Here is the perfect opportunity, for Corey, to implement his new found direction, away from the divisiveness of immigration and towards rebuilding our community. In the Washington Post today, the article focuses on the business license requirements in Prince William County.
Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles), a small-business owner who expressed reservations about the business license requirement last year, said it could put Prince William at a competitive disadvantage because people in other counties can apply for their certification online or by mail.
“Anything that makes it harder to do business or adds an additional burden to small-business owners is fundamentally unfair,” he said.
Prince William’s ordinance went into effect July 1. The county issued 286 licenses last year. In January, it issued 148 licenses.
Mark Klein, another accountant whose clients are upset about the new law, said the policy strikes him as anti-business and is inconsistent with the county’s objective to promote economic growth.
As we can so easily recall, only yesterday, Corey was sharing his new found direction for the county.
Stewart’s approach is to push Republicans away from their emphasis on social issues and back in the direction of pocketbook concerns. Stewart, once the leading voice on tackling immigration, now carries a mantra of lower taxes to gatherings of statewide Republicans, to lawmakers in Richmond and to the board chambers where he helps guide county policy. And he has championed it in a manner unfamiliar to many who clashed with him on immigration.
You know the old saying Corey, ” you can’t turn the page, until you’ve read the one you are on”. It will be impossible to “turn the page on immigration”, unless and until, you deal with the consequences the various policies and your rhetoric have reaped upon our community. Repealing this measure is your chance to demonstrate your intentions to lead this county in a new direction, focusing on the issues that most of us care about–our long term fiscal health, our schools, and our ability to attract a great commercial base so that we are not dependent on our real estate taxes to thrive.
I am heartened by this awakening from a business perspective. Addressing the business license impediment is an important first step toward restoring our local economy, and our reputation which is intricately related. I am grateful to Supervisor Nohe, Supervisor May, and Supervisor Principi for listening to the growing concerns of the business community. My sources tell me there is broad support on the Board for taking action in this regard, and I trust that Chairman Stewart is sincere in his willingness to govern from the center.
I can tell you without a doubt that the PWC business community was deeply discouraged last year by the untimely creation of impediments to new businesses coming to PWC … and old businesses deciding to jump the extra hurdles to STAY here rather than relocate. In a time when the PWC business environment is suffering from various other disincentives, we can’t afford to continue losing out to neighboring counties in competition for new businesses and new business investors. Taking action to undo the business license impediment will send a message that PWC is open for business again, and that we are putting fiscal concerns above social ones. Things are looking up PWC, hang in there!
“Reaped upon the community”. Good Lord.
So someone explain to me what’s hard about proving legal presence.
To whom would this be a problem? I can prove it in, maybe, 5 seconds.
By the way, what’s going on in Montgomery Co, Maryland? Hmm, could it be they’re sick of the crime brought by illegal aliens? Noooooo. Couldn’t be!
Elena,
Very good. Our friend Slowpoke Rodriguez obviously isn’t a small business person (in terms if business size, not physical stature… although I can’t be sure about either). I am. The Post article captures anything I would have added to this.
Corey Stewart, now’s your chance to demonstrate that you have “seen the light” (and it’s blue).
The dark screen is so busy hating Obama, MI, and Fernandez that some real nasty talk is passing inspection over there. The Boss needs to spend some time censoring his minions. Imagine, people here getting thrown off for their ideas and some of the trash that gets printed over there.
Implementing 287g, and adding post-arrest status checks to the police officers’ toolbox is one thing, Slow. Damaging our county’s reputation and our local economy is quite another.
I don’t know any serious person in this county who is happy with the process by which we became “ground zero” for the immigration debate. Most would have preferred it if we’d stopped after 287g, and not gone overboard with measures that put us in danger of racial profiling law suits AND at an economic disadvantage compared to neighboring counties with whom we must compete for new businesses, new home buyers, and new investment.
The business licence issue is best left to those who’s concerns extend beyond basic scare tactics and anti-immigrant talking points.
This is beautiful. The cost of white entitlement and privilege.
WHWN,
What you’re conveniently ignoring WHWN is that 287g and business license checks are both fruits from the same tree. You are trying to separate the two but if you support one, you support the other. 287g leads to business license checks.
White people have been cutting off their nose to spite their face since the beginning of the country. You’re failing to recognize that the problem is comprehensive and historical.
Consider all those young black and hispanic males stuck in prison as casualties in the ‘War on Drugs’. They could be free to work and contribute to building our economy. Instead, the cost to house and feed them must be borne by the rest of society. But that’s what makes white people feel safe, so that’s how it works…so long as they can afford it.
God Bless the coming economic collapse.
Opinion,
So we’ve established that I’m not a small businessman and, apparently, you are unable to answer the question…or can you?
Black Velvet Reporter,
I must assume you are referring to the grotesque left-winger, Jay. Nobody should have to explain to you that Greg would not be Jay’s “boss” under any circumstance. I wonder who “jay” is over here, where one expects to see lefties.
Oh, and reporter, I’ll bet these “ideas” you speak of are real doozies!
Slowpoke Rodriguez: “So someone explain to me what’s hard about proving legal presence. To whom would this be a problem? I can prove it in, maybe, 5 seconds.”
Very well, then, please do so.
Mackie and Slow, consensus building on our BOCS and positive economic solutions for Prince William County have been hard to come by in recent years.
For the first time in a long while, we have 7, possibly 8 members of the Board listening to the voices and concerns of the businesses community. We have a Chairman who is showing a willingness to govern from the center, and put “pocketbook issues” before social issues and electioneering. And, most importantly, we have an opportunity to mitigate the unforeseen economic impacts of the Immigration Resolution, and send a signal to consumers, investors, and entrepreneurs that Prince William County again has its priorities in order.
Can we focus on these positive signs instead of having the same old arguments, at least on this thread?
Slowpoke Rodriguez, Actually, I thought I did (answer your quesiton) by referring to the Post article. Im guessing you didn’t read the article or you wouldn’t ask your latest question. As it states, the process isn’t a 5 second one. Regardless of where you live in the county, you have to show up at the Small Business License office in Manassas, stand in line, and show proof of citizenship. Time is money. This would blow about half a day (or more) for some folks.
As those of us following the immigration issue know, it is a Federal responsibility to establish presence. The County should not be involved. This is one of those unnecessary processes that adds one more small burden to small business and may result in people not bothering with a license (since its really hard for the County to track a sole proprietorship). This would cost the County tax revenue.
There’s no “upside” to this policy and no real business value. It is one more disincentive for small businesses to locate and license themselves in Prince William County. That’s not what we need right now.
Opinion,
You are correct, the answer was in the article (I only read page 2…I just went back to look and saw the first half of the article. Thanks for taking extra time to answer, though! I can now honestly say that loosening this requirement wouldn’t be that big a deal. In other words, I’m inclined to agree with you that the “return on investment” on this one is not terribly compelling. I would make a couple of observations, though, that have nothing to do with my agreement with you on this issue:
1. “It’s the federal government’s responsibility”…..where the federal government cannot or will not perform, states and localities should act. The federal government isn’t empowered to do half the stuff it does by the Constitution, and the few jobs it is given, it screws up royally, like providing for the common defense. Ask any American citizen (whatever that means anymore) living along the southern border if they feel defended.
2. The notion that the county’s reputation is damaged is pure bunk. The people who claim that are the only ones doing the damage. Well, them and the good folks in places like Montgomery County, MD….and it would appear they’re seeing the error of their ways, too.
3. The notion that the Resolution has somehow contributed to our damaged economy is another pile of BS.
Yeah, I forgot to close a quote. Oh well.
crap, a parenthesis. I need coffee.
Elena,
It’s just empty rhetoric. Corey is an empty vessel, incapable of having true convictions.
I doubt he will make any real overture towards other Supervisors for a spirit of unity on this or any other issue. You know the old saying — a leopard can not change it’s spots.
Good Luck though.
“Consider all those young black and hispanic males stuck in prison as casualties in the ‘War on Drugs’. They could be free to work and contribute to building our economy.”
Oh, don’t worry Mackie…many of them are still overseeing their business enterprises from their cell by fiat, so they’re still contributing. Schmuck.
I will get ready for the pummeling, but I actually believe undocumented immigrants should not be eligible for business licenses.
That said, it’s important to look at the requirements for applying for a business license:
“Commercial businesses and individuals engaging in home occupations or self-employment who expect their business gross receipts, or purchases in the case of wholesale merchants, to exceed $100,000 for the license year must file and obtain a business license from the County.” http://www.pwcgov.org/default.aspx?topic=020011001140000632
Therefore, small contractors probably are not affected by this.
HOWEVER, this policy deters businesses from operating in PWC because it requires all businesses to jump through hoops to obtain a license. The policy basically marks business owners “guilty” unless proven “innocent.” Furthermore, since the county has decided to lay off employees, applicants for licenses can expect long lines and more red tape.
Once again, until immigration is addressed at the federal level, PWC will suffer the repercussions if they try to address immigration problems at the local level. IMHO, it is unwise for the BOCS to implement this policy at this time, considering the financial deficit of the county.
Lest we forgot, 100% of the Supervisors voted to approve funding for the immigration resolution. The entire current Board is responsible for the many wasted dollars spent on a resolution that incited hate in the community. Words are only words. Everyone needs to watch the actions of each Supervisor.
Slowpoke, a reminder that this blog was ‘founded’ by people who in one way or another had been blocked, censored, or kicked off the dark screen. I can speak for some but we aren’t talking about advocating the overthrow of the US government here. It was not agreeing with the party line.
Slow, I mean no offense, but were the the roles opposite, you would have been thrown off here if we were the dark screen. (I hope that just made sense) You disagree with much that is said here. (not all) That isn’t allowed there for the most part.
Thanks, Reporter, for reporting.
Well, MH, it’s a blog. If those who run the blog want to ban folks, so be it. It’s not a government-run program! I used to hang out on BVBL quite a lot, and I saw plenty of folks disagree. Those who could refrain from using the expression “Tard-Breeder” to describe Sarah Palin (to use an example from just yesterday) I saw time and time again. For the most part, I’m amazed at how purely ugly and hateful left-wingers can get (usually when projecting their problems onto conservatives). I seem to recall a few folks getting blocked in my tenure over there and I have to say, all of them deserved it (and much worse). It’s just a blog. No offense taken.
Anonymous,
The only hate ’round here is in YOU. It’s called “transference”. Think there’s a pill for it, too.
The ‘Other’ has thrown Delegate Bob Marshall under the bus now. Del. Marshall came back with a good thumping for Mr. L. Once again, Mr L took something out of context, spun it a few times, gave it a twist and came out with Bob Marshall catering to the illegal aliens or something to that affect. Del. Marshall was trying to get a bill into law that required proof of citizenship to vote. (see details of bill)
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?091+sum+HB2509
Marshall’s explanation makes a great deal of sense. He really didn’t sound happy with being under the Letiecq bus.
It seems that there is a rat in the crowd. Someone slipped the spin-meister information before it was ready to be released. The bill was defeated and Mr. L showed his true colors. Rather than giving Delegate M a call, he grabbed his saber and went running for his keyboard. He doesn’t mind being wrong. And he did not apologize, at last glance.
Why is a long term PWC resident with a distinguished record of public service even bothering to respond to a fringe extremist cult leader like Gospel Greg Letiecq?
Bob, the Letiecq Circus is for entertainment purposes only. The man has so thoroughly discredited himself as a political commentator thatyour response, as devastating as it was, is nothing compared to the public opinion chasm he has already dug for himself.
Opinion and Slowpoke, I admire your willingness to listen and respond to one another on the business licence impediment issue. I am impressed to see that Slow did the neccessary reading and then adjusted his stance to join the growing consensus on the issue. Slow agrees with Opinion and Pinko?!?! Another sign of progress for PWC. Now it’s up to the Board to act.
Corey, don’t just SAY you want to put economic concerns and the county’s best interests ahead of social issues and political grandstanding … prove it, and introduce the policy change yourself.
Slowpoke Rodriguez (Thanks for taking extra time)… you’re welcome.
How many undocumented immigrants COULD THERE POSSIBLY BE who own businesses that gross $100,000 a year???? The only people we are inconveniencing and insulting are legal citizens and business owners. Stupid. Wasteful. Bad policy. If we are now coming to our senses again, this seems like an easy fix to make.
I’m sure that the crazy anti-immigration extremists are seeing red, because any measure that hurts the economy is great for them as long as it might hurt some “illegals.” But even a deranged extremist has to realize the common good outweighs their need for vengeance or whatever it is they want. This will take some political courage on the part of those who rode the anti-immigrant wave a year ago. But I hope for the county’s sake we can get this done.
I just had a BFOTO (blinding flash of the obvious): does anyone really think that an illegal immigrant would actually bother with a business license (or any other artifact required by the County, State, or Country) that exposes their presence and tells where they might be found?
Once again, the unintended consequences of this would be a more difficult process for legal residents to obtain a business license in Prince William county with no impact on business within the illegal community. Am I missing something?
I think I could do a credible stand-up comedy routine based on this issue.
Yes, Opinion, I believe you are stating the obvious. This is a wasteful “grandstanding” measure that has no real value except to create havoc.
We used to think that creating havoc for local businesses would be their problem, not ours. Now we realize that the economy is something that affects everyone. I can’t understand why the Board would want to stick it to the business community, especially now that even Corey Stewart is backing down from the immigration idiocy. So what if 8 or 10 geezers show up at Citizens Time to complain about other people’s skin color? Is it that bad? Is it that scary? I don’t get it.
Elena,
sometimes the obvious… isn’t.
Opinion, I think youa re on to something and that we might just have to rename you, ‘Obvious.’
WHWN, not so sure I would go so far as to call Delegate Marshall “a long term PWC resident with a distinguished record of public service .” I would consider him an extremist. On the other hand, Mr. L tends to devour everyone and asks questions later.
I heard Del. Marshall is trying to figure out who the ‘Judas’ is out there amongst the Republicans. He has several choices right on that committee.
Slowpoke, you are really mistaken if you think that the regulars here who are banned on BVBL used any of that kind of language. Why you would imply that is beyond me. Greg L. does allow some disagreement, but he somehow was very threatened by the women who founded and administer this blog and it wasn’t because of vulgarity or hate speech. He was also threatened (apparently) by Chris when she had the nerve to bring up attendance at study groups on the county’s issue. The same story is true for most of the Anti regulars he banned. It is simply not right to let you get away with implying that Greg bans people for ugly hateful language. Anyone who reads BVBL can find plenty of such language that Greg allows and condones because it is used every day to back his political views or personal hatreds. Do you need some examples? Greg L. is basically a coward when it comes to allowing civil disagreement on his blog. In fact, he is more likely to ban opponents who are civil and well spoken than those who are not.
Hi Opinion,
I hope my comment to you wasn’t recieved as sarcastic. I was expressing my agreement with you, 100%!
Slow,
Seriously? There was a time when, and still is actually, when you go over to the dark screen and read comments, nasty hateful comments about lantino’s being subhuman on many levels. The resolution brought out fear and ignorance in a way that left me, along with many others in the community, speechless. Well, not speechless for long, much to your chagrin I imagine. The rhetoric, associated with the resolution, absolutely did fuel a prejudice, left unchecked, would have had dire consequence. Calling children “parasites” is hateful, and if you don’t see that, not sure I know what to say about that.
Elena,
No offense taken.
Sometimes sarcasm… isn’t.
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.
Opinion …… 🙂
I’ll try to complete my comment about the “business side” of this issue without being dramatic or using EMPHASIS to get some of you to pay attention to the main point about all of this.
“illegal” immigration harms business and economic long term growth. I understand why most of you do not believe this, because I believe you have far more emotional connection to “illegal” immigrants, selfish reasons for helping “illegal” immigrants, and very likely current or former “illegal” immigrants as family members, which is why very little tof what most of you say makes any sense at all for the vast majority of people here in the US legally (all 294 million of us). This is why you are politically active, so your small voice of dissent will leverage more political power than the voice of the “majority”. You will do this any way you can, including twisting the truth, or telling stories that sound logical, but only when applied to a very narrow segment of the population. From this position you think you represent the views of the “majority” in a democracy, but you do not.
I understand why you want only your own selfish interests to be served by helping “illegal” immigrants, and I understand why you also want to stop all anger and hatred toward “illegal” immigrants (Especially Elena, because I believe she is very focused on helping the underdogs of society, and very justified in preventing un-just hatred of anyone). But when you help some, it is also very possible and very real that you also by those same actions and desires seriously harm others you do not help by helping those you want to help. This happens because you take a very limited and compartmentalized view of the world and who most deservedly, needs the most help.
Let’s once again review why “illegal” immigration has and will contunue to destroy the US economy if we do not remove all illegals from our economy and from our communities.
Economies must grow over time. If they do not, a nation becomes impoverished. When one nation becomes impoverished, another nation emerges to take its place. This has happened many times in history. Historically, nations achieved wealth by leveraging each person’s 8 hours of labor, with other people’s 8 hours of labor to acquire material wealth beyond what they can produce with only their own 8 hours of labor.
Understanding rich and poor is fundamental to understanding the creation of wealth, jobs, and economic growth. Historically, people who were creative, figured out how to steal 8 hours of labor from others who were not as creative or smart, and thus reduced the value of that labor to be very disporportunate and un-equal. Wealth cannot be created without increasing the hourly value of a rich man’s 8 hours of labor, by decreasing the hourly value of a poor man’s 8 hours of labor. This sounds cruel, but none of you who live in this country would have anything more than what you can produce with your own 8 hours of labor, if you did not accept the reality that YOUR wealth (even if you have only 10,000/year income), is a result of the poverty you have placed someone else into who has worked to produce the material wealth in your home for a salary less than your own. Their 8 hours per day, the same as your 8 hours per day builds your car, sews your clothes, makes your toys, creates your building material, provides your food at a fraction of your salary (1,000/year income), and they do not have any of the material things you do, because they cannot afford them. 306 million Americans have the highest standard of living in the world, because 6 billion others in poverty earn less money per 8 hours of labor than any of you do.
The earliest (historical) way people created an imbalance between their 8 hours of labor and others 8 hours of labor was to create a society that allowed slavery and serfdom, to create civilizations and cities of wealth around the world. When the rich became too rich and the poor became too poor, or one ethnic group of people coveted what another ethnic group of people had created, they took it, through warfare.
I’m not saying this is moral, I’m only saying it is what creates the wealth you currently have in America, only instead of slavery and serfdom, we still pay the vast majority of 6 billion people in the world POVERTY wages.
Let me tell you what the solution is, and why “illegal” immigration prevents us from achieving that solution.
You cannot equalize the value of your 8 hours of labor and the values of everyone else’s 8 hours of labor (pay everyone the same salary) until all labor is mechanized and done entirely by FREE robots that never break and FREE ENERGY that never ends. Neither of these conditions to ultimate financial equality and equal pay for equal 8 hours of labor will happen anytime soon. We could go back to an agrarian society where everything you have is produced on your own farm, you never trade with others, and you only reap what you can sow in your 8 hour day. This might happen when we run out of oil in 2035. But no-one wants to go back 12,000 years in history. Before that we simply took the earth’s resources created in a single solar day, by hunting and gathering what we could find.
What we have done, especially in the US is ignore the poverty and wealth we take from the rest of the world, and especially the wealth we take from billions of barrels of stored essentially FREE energy created in the Mississipian and Pennsylvanian Epochs of the Carboniferous Era, all burned in a flash of a span of 150 years.
Since 1950, we have focused on equal rights and in so doing, created a social attitude that adjusted the greed of the wealthiest among us, and distributed that wealth among the poorest of us, in an attempt to have the majority of our neighborhoods (the middle class neighborhood), look rich and feel like we have wealth, rather than the crime, poverty and misery of business practices before 1950 (where only 1% of the community was wealthy and everyone else was poor). Essentially we created laws that encouraged people of wealth to grow wealthier over a longer period of time, and faster community growth, by paying 50 cents on the dollar to employees for every $1.00 of wealth the richest 1% of the population takes in, rather than 1 cent on the dollar for every $1.00 of wealth the richest 1% of the population takes from our 8 hours of labor.
It will be very difficult to incentivise people to work, create businesses, compete with others for wealth, or create conditions motivating people to “climb the corporate ladder” if we all make $1.00 for every $1.00 the richest 1% of the population takes in. The soviets tried that “bolshevik social experiment” and discovered that people refuse to work hard, or innovate when they all get paid roughly the same wages for the same 8 hours of labor. If you eliminate all greed, you eliminate all growth. That is a fact of human nature.
When an “illegal” alien comes into a community, they “LOWER” the value of the money paid for 8 hours of labor, because they are desperate for work. Instead of demanding 50 cents on the dollar, they are willing to work at a lower standard of living and in greater poverty (sharing food, shelter and transportation resources with their own ethnicity circle of collaborators) by accepting only 10 cents on the dollar for every $1.00 the wealthiest 1% of the population makes. The wealthy love this, because they get richer, they don’t have to pay for higher skilled labor, because there are more people (due to “illegal” immigrant overpopulation) all competing for the same wealth creating job that demands specific skills, but can suffer in quality once the society accepts a lowe standard of living as a community norm. As a result of this there will be a growth in poorer neighborhoods over time, and increasingly isolated pockets of smaller and smaller filthy rich neighborhoods. When neighborhoods decline in wealth, crime takes over, and all the problems of inner cities, migrate to the suburbs.
When you create laws, that require all business owners and employees to be “legal”, you eliminate this “dual layered” secret society of impoverished “illegal” immigrants. There is then only one class of society “legal” and business owners must by law conform to the same sets of rules, laws and standards, and do not have the more profitable “double standard” and criminal political infrastructure to “bend the rules for them becuase it helps “illegal” immigrants, but destroys the wealth and growth of “legal” people who cannot compete on the same level playing field for economic wealth.
This is why those of you who think you are helping “illegal” immigrants have a better life, are in reality helping the rest of the “majority” in the US to live in greater poverty, and deal with an increasingly criminal political system designed to help the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Such assistance for “illegal” immigrants will be our wealthy societies and “decent high standard of living neighborhoods” un-doing, and will result in another nation (likely China or India), becoming the wealthiest nation in the world, who will then steal our 8 hours of labor so their 8 hours of labor becomes far more valuable. This will especially happen if they pass the necessay laws and take the necessary police action to stop “illegal” immigration in their own countries, while we refuse to do so in ours.
Any chance we can send Michael back with love? Michael, I don’t think you understand some of the people on this blog.
So, Michael, what religious tradition or philosophical foundation makes you think that the accident of your birth which resulted from a moment of your biological mother and father’s evolutionary predisposition to procreate gives you the right to claim a particular piece of this beautiful planet to exploit to the exclusion of all other? Or. Put another way,. What makes you so special among God’s (for those who believe in God) creatures? I’m always fascinated by people who claim to have a clear understanding of our rather insignificant “burst of evolution” in the context of the thirteen billion years of existence (plus or minus a few million) of the Universe as we understand and observe it today.
It’s a simple question Michael; however, understanding the answer explains so many things. One’s opinion always depends upon where they are standing. If you are standing on something you want, you justify keeping it. If you are looking at something you want, you justify taking it. That’s how our Country was created (and is the short story for human history… people taking things from other people). Perhaps its time to give a little.
Opinion “illegal” immigration has nothing to do with my birthplace. It is simply “illegal” ans therefore a crime against MY society. If I was born somewhere else I would be bound by the laws of that nation. Do you naively support the notion we bring in all 6 billion people throughout the world to the US just so they can have more money than they would if they were not here? Your argument along this line implies that everyone needs to come to the US to not be impoverished. Not true, the greater the US population, the greater the US poverty will be, as soon as the population exceeds the number of wealth creating jobs.
Obviously you place foreigner rights over my rights given to me by my birthright and pure dumb luck. What makes me so special? I follow the law of my land and do not intend to let others who do not follow the law of my land destroy the wealth of my family, my future wealth and my future life-style. I have no desire to live in poverty, especially when I can do something about it, even if you do have a desire to live in poverty while you let all 6 Billion people into our country as the economically destroy it.
I’m here on the anti-blog by the love I feel for Moonhowler, Elena, WHWN, and others who tolerate my opposing views. I respect theirs (with debate) and they respect mine. No-one to my knowledge wants to send me back (to where, I have no other home than the land I was born in).
If God wanted all of us to be rich, he would have given us all the same brain capacity necessary to create equal wealth. Since he did not, I can only assume their is a purpose in the universe for the last 15 billion years of evolution, and the next 100 trillion years the universe will be in existance (it is less than 1 year old on that deep time scale) and specifically the last 1.6 million years when man has become self aware and first created laws for how we are to treat each other the same, considering that man in hbis infinite wisdom will likely not last for another 100 million or even 10 million years. Personally I am more worried about the next 50 years and the impact of the things we do out of our own political ignorance to destroy ourselves and our economy, that will cause misery in the lives of our children. Overpopulation is one of the most severe stupidities, lack of job creation and a declining wealth in society the next.
I understand everyone on this blog. I just don’t agree with most of them.
Michael,
Such a complicated message… I won’t even try to address your many points. I will say that I respect “human rights”. I don’t care where that human comes from or what their status is. Categories based upon accidents of birth (citizenship, race, religion, etc.)are the reason for today’s problems. Osama hates us because we are born in America, for example. You perhaps “don’t like” illegal immigrants because they are not born in America. Do you see the irony there?
I’m one of those folks who believe that we are all created equal (funny, I’ve heard that someplace before) and have a right to share in the earth’s resources. I’ll also point out that the Constitution recognizes that we are all created equal. I believe it was Parker vs the Board of Education that validated the principle that it applies to anyone within our borders regardless of their status.
If people were free to go where they wished, work where they wanted, acquire what they needed, and associate with whom they pleased; eventually the problems that you mention would go away. The sacrifices that people claim they have to make mean nothing in the context of history. Our standard of living is so high and the accommodations that we claim we make for immigrants are so low that they are insignificant in comparison to the standard of living in the rest of the world.
It’s simple, really. Just read the Sermon on the Mount and (whether you are Christian or not doesn’t really matter) follow Christ’s message. I’m secure with my beliefs, so I’ll drop the subject. I have no need to convince others (and know I won’t convince you) that I’m right to validate my personal values.
On another blog site, I’ve been trying to understand the thinking of some openly anti-immigrant extremists regarding the topic of this thread.
What is the cost/benefit analysis of the business license impediment we currently have in PWC?
They see great benefit in the symbolism of this measure, even though they also acknowledge it has no practical benefit. The symbolic benefit is that it sends a message to the world that Prince William County is an unwelcoming place for undocumented immigrants, businesses that might be owned by undocumented immigrants, and businesses that might cater to undocumented immigrants.
And the cost of removing this measure is that we would no longer be displaying a symbolic f*ck you to the world. Oddly enough, there seem to be a lot of people who don’t live in PWC who enjoy seeing us with our middle fingers in the air.
Our county has now become a flagship for irrational and hateful people around the region and apparently across the country. They see great benefit in having us continue to suffer the economic damage of this measure, and they would be deeply upset if we allowed ourselves not to suffer said damage.