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Time for very high boots – the Republicans and Democrats are dishing it out.

By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com

   February 13, 2006

 

  

 

Now that football is over, the need for a new sporting event that promises hits, hits and more hits overwhelms us. Not to worry, it’s an election year that will provide the hits plus humor, and gasps of incredulous disbelief at such utterances, promises and display of ignorance. This is the season that straight-faced those already holding office, and those seeking office in the halls of state or federal houses will display for us how it is possible that intellectual capacity is well beyond the university degrees of most office seekers.

 

Republican candidates are high on stopping illegal immigration as a center piece on the War on Terrorism, drugs and preserving American culture and values. Democrat candidates are high on “Hate Bush” and as of late on ridding the country of Republicans and their “Culture of Corruption.”

 

For Republicans stopping illegal immigrations will cure the country’s economic conditions as they preach, illegal immigrants drain the treasury using tax moneys to educate their children, obtain tax supported health care along with welfare and of course, prisons are filled to capacity with illegal immigrants at great cost to taxpayers. So fence and militarize the entire 2000-mile US-Mexico border and presto, no more illegal immigration, no more human and drugs smuggling and terrorists’ incursions. Our economy and American values and culture are safe.

 

Democrats won’t touch the illegal immigration issue, because they hate Bush who is responsible for illegal immigration t begin with. They won’t tackle the War on Terrorism other than to blame President Bush for the terrorists attack and subsequent troop deployment to Afghanistan and later to Iraq, claiming they were tricked by Bush into initially going along with his agenda. They won’t tackle the scandalous national health costs issue because it’s Bush’s fault to begin with and his solutions are all wrong. Democrats won’t come up with a plan to rescue the Social Security program from its headlong plunge into bankruptcy since it’s Bush’s fault the system is going broke and his rescue plan is wrong.

 

Back to some of our Republican candidates that are really pushing the envelope with blatantly idiotic albeit sometimes humorous attempts at selling simplistic cures to illegal immigration.

 

In various states, such as Colorado and Arizona some Republican candidates are proposing to deny Workmen’s Compensation coverage to illegal immigrants. They reason, and expect voters to believe, that if an illegal immigrant gets hurt or sick on the job and WC won’t pay the medical costs, this will discourage them from crossing the border, and it will make employers think twice before hiring undocumented workers. Hmm, no WC coverage means the state will pick up the tab for the treatment as hospitals cannot turn away emergency patients. It also means further savings for unscrupulous employers. And of course, attorneys will have robust profit years suing employers.

 

Another illegal immigration stopping cure proposal – prohibit property owners from renting to illegal immigrants. How will landlords know this? Never mind, they’re supposed to know. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the avalanche of civil rights violation complaints and civil suits were this truly idiotic idea to become law.

 

Another lulu from Arizona - impose an 8 percent state tax on remittances with revenues used for building a border fence. Technically any money sent outside the country can be designated a remittance. So that if a hotel reservation service in Arizona books rooms in Mexico and send money to cover the rooms, or a company remits payment for goods it’s buying, they could be a remittance. If not, exactly how long  would it take to begin sending “payment for goods or services received” when in fact the money is for personal usage by the recipient. Or how much more money will Western Union or MailGram charge to divert the remittances to another state without such a ridiculous law and from there send it to its destination?

 

Democrats seeking reelection or running against Republican incumbents will hit hard on the “Culture of Corruption” – this is a bona fide argument based on recent revelations of bribe taking and lobby expenditures to influence Republican elected officials. Of course, Democrats will ignore that many in their ranks are also beholden to lobbyists and that when they were the majority party many were caught up in such scandals.

 

The political season is just starting and already we have some lulus – it can’t help but get more bizarre.

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Patrick Osio, Jr is Editor of HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com). Contact at posiojr@hispanicvista.com

(The opinions expressed by Patrick Osio, Jr. are solely his and do not necessarily reflect those of HispanicVista.com, editorial board of advisors or it’s contributing writers.)

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written a short but intensive manual on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The manual is an in depth primer on the culture and protocol for better understanding Mexicans that in turn allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals.

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