According to the Council on Foreign Relations website:

The Council on Foreign Relations sponsors Independent Task Forces to assess issues of current and critical importance to U.S. foreign policy and provide policymakers with concrete judgments and recommendations. Diverse in backgrounds and perspectives, Task Force members aim to reach a meaningful consensus on policy through private and nonpartisan deliberations. Once launched, Task Forces are independent of CFR and solely responsible for the content of their reports. Task Force members are asked to join a consensus signifying that they endorse “the general policy thrust and judgments reached by the group, though not necessarily every finding and recommendation.” Each Task Force member also has the option of putting forward an additional or dissenting view. Members’ affiliations are listed for identification purposes only and do not imply institutional endorsement. Task Force observers participate in discussions, but are not asked to join the consensus.

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.

Broken Immigration System Risks Serious Damage to U.S. National Interests, Warns CFR Task Force

July 8, 2009
Council on Foreign Relations

“The continued failure to devise and implement a sound and sustainable immigration policy threatens to weaken America’s economy, to jeopardize its diplomacy, and to imperil its national security,” concludes a new Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Independent Task Force co-chaired by former Florida governor Jeb Bush and former White House chief of staff Thomas “Mack” McLarty.

 

 

“The stakes are too high to fail,” says the report. “If the United States continues to mishandle its immigration policy, it will damage one of the vital underpinnings of American prosperity and security, and could condemn the country to a long, slow decline in its status in the world.” For this reason, the report urges: “The United States needs a fundamental overhaul of its immigration laws.”

U.S. Immigration Policy contends that America has reaped tremendous benefits from opening its doors to immigrants, as well as to students, skilled employees and others who may only live in the country for shorter periods of time. But it warns that “the continued inability of the United States to develop and enforce a workable system of immigration laws threatens to undermine these achievements.”

Directed by CFR Senior Fellow Edward Alden, the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy reflects the consensus of a bipartisan group of eminent leaders in the fields of immigration policy, homeland security, education, labor, business, academia and human rights. The group urges Congress and the Obama administration to move ahead with immigration reform legislation that achieves three critical goals:

* Reforms the legal immigration system so that it operates more efficiently, responds more accurately to labor market needs, and enhances U.S. competitiveness;
* Restores the integrity of immigration laws through an enforcement regime that strongly discourages employers and employees from operating outside that legal system, secures America’s borders, and levies significant penalties against those who violate the rules;
* Offers a fair, humane, and orderly way to allow many of the roughly twelve million migrants currently living illegally in the United States to earn the right to remain legally.

According to the report, the high level of illegal immigration in the country is increasingly damaging to U.S. national interests—”[it] diminishes respect for the law, creates potential security risks, weakens labor rights, strains U.S. relations with its Mexican neighbor, and unfairly burdens public education and social services in many states.”

But it contends that “no enforcement effort will succeed properly unless the legal channels for coming to the United States can be made to work better.” Therefore, “the U.S. government must invest in creating a working immigration system that alleviates long and counterproductive backlogs and delays, and ensures that whatever laws are enacted by Congress are enforced thoroughly and effectively.”

The Task Force lays out a series of concrete, realistic recommendations for legislation and administrative reforms that would be part of an immigration policy that better serves America’s national interests:

-Comprehensive immigration reform: A new effort to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill should be a first-tier priority for the Obama administration and Congress, and should be started without delay.

-Attracting skilled immigrants: The United States must tackle head-on the growing competition for skilled immigrants from other countries, and make the goal of attracting such immigrants a central component of its immigration policy. The report urges an end to the hard caps on employment-based immigrant visas and skilled work visas in favor of a more flexible system, the elimination of strict nationality quotas, and new opportunities for foreign students earning advanced degrees to remain in the United States after they graduate.

-National security: The Task Force calls for minimizing visa restrictions that impede scientific collaboration, noting that America’s long-term security depends on maintaining its place as a world leader in science and technology. The administration should also permit a broader effort by the U.S. military to recruit recent immigrants who are not yet citizens or green card holders, so as to bolster U.S. military capabilities.

-Employer enforcement: The Task Force supports a mandatory system for verifying those who are authorized to work in the United States, including a workable and reliable biometric verification system with secure documents. Tougher penalties should be levied against those who refuse to comply. It calls employer enforcement “the single most effective and humane enforcement tool available to discourage illegal migration.”

-Simplifying, streamlining, and investing in the immigration system: Congress and the Obama administration should establish a high-level independent commission to make recommendations for simplifying the administration and improving the transparency of U.S. immigration laws. The government must redouble its efforts to reduce backlogs and other unnecessary delays by investing in the personnel and technology necessary for handling visa and immigration applications efficiently.

-Improving America’s image abroad: The administration and Congress should launch a comprehensive review of the current security-related restrictions on travel to the United States, with an eye toward lifting restrictions that do not significantly reduce the risk of terrorists or criminals entering the country.

-Border enforcement: The report favors the full implementation of the Secure Border Initiative to gain greater operational control of the country’s borders. It also calls for the expansion of “smart border” initiatives that use information technologies and targeting tools to help distinguish individuals who may pose a security risk to the United States while facilitating easier entry by the vast majority of legitimate visitors and immigrants.

-State and local enforcement: State and local police forces can and should be used to augment federal immigration enforcement capabilities, as long as this does not interfere with their core mission of maintaining safety and security in the communities they serve.

-Earned legalization: The Task Force favors a policy of earned legalization, not amnesty, for many of the illegal immigrants currently living in the United States. The DREAM Act, reintroduced in the 111th Congress, provides the right model by requiring that young people without status who wish to remain in the United States must attend college or perform military service and demonstrate good moral character in order to earn their eligibility for permanent residence.

Upholding American values: The report identifies three areas that need immediate and serious review—incarceration policies, the severe penalties for minor immigration and criminal violations, and policies on refugees and asylees—and offers steps to address them, including:

* Expand the use of alternatives to detention, such as ankle bracelets or monitoring parolees.
* Allow greater discretion in implementing some of the penalties that were previously passed by Congress, such as the mandatory three, five, and ten year bars for many returning deportees.
* Create an office within the Department of Homeland Security that is responsible for refugee protection, and give greater priority for refugee issues throughout the Department of Homeland Security and in the White House.

The consensus on the bipartisan Task Force around these issues demonstrates that progress on immigration can be achieved. The report concludes that “the United States has the understanding, the capabilities, and the incentives to move forward and create a more intelligent, better functioning immigration system that will serve the country’s interests. It is time to get on with the job.”

For the full text of the report, visit: www.cfr.org/immigration_policy

TASK FORCE MEMBERS

Edward Alden, Council on Foreign Relations
Mary Boies, Boies & McInnis LLP
Robert C. Bonner, The Sentinel HS Group/Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush and Associates, LLC
Allan E. Goodman, Institute of International Education
Gordon H. Hanson, University of California, San Diego
Michael H. Jordan, MHJ Holdings Co.
Donald Kerwin, Migration Policy Institute
Richard D. Land, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Elisa Massimino, Human Rights First
Thomas F. McLarty III, McLarty Associates
Eliseo Medina, Service Employees International Union
Steve Padilla, Aquarius Group Inc
Robert D. Putnam, Harvard University
Andrew D. Selee, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Margaret D. Stock, U.S. Army Reserve
Frances Fragos Townsend, Baker Botts, LLP
Kathleen Campbell Walker, Brown McCarroll, LLP
Raul H. Yzaguirre, Arizona State University

89 Thoughts to “Council on Foreign Relations Calls for Sweeping Immigration Reform”

  1. Hope the almighty “they” will listen and actually do something. These are good recommendations.

  2. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Just as soon as we get a third or fourth “stimulus” package through, socialize health care, tax the crap out of everyone in America to stop global warming that isn’t happening, we’ll get right on it!

  3. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    “Improving America’s image abroad”. Like in Europe, where they’d ALL be speaking German but for the sacrifice of American blood.

  4. Rick Bentley

    They are a bunch of elitist crooks who make no reasonable attempt to uphild the laws of this land and our national sovereignty. To hell with them and their recommendations. If that’s the best they can do, they should move out of the way and give someone else a chance to run America. People like this are running it into the ground.

    I agree with some of what they say but as far as their pro-Amnesty suggestions, hell no, never, I violently reject them.

  5. Elena

    “elitist crooks”? In what way. Please comment specificallly Rick on what you find so offensive in these comprehensive and coherent suggestions.

  6. ShellyB

    I agree, these are sound recommendations. I think all the people who care about our country on both sides of the political aisle see this the same way. We need to find a comprehensive solution, meet in the middle and leave the nutty nativists and their phobias in the 19th century where they belong. But c’mon, elitist is just another way of saying they take a broader, long-term view. Is Jeb Bush a crook? I think he is a decent man and doing the right thing to try to reign in the wackos who are trying to take over the Republican brand.

  7. Gainesville Resident

    First thing is they need to secure the border. If that doesn’t get done I don’t see the point in doing anything else. I’m a bit worried that securing the border won’t be a high priority before other things are done, and then we’ll just have a brand new wave of illegal immigrants after any sort of amnesty (or whatever you want to call it) is granted. So far I see no coherent plan for securing the border, even though solutions do exist for that. They won’t be cheap or come easy, but you have to do that first, in my opinion. So far everyone talks about it but has no real plan on how to achieve it. I’d like to see someone actually come out with a plan that makes sense. There’s definitely ways to make it secure, but I have yet to see anyone have a concrete plan outlining which method of several possible ones, they favor as part of this overall “immigration reform”. I’m afraid the plan will be half baked, just like Obama’s infamous “Gitmo closing plan” which is definitely a half baked plan if I ever saw one.

  8. ShellyB

    Gainesville, you talk as if there is only one border. I assume you’re talking about our border with Mexico. Correct me if I’m wrong. What about the Canadian border and our ports? What does it say about us as a nation if we are only freaked out about closing one border?

  9. Elena

    Shelly,
    I think that people forget that NOT all illegal immigration is simply crossing the border. There are many people who oversay visa’s. Have you read the story about the 11 year old polish girl that ICE was going to deport? Both her parents are here legally, dad is naturalized citizen and wife has legal residency. ICE apparently decided that making her go home for a year and returning simply thereafter simply did not make sense.

    The Council on Foreign Relations has a long bipartisan history. We should take their recommendations seriously.

    “The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has been the leading independent foreign policy organization in the United States since its founding in 1921. In this era defined by globalization, the need for CFR has never been greater. An integral part of the organization’s mission is to serve as a resource to all those who seek to better understand the world and the foreign policy challenges facing the United States and other countries.”

    It use to drive the posters nuts on bvbl when I would site information from their website. At some point, reality has got to take over and common sense approaches need to be implemented.

    “Since its establishment, CFR has produced rigorous nonpartisan analysis and insight addressing current and emerging foreign policy issues. CFR’s in-house think tank, award-winning website, outreach initiatives, and Foreign Affairs are only a few of the means through which the institution informs and facilitates dialogue, debate, and discussion of the highest order.”

    http://www.cfr.org/index.html

  10. Moon-howler

    I believe the ‘secure the border’ in discussions like these implies the southern border with Mexico. Let’s assume for argument’s sake, that is what it means. Shelly, I got your message on that one. However, in dealing with reality, that is the border that is giving everyone heart burn at the momemnt.

    Rick, I don’t know what to tell you. The council pretty much sounded like HSM for most of its rhetoric. The departure from the ‘party line’ seemed to be that the council accepted the notion that there were illegal aliens in the USA who were not going to be deported. If we were going to be a secure nation, we must come to grips with solveing the issue.

    I thought the report was fairly conservative but realistic.

    What part did you all who hate it find particularly offensive?

  11. Second-Alamo

    “State and local enforcement: State and local police forces can and should be used to augment federal immigration enforcement capabilities, as long as this does not interfere with their core mission of maintaining safety and security in the communities they serve.” Hmmmmm…….that’s what the Resolution was all about wasn’t it? Sounds like a plan to me, unless of course there is no deportation involved.

  12. Rick Bentley

    “Please comment specificallly Rick on what you find so offensive in these comprehensive and coherent suggestions.”

    The idea that they want to reward the people who came in illegally, creating a new permanent underclass for Americans to compete with, support financially, and live next to, while ensuring large waves in future of more illegal aliens because we reward them for breaking in each time. I find this approach lazy, short-sighted, and unpatriotic.

  13. Rick Bentley

    The fact that it will break our welfare state and change our way of life, to the detriment of American citizens, gives me pause. The permanent lowering of American wages is also a minus. I’m sure it will help McDonalds to sell more hamburgers but it won’t do anything good for me.

  14. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Moon-howler :
    What part did you all who hate it find particularly offensive?

    I think it’s safe to say that nobody actually “hates” the report. Perhaps we should leave the casual and ill-informed tossing about of the word “hate” to those who lack the capacity to understand….ShellyB leaps to mind here.

  15. Second-Alamo

    And to Elena’s comment about the which border. Does the organization ‘MEXICANS Without Borders’ mean anything to you? They were quite vocal here in PWC if you weren’t paying attention. I don’t recall any ‘Canadians Without Borders’, or ‘Far East Indians Without Borders’ at the time! You know as well as everyone in this country that the phrase ‘secure the border’ refers to our southern border, so why act so naive. It’s not becoming of you!

  16. Moon-howler

    SA, I saw that but there are some caveats. As immigration and its related problems exist now3, there really isn’t a built in mechanism for local and state to be a part of the process. In fact, for the most part, it is forbidden.

    Additionally, the recommendation said

    as long as this does not interfere with their core mission of maintaining safety and security in the communities they serve.”

    The cost is huge to take on the job of the feds in additon to it being verbotim or at least not defined. That’s the reason initiatives like this have to come from the top down rather from the bottom up. All power for border enforcement is given to the feds, not the locals.

    I don’t see MWB as a very threatening group. Better that there is a voice in the community in many ways.

  17. Moon-howler

    Rick, I don’t see finding a way to deal with people who are already here as amnesty. Somehow anything short of death or deportation is not the only answer. What would be acceptable to you other than those 2 things?

  18. Elena

    SA,
    Mexicans Without Borders could not have picked a worse name!

  19. ShellyB

    Mexicans Without Borders was named long before Corey Stewart needed an election issue and mindless drones said “okay.” Anyone ever heard of Doctors Without Borders? Look it up maybe, just FYI. It’s too bad people around here know so little about the rest of the world.

    Anyway, my point is that this hysteria over just one of the many ways that a person becomes undocumented in the U.S. is TV-generated. Elena, I did read the article about the Polish girl. There are many children who are undocumented immigrants due to their parents (who are legal) forgetting to turn in a form on time. There are many undocumented people from far away countries who came on student visas or tourist visas and overstayed. I think the obsession with people from “Mexico” comes from the fact that without racism, there isn’t enough juice to make an election issue out of this one.

  20. Rick Bentley

    Death, deportation … or self-deportation. Enforcing existing laws so that people who are here illegally can’t happily take our jobs, happily live in subsidized housing, happily put their kids in our schools, happily drive cars, etc. etc. Enforce the rules as they were written, and people will leave. Pathway to legalization? That’s another way to say “reward for lawbreaking”.

    And I for one do “hate” the report. I HATE the way our elitist officeholders ignore and flaut our laws and rules to make a quicker buck for their friends. My hate is a perfect dovetailing of these things :

    – the contempt I have long had for the way the rich pick and choose which rules to follow, making a mockery out of the notion of “Democracy”
    – the contempt I have for the way our leaders almost NEVER act with integrity, but rather out of self-interest
    – the anger I feel and many feel at the way a culture of victimhood has set foot in America, to the point that not rewarding lawbreakers is argued to be “racist”
    – the sickness I feel at knowing we are deserting our non college-educated citizens, taking a rug right out from under them, even while sending their and our daughters overseas to fight for the right to keep oil flowing and to keep the rich richer
    – the deep anger I feel at what my neighborhood became 3-4 years ago and how little anyone in any elected office actually cared

  21. Rick Bentley

    make that sending our sons and daughters overseas

  22. Rick Bentley

    If the elitists who run this government – into the ground, possibly – issue a report that says the sky is blue, you know what the first thing I’m going to do is? Look up at the sky and check that it hasn’t changed color.

    The opinions of the boneheads who wrote this report, plus 25 cents, is worth enough to buy a gumball.

  23. Last Best Hope

    Clearly, we need comprehensive immigration reform in order for our economy to recover and continue to grow. Clearly, we need our economy to continue to grow in order for our entitlement programs to do justice to the Greatest Generation, now leaving the work force. As the report says, too many workers will be retiring soon, and without immigration reform, there will not be enough workers to keep the economy growing. A growing economy is the foundation of our entitlement programs, and our national security I might add.

    People are confused by recent unemployment numbers. Understandable, but these numbers reflect jobs lost in a temporary recession caused by widespread fraud on Wall Street. This will pass. For our economy to continue growing, we need a steady flow of hard-working, highly-motivated immigrants to create NEW jobs and new economic sectors, turning small towns into booming economic engines, and turning small cities into economic powerhouses. This has been the way of things in the US of A since the founding. Illegal immigration has become a problem because the broken system for entering the U.S. cannot keep up with the labor demand.

    Now that I’ve said that, I’ll be honest: I came on here to share this marvelous essay by Mike Murphy about Sarah Palin!

    http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/07/09/2009-07-09_to_go_forward_gop_must_snap_out_of_its_sarah_palin_spell.html

  24. Moon-howler

    Shelly, people fear what they perceive as being able to get to’ them. Mexicans would be more fearsome than say Russians.

    Additionally, many people here picked up on what was already being done and said in states like California. Therefore, everyone Latino becomes a ‘Mexican.’

  25. Rick Bentley

    On the Palin essay, it’s obvios she’s a pied piper figure who can do the GOP no good. But I think she’s done with running as a Republican. I think she’s going to inflict even more damage on them from some third party. Meaning that Barack and his family can get real comfortable in the White house, they’re going to be there for 8 years.

  26. Poor Richard

    “Common sense approaches need to be implemented” – Elena #9
    I agree, but the CFR report is about as fair as F.A.I.R.
    It is biased, elitist and has a huge fatal blind spot —
    what about our local jurisdictions? You know the folks that run
    schools, public safety, family services, hospitals and health
    clinics, housing inspection depts, etc. Remember them and the
    citizens they serve? Where is the mayor and council member on
    this board? Jeb Bush might voice some Fla. issues, but he is
    no longer in office. The only bone tossed our way was a condescending
    “local and state enforcement might augment the Feds”. Whoopee.
    “The tax cost are local, but the tax windfalls are national.
    There’s a local-national imbalance. It becomes a potent political
    issue locally, and there is nothing local governments can do”
    says Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the
    National Council of La Raza. (A National Academy of Sciences
    study found that the average immigrant puts a net lifetime fiscal
    cost of $25,000 on state and local governments).” -WaPo- 5-26-2006
    Until there is a clear plan to support the quality
    of life in heavily impacted communties across America, you
    will not see any political support on this issue – even from
    moderates. Es golpe de muerte.

  27. Rick Bentley

    California is TOTALLY BANKRUPT, in far worse condition than the rest of the US. Let’s spread what they have elsewhere, that’s certainly a rational approach. Let’s tell all of Central and South America that they can sneak in now and get earned amnesty later.

  28. Rick Bentley

    Last best hope said :

    “People are confused by recent unemployment numbers. Understandable, but these numbers reflect jobs lost in a temporary recession caused by widespread fraud on Wall Street. This will pass. For our economy to continue growing, we need a steady flow of hard-working, highly-motivated immigrants to create NEW jobs and new economic sectors, turning small towns into booming economic engines, and turning small cities into economic powerhouses. This has been the way of things in the US of A since the founding. Illegal immigration has become a problem because the broken system for entering the U.S. cannot keep up with the labor demand.”

    That’s well and good in the politically correct fairy tale existence you choose to live in. In reality, California is so far out of money that they don’t hve money to run schools or even give tax refunds.

  29. Moon-howler

    CFR has acknowledged many of the problems with illegal immigration. It seems the only real issue is what to do with those who are here. Self deportation be damned. You have to look around and see if that is really happening.

    There is just too much empty rhetoric being stated and too few real solutions. While you might not like that those here illegally might not be sent home, there is no solution on the table.

    Some of you all are in denial about human nature and its realities.

  30. Rick Bentley

    I’m convinced that you’re the one in denial.

    The best chance for an “earned” amnesty to pass was 2006 and 2007. It is/was much more likely to pass under a Republican President, who had a better shot to muzzle critics and criticism. Bush fought as hard as he could for this, I believe to the extent of allowing national security to become compromised. It was killed in 2006 and killed more easily in 2007. It’s enough of a third rail that biden and emmenuel are already on record as saying don’t expect it to happen.

    What you are seeing is an attempt by Obama and his strategists to “keep promises” with the Latino and pro-Amnesty communities by putting the issue forward. When it gets beaten down soundly, by most republicans and some democrats, Obama won’t be to blame and can keep his calculus in play of expecting large Latino support to go along with overwhelming African-American support. This issue has the GOP in knots and is helping to ensure reelection.

    But does Obama really want this Amnesty, really think it’s good for America. Well, he’s fighting for it much less hard than bush did. he’s not holding national sovereignty hostage to it, not trying to completely entange the issue of some law enforcement with the idea of rewarding “those already here”. Meanwhile the wall is being built, and the inflow has slowed down.

    It seems obvious to me that Amnesty, by any other name, is not politically acheivable and that this is known and understood by our ruling elite. They pushed like heck for it in 2007 because they knew that was its last big chance – as time goes on and their false definitions lose traction, as people understand that this isn’t about rounding people up onto buses, and as illegal aliens keep killing citizens, driving drunk, etc. – it’s not doable at all.

    This is just political posturing, don’t kid yourself. And don’t kid those poor downtrodden undocumented souls either. Amnesty won’t happen. It wasn’t popular before our economic crash, and it’s a complete non-starter now.

    IMO the Obama Administration wants a kinder, gentler form of deportation and that’s what they’re working towards.

  31. Rick Bentley

    “Self deportation be damned. You have to look around and see if that is really happening.”

    It will. E-verify is a step towards that.

  32. Rick Bentley

    For once the elites won’t get their way and the common people will prove that you can fool us once, shame on you, fool us over and over shame on us. It’s a success story. And HSM is a great success story in our own area.

  33. Rick Bentley

    This is a quote from this year :

    Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said it is now or never to get something passed.

    “We’ve got one more chance to do this. If we fail this time, no politician’s going to take this up for a generation, and that’d be a shame for the country.”

    I hope he’s right! I wish we could put this to bed once and for all!

  34. Elena

    Rick,
    do you understand the underlying issues of why CA if bankrupt or are you laying the blame on illegal immigration?

  35. Rick Bentley

    It is bankrupt in large part because of illegal immigration.

  36. Rick Bentley

    I’m going to form a council and write a report to prove this. Then it’ll be formally true.

  37. rod2155

    The new fad is to blame everything on Illegal Immigration…

    Can’t find a job?

    Can’t find a Woman?

    Lost all your retirement funds on the stock market?

    Can’t get your butt away from your computer and out on to the streets to work hard like the rest of the adult world?

    -The most obvious reason anyone can be a failure in the God Blessed USA is because of illegal immigrants!

    -not the reflection in the mirror…nope…no sir…can’t be that.

    Some people really need to grow up. If you think Americans need jobs then quit F!@king buying Japanese cars, computers and clothes. Force a local market in goods by boycotting foreign imports, but if you can’t live your life without taking that first step, then quit bitching! Go sew a shirt!

    -sheesh

  38. hello

    The fact that Eliseo Medina from the biggest and most corrupt union this country has is pretty upsetting. Rick mentioned the “ruling elite”, that is the SEIU in a nutshell. They only want amnesty to bump up the money they bring via union dues, why else would this guy be on this ‘council’?

    If they ever want this to be taken seriously step one would be to kick this crook off of the council.

  39. hello

    “If you think Americans need jobs then quit F!@king buying Japanese cars, computers and clothes. Force a local market in goods by boycotting foreign imports”

    If someone were to do that would they be called a nativist…

  40. Rick Bentley

    Who’s buying Japanese computers? and clothes? Are kimonos in style?

    I do drive a Honda. I almost died in a Ford Escort which would not decelerate – I had to put my full force on the brakes, get it down to 30 MPH, then shut it off. My parents a few years later almost died in a Ford Taurus when the brakes wouldn’t work – they took it to the shop, where they were told “It looks fine – sometimes these things just happen”. I had also suffered through a Ford escort whose carbeurator would conk out every 4-6 weeks until I finally dropped a grand to replace it. And another that died (“no idea why” the repairmen told me) a few months before I would have paiud it off, at about 80,000 miles. NO MORE, I said. And my family is very happy with our 2 Honda Accords.

    That doesn’t mean i can’t and don’t resent the illegal immigration phenomenon. it’s being brought to us by the same short-sighted geniuses in the ruling elite who ran Ford, GM, and chevrolet into the ground, and have run America towards the ground and towards bailouts for the wealthy.

    rod2155 seems to be making the arguement that if we can all just show enough initiative we can live in a nice gated community and who cares if ilegal immigrants ruin the parts of the city where the less industrious live.

  41. hello

    For anyone else who is scratching their heads as to why the SEIU is part of this ‘council’: http://www.seiuexposed.com/crimecorruption.cfm

  42. Rick Bentley

    Actually I miswrote that. I suffered through 2 Escorts, not 3. I’m not quite THAT stupid.

    The carbeurator stopped runing every month or so, and no one could ever figure out why. A few years later I picked up a book on the subject of workplace sabotage. Some anonymous person bragged to the author that they used to work at Ford, and would drop a small piece of metal the size of a bb into carbeurators after they passed test. Subsequntly, he laughed, the thing would seize up every month or so and it would be impossible to diagnose why. His motivation was that he hated his employer and wanted to give them a bad name.

    Thanks, dude.

  43. Last Best Hope

    Rick, I could see that scenario, Palin as a third party candidate, if the Republican establishment somehow blocked her path to the nomination. But Steele said “come on in.” Thus, I see Palin challenging for the nomination within the party and the matter being left up to primary voters.

  44. Moon-howler

    Rick, that kind of nonsense has gone on for years. That’s also the reason I stopped buying American made cars years ago. I don’t have to drive a piece of crap to prove my patriotism. Whoever started all that buy America crap over cars had a special interest.

    I think that is when I parted company with the patriotic types.

  45. Moon-howler

    I expect Palin will outlast Michael Steele. That guy just doesn’t seem to have a long shelf life.

  46. hello

    Off topic but has anyone ever looked at the relationship between Obama and the SEIU. It’s pretty eyeopening what Obama has done for them and their union bosses since they contributed over $60 million to his campaign.

  47. Moon-howler

    Nope. Don’t plan to either. If it is something important some reporter will uncover it. If it is more Republican whining. well…yawn. As a moderate independent, I am tired of hearing all the left wing conspiracies. If something important comes up, it will be on the main stations 24/7. Work free news.

    Joke of the day, Fox News doesn’t feel it is part of the main stream media. Does anyone find that strange?

  48. hello

    Yeah, I suppose your right Moon, just sit back and let ‘some reporter’ find everything out for ya. It’s so much easier that way as well, you just watch it on TV because if it’s on TV it’s going to be important and true.

    I suppose that is why you post stories about Michael Jackson and Sarah Palin while congress passes Cap and Trade (the biggest tax increase and job killer in US history) while we are in the worst economic times since the great depression. Are Jackson and Palin are really going to impact the country as much as Cap and Trade? Maybe not but ‘some reporter’ mentioned them on TV so might as well talk about it huh… 🙂

  49. hello

    I agree with your ‘joke’ Moon, Fox is the highest rated news on TV for just about every hour. I would call that main stream, however, I think that they may be referring to ABC, CBS and government owned and operated NBC news.

  50. Moon-howler

    And what have you done about it Hello?

    I certainly don’t believe that you are out doing your own investigative reporting. You are getting your information through filters.

    If I post articles on Michael Jackson, Sarah Palin, or the city dog catcher, it really makes no difference in the long run.

    How much froth you manage to work up over cap and trade or the health care initiative doesn’t matter either.

    There are other blogs out there who I am sure have more substantive bog admins than this one does.

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