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By
Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com
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December 28, 2007
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From Mexico
- By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com
Political Third Rails
- Political third rails are issues that are so controversial, divisive,
or polarized that if a politician even touches it, that issue will kill him
politically. Like touching the 600 volt third rail on the old time electric
railroads.
There is a growing list of these third rails in the U.S. now. Social
Security reform. Medicaid reform. The war in Iraq. National Homeland Security
including border security and probably the biggest ... Immigration Reform. It
is hard to say which is the most divisive: The Iraq war or the immigration
issue. Personally, I think that the later has the highest voltage kill factor.
Politicians can at least talk (or yell) about Iraq. In the immigration case,
most politicians are learning that silence (or spinning) is the best option.
Hillary Clinton ran in to that third rail a few weeks ago when asked
about the New York proposal for issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens. It
caught her off guard (unusual for her) and she clearly tried to spin. That one
issue drove her down for a while in all of the polls. And all of the other
presidential candidates, from both parties (except one) are steering as clear
from immigration as possible. The exception is John McCain, and it was this
very issue that has killed him. Immigration is just that deadly.
In the New York case about the driver's licenses (now withdrawn by the
governor), it quickly grew into a Cat 5 storm that is still not over.
On one hand, the drivers license system was designed to assure that those
that are driving on the public roads are competent to do so. A public safety
issue. But a driver's license has become a de facto all-purpose identification
document. Without a national identification card (and that will never fly),
the license remains the one form, with a photo, that almost everyone has. One
of the talked about objections was that a driver's license could enable an
illegal immigrant to register to vote. And, of course, driving is a regulated
privilege, not a right.
Governor Spitzer, knew that lots of illegals in New York were, in fact,
driving. And he wanted these people to be in the regulated system for public
safety. But when the firestorm started, he offered to make any "undocumented
person's" license clearly marked that the holder, in fact, was not documented.
But with the well-orchestrated opposition to the license issue and immigration
in general, Spitzer had no chance to even try for a compromise. So he killed
it.
Just for the record, as I told about in a prior column, there some
differences in the driver's license process in México. Our licenses have not
only a photo, but also a fingerprint. But registration to vote is a national
system. This requires stronger documentation to get. Normally a birth
certificate or a Mexican passport can be used. In short, proof citizenship.
And for the driver's license, you must have proof of being in México legally,
either as a citizen or a legal immigrant. A driver's license gives you the
right to drive a car, no more. In México, the license systems are run by the
states, under federal guidelines. In the U.S., we would probably be getting
into states-rights vs. federal rights issues here though.
I predicted that after the failure of "comprehensive immigration" in the
U.S. Congress, nothing would happen until well after the 2008 elections and
there is a new congress and president. I remain convinced.
But behind all of this is, of course, the Immigration Third Rail.
One thing that this dust up demonstrates is to just how high the voltage
is on this third rail.
Someday this issue must be dealt with, and simply putting it off for
another 20 years is not the answer. That's what got the U.S. into this mess.
One of my readers questions if the U.S. really "needs" these immigrants
in the first place. Well, we can get into economic and social accounting
numbers on this, but remember that figures don't lie . . . but liars figure.
My reader pointed out that he did some of these jobs that "no one wants to do"
to put himself through college. But some of these jobs require "career"
workers, not those just passing through, especially in the agriculture and
food processing business.
On the other hand, I take note that the U.S. has been on a historically
long economic upswing. No, I am not going to get into the wealth distribution
issue here, but the unemployment level is interesting to note. Along with the
good economic conditions, there is also a historically low unemployment rate.
I can remember when anything close to or under 5% was "too" low. Businesses
were hiring anybody that could walk in. And in those conditions, productivity
plummeted. Not so this time. But add to this, the U.S. has absorbed a whole
bunch of illegals that have not seemed to have not thrown "real" Americans out
of work. It would seem that the illegal input has been generally good for the
economy. And it has probably kept jobs in the U.S. instead of being out
sourced off shore.
And when an illegal is out of work, he doesn't collect unemployment
benefits. He finds another job or starves, just like in México.- _____________________________________
Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/)
contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at:
R1041643422@aol.com
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