and discusses various forms of amnesty (which we shouldn't even consider at all) for people that long ago should have been booted from the country, we continue to have a flood people that seem to get ever bolder about crossing the borders.
Our borders are not adequately protected and blocked, especially on the the Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas borders, and we must do something to fix it. Congress needs to address this all in pieces. First, pass a border security bill that includes beefing up the number of border agents and a large fence or other harsh barrier that will preclude free and easy access into the U.S.A. along those borders. Second, we should pass a bill that deals with illegals that are in this country now. They shouldn't be getting amnesty and immunity from prosecution. They can fill out papers to apply for legal status, but they need to go into the lottery for the slots that will be available for guest workers. Third, in conjunction with this second task, pass a guest worker bill that offers an opportunity to workers to come into the country for a limited number of jobs. Those workers would be clearly identified, and clearly tracked. Once their guest periods are expired, they must leave the country for some period of time, during which they can reapply for another 'tour'.
And finally, but perhaps most importantly, we must work with the Mexican government, no matter how ineffectual many of us may believe that to be, to create jobs and work in Mexico. As bitter a pill as it may seem, we need to help establish more factories and businesses in Mexico to give the people there a reason to stay there. They must have places where they can earn a living that will help them provide for their families. We need to EXPORT the American Dream to Mexico, rather than importing workers into this country.
