I read an AP report this morning that covered President Bush's address to the nation last night concerning the Mexican immigration issue.
In part, the report said, "[Bush's] measure includes tougher border security provisions, a guest worker program and an eventual path to citizenship for nearly all the estimated 12 million immigrants in the country illegally. The bill also includes steps to make sure employers don't hire illegal workers."
Wow. This sounds like the position of a moderate to me. Is Bush finally thinking for himself--or is his position more related to the fact that he has lots of people telling him what to do on this one, including American businesses who actually want to keep the Mexican workers in the US?
In any event, his position is clearly centrist. Something Bill Clinton would dream up.
I thought, when I heard Bush was going to address the nation last night, that he was going to invoke the military option once again by simply sending Guard troops to the boarder because it makes good politics to "crack down on illegal Mexican aliens." And Bush's poll numbers sure need a boost.
But he didn't go in that direction. It seems that there might be some finesse at work in the White House. If only we could have used this kind of finesse with Iraq, instead of wasting so much money and spilling so much blood. Maybe we can use some of this finesse with Iran...wouldn't that be amazing?
I will predict one thing in closing: Bush's poll numbers will improve as he moves away from his persistent radical agenda to a more centrist position. Maybe Karl Rove is finally realizing that while radical positions can get a person elected, good governance comes from the center.
DocTorDee
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It will be interesting to see how the issue of companies and individuals hiring illegal aliens will be addressed in the final legislation.
My bet is that those found guilty of hiring such workers will merely face a fne. And if that is the case, there will be no change in the status quo, b/c businesses will simply deal with the fine as a cost of doing business.
I heard some economist talk about the excuse that businesses who hire illegals always give ["I can't find any Americans who will do this kind of work"]. What they fail to add to that line is "at the price I am willing to pay for it."
Right. In regards to the illegal alien issue, Bush has been clearly taking his marching orders from businesses that hire the illegals.
Of course, he could have left the status quo in place if that were the only entity influencing him. So, there are some true conservatives at work here that want to make these "illegals" accountable. Henceforth, I'm not quite sure I see this as a moderate position, but I agree it is one that involves some compromising - and that's a new thing for these guys.
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