As I indicated in a recent Open Thread, I am going to attempt a semi-periodic analysis on what was going on at RedState. I even picked out a title RedState Banned Me. While, I am not really surprised at being banned for "commenting while liberal" (a kin to driving while black), but Moe Lane practically dared me to say something. So I just did. :)
In my opinion RedState isn't too bad and is sometimes worth reading. I strongly suspect several people at DailyKos read it regularly. Hopefully, we can come out of the closet and admit it and have a fun time discussing the good, bad and horrible of RedState posts and comments. If not, oh well.
Such as it is, this is my introduction and, unfortunately, I have to run but will add more below the orange crescent roll later tonight.
Meanwhile, you might want to entertain yourselves by reading through the Immigration discussion that is happening on RedState right now.
Update - finished diary (see below)...
I do apologize for posting and running. However, this was my first diary and I wasn't sure how it was going to work. I felt this was better than just posting "test".
Anyway, to the situation at hand.
Erick Erickson posted under the title I Don’t Like Marco Rubio’s Plan...
Immigration is an issue that keeps hispanic voters from trusting the GOP. Many call it a “gateway” issue. I get that. But pandering in the name of a solution does not actually fix the problem. This is just another policy debate the Democrats can use to get the GOP to fight itself. The GOP should pivot to actually fixing the immigration problem, not just addressing the here and now.
This was followed up by a lengthy post by Rubio Marco which included...
First, let me identify the problem we face. We have a legal immigration system that doesn’t work, we don’t have an effective system to enforce our immigration laws, and we have by some estimates as many as 11 million human beings living in the United States without the proper immigration documents in a state of de facto amnesty. It’s a problem that has both political and economic ramifications on our nation.
On the political front, a growing number of voters of Asian and Hispanic descent have been convinced by the left that conservative opposition to immigration reform equates to being anti-immigrant. This is unfair, and it is untrue. But they have pulled it off and, as a result, our ability to convince these fast-growing communities that the principles of limited government and free enterprise are better for them than big government and collectivism has been impaired.
The economic ramifications, however, are even more serious. For example, our technology sector creates roughly 120,000 computer engineering jobs a year, but our universities only graduate about 40,000 students a year in that field. The long term answer, of course, is to get more American students to graduate in this field. But the immediate problem is that, in the absence of an immigration system where these workers can be brought here, these jobs are sent overseas to them.
To which Daniel Horowitz responded with this...
...if we are going to do this for political reasons, does Senator Rubio have any evidence to show that the new amnestied immigrants will not vote at least 80/20 Democrat? Is there any evidence that we will enjoy a net gain with the current Latino voting population? Remember, Democrats have signed onto this plan precisely because they believe it will create a permanent Democrat majority. Yes, we need to articulate our message for limited government to all people. But let’s not full ourselves, it’s an uphill battle fighting through the allure of the dependency state. Let’s deal with those we already have, instead of granting voting rights to millions more low-skilled immigrants, who are strongly predisposition to vote Democrat, irrespective of how enthusiastically we embrace a path to citizenship.
...and...
Why do the legal immigration reforms have to be held hostage for a “comprehensive” amnesty bill? Let’s first pass the things we all agree upon.
I suggest this is a reasonable exchange for people with their worldview.
It is times like this, I am glad I am not a Republican. Personally, I bristle at the thought of saying an American is a more valued human being than a Mexican or a Frenchman or a Italian or, etc. Of course such thoughts make me a bleeding heart liberal.
The question I would like to propose. What if we tried to lessen the political advantage by taking citizenship off the table?
Undocumented immigrants who wish to stay can be granted legal status on the condition they will never become full citizens with voting rights. Their children born here, yes, but not them.