December 07, 2006

Endorsement: Bill Richardson for President! (immigration speech)

Bill Richardson is the Democratic Party's best hope to regain the presidency in 2008 and, in much the same way that this site endorsed Phil Angelides to be the Democrat to challenge Arnold Schwarzenegger, this site is also endorsing Bill Richardson ("BR") to be the Democratic nominee to take on whoever the Republicans nominate. Furthermore, we also suggest that BR choose Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as his running mate. PR for BR can be handled by Rob Allyn, with Dick Morris as his campaign advisor and Vicente Fox as a general advisor. And, in order to highlight just how compassionate BR is, they should hint that - should BR be elected president - he would nominate Elvira Arellano to head HHS.

Truly, Bill Richardson has the international expertise America needs, but it's in domestic policy where he really shines. While most Dems and Republicans would consider it suicidal to so strongly support illegal immigration, BR bravely soldiers on, reaching out to the tiny sliver of the electorate that supports massive illegal immigration. Despite that, everyone should rest assured that he would represent every American, and wouldn't just be "the president of Aztlan", or just be a racial demagogue or ethnic nationalist.

In a speech today, he spoke at length about this matter, and an apparent transcript is provided here. These remarks will go down in history as among the best ever intoned, even though pretty much everything he said has already been said ten times before by Tamar Jacoby and others:

Like it or not, these people have become part of the fabric of our economy and our culture. They have broken the law to enter our country, but they are here -- [paraphrasing: we clean your toilets]...

Eleven million people living in the shadows is a huge problem, and we need to address it intelligently and thoughtfully -- and urgently. If Congress fails to do so, it will only get worse, and the demagoguery about it which we have heard so much of recently will only get louder...

[...Graf/Hayworth canard... ...illegal aliens have it hard...]

Yet – despite what some people would have you think -- almost all of these workers pay taxes, including Social Security and Medicare taxes. Because in order to find work they must either use someone else’s Social Security number or make one up. Since they will never collect benefits, these illegal workers are subsidizing our Social Security and Medicare trust funds with their payroll taxes...

...Most undocumented immigrants come to the United States to work low-wage jobs which few Americans want, such as picking crops or cleaning toilets...

[...many wise statements deleted...]

...Despite the campaign rhetoric, I refuse to believe that most House Republicans really favor trying to round up 11 million people, separating them from their children who are citizens, and deporting them en masse. But that's what the bill they passed in the House of Representatives on December 16, 2005 would require...

[...many wise statements deleted...]

...And I believe the proponents of immigration reform have nothing to fear from those who have resorted to such tactics. The voters are fed up with that kind of politics and they are fed up with the failure to address pressing problems like illegal immigration.

So, so true. Poll after poll shows the voters strongly support comprehensive reform, and will flock to candidates who support it as well.

With Bill Richardson, the Democrats have a chance to pick a real winner.

UPDATE: I missed this bit:

And, as suggested by Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a leader on immigration issues, we should implement a system of "informant visas" and cash rewards for aliens who provide law enforcement with information on human traffickers and document forgers.

In a speech filled with brilliant insights, that might be the best of all.

Posted to Politics at December 7, 2006 07:56 PM

Comments

old bill may-as-well be opened and we all know he owns his ass to mexico city, after all he is Mexican just becuase he his a white guys name means nothing, bush is in heart Mexican but both are part of the "ruling" class of mexico, death to all who hate the USA Long live the ideals of the bill of rights.

Posted by: Fred Dawes at January 2, 2007 12:07 PM