How Low In The Poll Can He Go?

Well, I just listened to President Bush's speech on immigration and the question that immediately came to mind was "Is it possible to drop to a single digit approval rating?" If you missed the audio version you can read the text here. It's amazing that you can be all over the map and yet find a way to tick off everyone.

In his speech the President listed five points to show where he stood on the issue of illegal immigration:

First, the United States must secure its borders. Okay, sounds good, but how? Well, he wants to increase the number of Border Patrol agents by 6,000 (from the current 12,000 to 18,000) by 2008. That's not bad, but the numbers I have heard batted around by immigration experts says we need closer to 25,000 border agents, so the President's number is too small (I wonder if he is getting his intel from Rumsfeld?). In the interim, he plans on sending 6,000 National Guard men and women to "assist the Border Patrol by operating surveillance systems analyzing intelligence installing fences and vehicle barriers building patrol roads and providing training. Guard units will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities..." But were many of these activities being done by the Border Patrol? If not, if it really doesn't free up those agents to chase down illegals, how will it really help close up the holes in the border? In limited ways, but not directly.

Second, the President says we "must create a temporary worker program". His reasons are that illegal aliens will do anything to get here, that we need them for our economy, and "it would give honest immigrants a way to provide for their families while respecting the law." I read this, reread the text in the speech and still cannot see why we "must" do this. Immigrants here illegally are not honest immigrants, they broke the law in coming here, they obvious do not repect the law. As for our economy needing them, I simply ask "why?" I have yet to hear a solid reason for this and President Bush doesn't provide one.

Third, we need to hold employers responsible for the people they hire. At least President Bush admits it is against the law to hire illegal aliens, but he softens it a bit and says that the reason is because verification is difficult and he proposes that the solution is a secure identification card. But this is just plain silly. He says "Yet businesses often cannot verify the legal status of their employees, because of the widespread problem of document fraud." Really? Every job I have had since graduating college involved a background check including my having to prove that I was eligible to work in the U.S. So if the problem is so bad, why have I had to do that? If documentation is so difficult why stop at immigrants, why not provide them for citizens (whoever they are... if it is so tough to check then we all are suspect... well, at least you are, I know I am a citizen *grin*).

Fourth, we are given a lesson in social dynamics and told that we have to accept the fact that there are illegal immigrants already here. Here is what he says:

They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it. Amnesty would be unfair to those who are here lawfully and it would invite further waves of illegal immigration.

But what he proposes is just that, to make those who are here unlawfully and magically make them lawful. So if they are no longer here unlawfully the hurdle to citizenship that President Bush raised is dropped. And while I cam sympathetic to those the president says have "deep roots" here, that does not negate the fact that they are here illegally!

The fifth point, while a nice sentiment, doesn't say much except that the president acknowledges that in America we speak English:

The success of our country depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into our society, and embrace our common identity as Americans. Americans are bound together by our shared ideals, an appreciation of our history, respect for the flag we fly, and an ability to speak and write the English language.

Nice sentiment... why doesn't he push through something declaring English as the official language of the United States? Symbolic, yes, but at least it is more than just words in a speech that are tied to nothing.

So there ya go. Does it make sense to you? It sure doesn't to me. If anything it shows me just how out of touch the guy I voted for really is on this issue.