January 13, 2005

TED "OPEN BORDERS" KENNEDY on how to protect American workers from wage competition from the tidalwave of foreign immigration:
QUESTION: Why did Congress add 20,000 more H1B visas into the omnibus budget bill when American middle-level engineers need those jobs? And what do you think should be the Democratic position about massive illegal immigration, which takes low-income Americans' jobs and outsourcing, which takes middle-class American jobs?

KENNEDY: Well, first of all, I think we should put the whole issue of immigration on the table, and we ought to deal with it, rather than in piecemeal, which we have in the past, even as we try to, in a bipartisan way, on the Ag jobs issue, in the last Congress, and how we tinkered with various numbers in the past. We ought to recognize that it isn't open borders or closed borders; it's smart borders. It's smart borders. And we ought to try to find a way to deal with that issue. We can do our part, but I think Mexico and the countries of Central America have to do their part, and to date there hasn't been their willingness. But I think if we were able to have their willingness for President Fox, the countries of Central America, to work with us, particularly with regards to, one, the whole border issues, and secondly, with regards to development -- there's about $14 billion or $15 billion that are repatriated every year -- there's been some willingness with some of the repatriation to help in economic development along borders areas. We could take ideas like that and see what kind of expansion (ph) would be. We're going to need a partnership in Mexico to be able to do it. But we ought to be willing to do it. It's not only because I think it's the right thing to do, because it's a national security issue as well. We have the southern border. It's a tragedy. We had more than 530 people that died there last year. And the idea for those that say about a temporary work group, we already have 8 million undocumented here. We already have workers in this country. I see that the president has announced his interest in doing this. John McCain has indicated a strong interest. I think there is the framework for bipartisan movement on the issue, and we ought to try and take advantage, but that will be a very difficult, emotional fight about it.

Blah, blah, blah. In fact, if truth be told, Ted is for a cradle-to-grave Rolls-Royce welfare state, sky high minimum wage rates, Federalized education, inflated early retirements without capital investment, and a massive foreign labor population taking advantage of all this while driving U.S. wages to the pavement.

If you don't think any of this adds up you should have explained all that to Teddy in 1965. Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack