As election approaches the focus is on Congressional elections. What?

Would you ever think that elections for Congress would ever supercede the elections for the presidency? That seems like such a stupid and simple question that nobody would think about. The presidential election is supposed to be the most important to everyone. Evidently this election is different for some.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/us/politics/29immig.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=immigration&st=cse&oref=slogin
According to this article a group of republicans have put their focus on the Congressionals. "We’re going to have an incredibly bad White House, so we’re in for some tough defensive battles," says Roy Beck.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19fri1.html?scp=6&sq=immigration&st=cse

This particular group of republicans thinks that with either presidential candidate the issue of illegal immigration and amnesty is screwed. This group is looking to have a lot of republicans in both the House and Senate so that they might reject any amensty proposed by Obama or McCain.


This seems so strange and yet it makes so much sense if you are an ultra conservative republican. McCain's views are somewhat moderate and he seems to be leaning more towards amnesty than deportation, and Obama is not even in the picture for these people. So I decided to take a look at what is going on in the Congressional elections and how the Republicans are fairing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/business/03repubs.html?scp=1&sq=congressional%20election%20in%202008&st=cse
It seems that the Republicans in the Senate have a more moderate lean and fall into line with what McCain says. This is most evident in the past month when most Republicans voted for the rescue bill which in its own right was something that Republicans should have rejected based on their values. It is totaly opposite in the House. In the House, the Republican representatives seem the reflect more of the "grass roots" of conservative and almost populist views when it comes to the economy and business. To these Republicans a rescue bill goes against everything they say and believe in.

But the Republican party is at a cross roads during this election. The economic crisis has started to fracture and split those Republicans who are rigidly conservative and those Republicans who are more moderate and liberal. This big division is going to definitely help out Democrats take control of both the Senate and the House. The next congressional election is not until 2012 but it seems that the moderate and liberal views will take over long before the Democrats party will.

Class-links posting

I know that the issue of illegal immigration is important to some but I realize that an election is not lost or won based solely on one issue. That is why the election process takes so long. Each candidate tries to persuade the supporters of each issue to vote for them in hopes that if elected the candidate will advocated and do something for their particular issue. The following blogs explain other different issues.

Middle East Politics in 2008 by Kia
http://kiasmideastpoli.blogspot.com/

I found this blog not only very interesting but full of information that I did know. Before reading Kia's blog I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about what was going on in the middle eastern area, but after reading his blog I realized that I had a limited view and that I did not know all the informaiton. Kia has unique perspective. He is an immigrant himself from that area and so he knows personal what is going on. Kia is also a very intriguing writer and he enthralls the readers to keep reading. At least that is what happened to me when I read it. I find history so pertinent to the U.S.'s situation. If someone knows and understand the history of a place then they can probably predict what will happen next in that area. The Middle East has always been a place of turmoil and war and blood, and Kia brings out all of these struggles to bear against the current situation in the Middle East and how the U.S. is interfering.

Bailout or Failout by Merritt
http://bailoutorfailout.blogspot.com/

Merritt seems to have hit the jackpot when it comes to information based on the topic of the Bailout plan. I know it is probably not a hard thing for her to find information. In fact there is probably too much information for her to read everything. In spite of all this information she seems to have found a way to explain this immensely difficult information to a relatively normal audience. When I read her blog, I admit, I was scared. I scared to think that my way of life might have to change. I'm used to certain amneties and this economic crisis puts everybody in a bind to find comfort. Merritt in her blog gives a spice of fear with the promise of hope in the future for our economy. Our economy may be in the dumps now but the government is doing everything they can to fix it and help America get back on its feet.

Renewable Engergy: The New Oil?
http://renewableenergy-tommy.blogspot.com/

Tommy is an interesting guy. I think he is one the smartest guys I have ever met. I have to say that I'm kind jealous of his commitment and determination for this project. He always posts all of his postings early..atleast four days in advance. That has to take dedication. But this puts a vibe for the readers. By doing all of this early it shows the audience that Tommy is actively engaged in his topic. He wants the audience to know what is wrong with our current situation in oil and he also shows us what our alternatives could be. I am definitely interesting in what he has to say because I know that our oil consumption is going to end one day and we need something to take its place and then to add on to it. Our population is growing exponential and we as a nation and as a global population need to provide a way to help our children, and their children, and their children after that. What we decide to do now will be the legacy we will leave for future generations. That is the goal of Tommy.

Self-Analysis

It seems that my view is a mixed one, but that is ok. Let me begin… well from the beginning of this project. Before doing this blog my views were ultra conservative. I thought that all immigrants who came here illegally were abominations and should be sent back to their homeland, but my thinking and reasoning was based on what I had heard from my parents and what I “assumed” about illegal immigrants. My personal view was very limited and lacked any logical backing. I had never really researched the topic before. The truth is I never had a reason to research it. If an issue was not affecting my life personal in the present or for see able future I didn’t worry about it. Of course the whole purpose of this project was to open my eyes to both sides of the illegal immigration. I don’t know if the purpose also included helping me choose a side but it has definitely done that anyways.
While doing this project my eyes were opened to the hurt and heartbreak of those who could not come here. I saw how their countries were providing less than what America could provide them. I grew a heart for these people. http://www.myimmigrationstory.com/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-07-08-sanctuary_N.htm
Maybe this is what the founding fathers felt when they said that all men were created equally with certain unalienable rights. These people deserve better lives and America can provide that for them…if only those who wanted to come had the money or the means. In a world and country conquered by bankers and stock brokers, money is the main driver of all issues. If immigrants don’t have the means and America doesn’t have the means then those immigrants aren’t going to get here legally. We as a nation have made it too hard for these people to come here. I see that now and want to know what we can do to change that.
At this point in my blog posts I tried to show what the presidential candidates could do for the immigrants who wanted to come here. I found that both candidates had pretty much the same views so I tried to find out who would be the best candidate to fulfill his stance. John McCain had the experience, and Barack Obama had a more detailed plan. Which one is better? I chose John McCain because I believe that he does have the experience for this job. http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/John_McCain_Immigration.htm
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2008/10/6/barack-obama-and-john-mccain-on-immigration-the-issue-neither-wants-to-discuss.html
He may seem like he is shifting in his stance but that might have been the only way he could still be in this race. Otherwise the GOP would not have selected him if he had stayed with his moderate views. I think that Obama’s inexperience will play more of a negative factor than McCain’s shifting. I also want to point out that a presidential election is more than just about an immigration policy. http://tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article636189.ece
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/08/mccain-cites-obamas-inexperience-lack-of-judgment/
In any plan there will always be flaws and there will always be pitfalls that push it back so I wanted to look at what those flaws could possibly be. In America there at 12 million illegal immigrants and it would be impractical to try and deport all of those immigrants so inevitably there will always be illegal aliens in America. These aliens will drain American resources and not pay taxes. That gets my blood boiling a little. I’m sure I am not the only one who thinks this when I say I want everything to be fair.
http://www.helium.com/items/890432-why-illegal-immigrants-in-the-us-should-not-receive-government-benefits
I know that ideal is so far away from being realistic but I am not giving up on it. Fair is fair. I have talked about everybody getting a fair chance to come to America but then I don’t talk about having a fair tax on those who have been here legally or who are citizens. You can’t have one without the other.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/07/eveningnews/main4000401.shtml
It was along these lines of thinking about fairness that got me to think about being realistic. Realistically America is not going to change in a short amount of time. So for the next year or two even if the new president puts into place an amazing immigration plan there will still be more illegal aliens coming in. That is a fact. There might even be a bigger influx if they find out it will become harder to become a citizen. Help will be needed by other countries to help America. http://www.newser.com/story/40503/mexico-will-deport-cuban-migrants-headed-for-us.html
The other real fact about illegal immigration is that immigration reform will not change the minds of those in less fortunate situations that our own. People in Mexico will still want to come to America to get a better life and get away from the corruption of Mexican society. http://migranttrail.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/immigration-central-comprehensive-immigration-reform-will-not-stop-illegal-immigration/
So now my thinking has come full circle from where I began, but I have a new found resource by evaluating this issue. I now know why I think immigration reform should be tougher. We as humans should look out for one another and respect the rights of others even if they aren’t citizens yet, but when those same aliens don’t respect our rights (not becoming citizens, not paying taxes) then we as a nation have to do something about it. America is stronger than any immigrant. That is the cold hard truth and until immigrants become stronger than the American government, the government will reign supreme and call the shots. So here is my progression in one sentence: I thought ignorantly about immigrants, my eyes were opened to their hardships, and then my research and ethics combined showed me the fallacy of allowing illegal aliens to remain illegal in our country and seeing the strength the U.S. government.

VP's stances on immigration

Let me start off first by replying to tommy's comment. I would have to say that the stances of the each candidate are so similar that immigrant voters and just regular voters have little choice over which one is better based solely on their stance. So to answer tommy's question, since the candidates' stances are so similar voters look to the implications of the candidates' plans and also their history of the issue.

So now that that is done I have found some new news. Everybody has been worrying about Obama's and McCain's policies for illegal immigration, but what are the views of the vice presidential candidates? Do the VP candidates even have anything to say about illegal immigration. Well as of last week we have found out what Sarah Palin has to say about immigrants. Sarah Palin sat down with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos and talked to him about her policy. From the interview, Palin's down to earth quality really comes out. She doesn't know how many undocumented immigrants are in Alaska and she only knows one word in Spanish but she believes that the Latino votes is crucial. She also thinks that total deportation of aliens is improbably but total amnesty is out of the question. She relates to immigrants who want the opportunity to come to America but thinks they should go through all legal processes to do that. In essense she shares the same views as McCain which helps them in the fact that they are a united front. http://blogs.chron.com/immigration/archives/presidential_election/

Since I found this interview of Sarah Palin's views I thought I would go ahead and seek out Joe Biden's views in order to see unbiased. There are several interesting things about his views. First of all he has the same views as Obama on certain issues like a Guest Worker Program and building a fence along the Mexican border. One of the things that struck me as interesting was his voting on a specific bill. With the acceptance of this bill all illegal immigrants would not be able to share in the benfits of social security. Biden said "YES on allowing illegal immigrants to participate in Social Security". The other thing that was interesting was his 8% score by the U.S. border control. According to the scale used by USBC, Biden is strongly supportive for keeping the borders open. This would not be a bad thing for those immigrants who want to support our nation but it would be a bad thing for allowing terrorists into the country.
http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Joe_Biden_Immigration.htm
As I was studying Biden's plan for border security I found that he shared the same views as Obama but he had different reasoning for border security. Biden wants the borders to be secured not so that more aliens can illegal cross but so that drugs could be more readily halted at the border. http://immigration.about.com/od/immigrationlawandpolicy/a/Biden.htm

Immigrants for Obama

With Sen. John McCain losing prominence among the scores of immigrant voters it only seems natural that these voters would switch to Obama. Obama has done less to offend the immigrants of America and therefore has their support. The only other option would be for the voters to not vote at all which is absurd to think.

Speaking of being absurd, McCain yet again shows that he has no clear plan for reform. Not only does he not have a clear plan but he does stupid things that hurt his stance with people. In the blog post link below he commits political suicide by comdemning Obama's decision to kill an immigration bill but not telling the public that he voted the same way with Obama on those bills. http://outtheotherear.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/mccain-opposes-himself/

In my opinion I think Obama has tried a little harder to garner not just the vote of the immigrants but also their trust that he will do something for them. I am a Republican and even I can say that without the least bit of remorse. McCain seems to have just been content to let his record be the judge of what kind of president he could be for immigrants. McCain has advocated for immigrants and immigration reform before but he has done little as of late to convince the public that he is the right man for the job. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/14/obama.latino.vote/index.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0714/p01s05-uspo.html

It seems by all accounts that Obama has all but wrapped up the votes of immigrants.

Implications post

So according to my psychology professor whenever humans are giving a problem to solve they will most likely to solve the problem using the simplest devices they can find that give the most benefits. So lets me think about the immigration problem in simplest terms and maybe a solution will arise.

The simple truth is that there those here that are illegal aliens. Illegal aliens are...illegal and breaking the law. However each illegal is also a human being and has certain human rights that we as a nation have to agree with. Most in the U.S. want these illegals to either go through the process of becoming legal or leave the country. Most of those on the other side of the line think it is too hard to become a citizen. My thinking is that one side has to stand up and be strong. Nothing is being done about this situation because we are still debating on who is right.

My history teacher used to tell me that history was written not by those who were right but by those who won and were strong. It didn't matter if they were wrong, they were strong enough to tell others that they were the right way. The same thing has to be done here. If this is not done what happens?

By not doing anything about this illegal immigration it puts up the image that America is become soft and anybody can exploit its systems. America has been exploited in this way for many years and the problem is partly because of America's slack approach to the issue. If this problem is not dealt with then the government resources will continue to be drained, jobs that could be taken by citizens are taken away, taxes owed to the government will not be paid. I know it is going to be hard to make a decision. No big decision is ever easy and someone always undoubtedly gets hurt.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/23416
http://importing-poverty.blogspot.com/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/556869/effects_of_illegal_immigration_on_america.html

Theory posting

So here is the reality of this issue: America is made up of immigrants. The only people who are not immigrants to this land are the Native Americans and even they came over to America from across a land bridge back in time. So the assumption that illegal immigrants cannot become American is bull crap. I used to think that way. I thought that we should kick all of them out for breaking the law and entering our country illegally. But we as a nation have made it too hard to become a legal citizen in this day and age.
The first basic force behind this issue would have to be the election. Both candidates have laid claim to this issue but have really backed off of the proverbial gas pedal in the past couple of months. The main contributor to this back off has been the economic crisis. So the force behind this issue has become more personal to this country. Since neither candidate can really call upon their reasoning for backing this issue the people of this nation have really made this issue their own. This personal uptake can be most clearly seen in this article about a hospital deporting immigrants who need medical care. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/us/03deport.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
There are basically two sides to this polarized issue: there are the far right anti-immigrant leaders and then those who think immigration is a foundation of our country and should be accepted. Both sides are heated and are biting at each other in an attempt to gain ground on the issue. President Bush has put many installments in place to prevent more immigrants from entering the country and in contrast those who support immigration have hidden illegal in their houses and supported them. All of this squabbling is over nothing I say. Each side has their views but what both sides fail to realize is that they share a common goal. Both sides want to better the society of America and both want to see America grow. Their own unexamined assumptions about immigrants have led to this division of polarized sides.
The anti-immigrant leaders want to preserve America society and want to get rid of those who would change it but they fail to realize that immigrants make up our colorful society and could boost our economy by paying taxes and making new jobs. The pro-immigrants want to allow more immigrants in because they think that America has forever been built on immigrant influx but what they fail to realize is that illegal immigrants drain our federal resources and jobs and fail to pay back all of the taxes that would renew those resources. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/immigration_and_refugees/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=immigration%20&st=cse
So where is there middle ground where both sides can be satisfied? Is there even a middle ground to stand on? If this topic is not addressed and fixed what will happen to our society?
The funny thing is that this issue has been raving on for centuries. I stumbled upon a New York Times article from 1922 that still holds relevance to today and may even hold the solution to our problem.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F0DE0D71539EF3ABC4B52DFB1668389639EDE
“America is intended for Americans, and every foreigner coming to these shores expecting to earn his livelihood, and probably send funds regularly to the old country, should be made not only to register but to become naturalized and a part of this Government. If he is coming over to share in the privileges and benefits of this land of promise and fulfillment he should contribute his share of the upkeep of the Government, and if he is not willing to do that, then he should immediately be sent back to the country from whence he came.”