Once again, Jerry Pournelle offers sage advice. The proposal he mo8unts in yesterday’s Chaos Manor Musings/View isn’t the end-all, be-all of border security, but it is a sensible “middle way” that any rational person can at least discuss:
We all know how to control the borders. Just Do It. Allocate $1 million/mile/year to be paid to the local county sheriff for use in border control. Add $10 million/year for each border city. Now levy a $1000 fine (not ruinous, but discouraging) for employing an illegal immigrant for more than five days, and pay half of that to whomever turned in the employer to the local sheriff. The other half goes to the sheriff’s office. Add a Federal bonus for each sheriff, interior or border, say $1000 per illegal immigrant apprehended and delivered to the Federal authorities. Local sheriffs who don’t want to catch immigrants just for being immigrants will at least have a way to deal with crime coming to their attention. The whole thing won’t cost $20 billion a year, far less than the savings in social service. The result will be that apprehension of those currently here will be adjusted to local sentiments — counties where no one much cares will not have vigorous enforcement, but will have a way to cut down on criminal and gang activities; the borders will be closed effectively; citizens hiring someone at the local Home Depot won’t face the fines; and the attractiveness of crossing the border will diminish.
Now, here’s the crux of the issue: because proposals like Dr. Pournelle’s make good sense, are affordable and don’t cause undue hardship on citizens or cause the growth of another huge federal power grab, our Masters Will Not Allow this proposal to gain any traction in Washington D.C. or in any other venue controlled by the Mass Media Podpeople Hivemind.
I’d be much happier with far, far more stringent punishment of those who employ illegals. And I’d like to see the U.S. build walls on ALL land borders, task the Navy to serious patrol duty on our water borders and other armed forces as appropriate to guard air access. (And I’ll be happy to shoot down any subliterate/disingenuous discussions about posee comitatus preventing military protection of our borders).
But I could compromise with sensible alternatives such as Dr. Pournelle outlines.
And if poll numbers mean anything, most Americans (by a majority approaching 70% in general and a sizeable percentage even among Latinos!) would be happy with sensible alternatives like the ideas quoted above.
What I will never accept is the betrayal of the American people by Vicente Fox’s Lapdog and Senator Joh n “Snake” McCain and his cohorts in crime among D.C. political poltroons and media whores.
Beating the drum at Outside the Beltway, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The Business of America is Business, and The Liberal Wrong Wing
David
What was sickening was watching our principled president sitting in Yuma and on that TV commercialacting like a used car salesman pitching a lemon. It continues as Tony Snow has now reduced himself to pimping for Bush and Rove and saying yeaterday that the Whitehouse in on “both sides” of the English only issue.
It is fun to watch John Maverick McCain and his lapdog, Lindsey Graham, skip and dance through all this. they both also voted for both contrary amendments -principled as they are.