Are the poor getting poorer?

More common sense from our favourite economist, Dr. Walter Williams.

http://townhall.com/Columnists/WalterEWilliams/2007/10/31/are_the_poor_getting_poorer

(no subject)

I doubt this country can afford to have someone who doesn't know whether waterboarding is torture or not serving as an Attorney General. Sorry. Not after Ashcroft and Gonzalez. Plus, after all the yaking in the press about it, how can you not form an opinion, given the fact you are almost certain to be asked about it by eager Dems? Dumbass. Mukasey should not be nominated for simply failing to do his homework.

On Immigration

How's this for a program:

1. Take some of those billions of wasted federal money and redirect that to building a well-equipped fence between us and Mexico. Don't tell me it's impossible -- the USSR has proven it is.

2. Elevate the Border Patrol from a bastard child of the Justice Department to a properly staffed and properly equipped force, and have that new and improved BP man the fence. They should be allowed to use any means necessary - mostly non-lethals, but to shoot if need be. Use of force should be properly technically and legally supported.

3. Put in legal provisions for immediate deportation of people caught jumping the fence. No trials, no lawyers, but no beatings either, all civilized. You get caught -- we take your fingerprints/DNA, put you into the database and toss you back over the fence. Once caught, a person loses the opportunity to come over and work legally for say 10 years.

4. Once the fence is in place, amnesty most people currently in the country illegally (except those considered security risk. Those we should deport). Yes, amnesty. Nobody is going to suffer the deportation of entire families on live television. Amnesty is OK as long as the physical and legal fences are in place to prevent the next influx. People who come into the light under amnesty should pay extra tax penalties for say 10 years and not be eligible for citizenship for 15 (so they can't influence the elections). They have to somehow suffer for breaking the law and, given the amnesty they enjoyed, hitting their wallets is not such a bad idea. Their tax penalties should go into the border patrol/border fence upkeep budget.

5. Once the fence and amnesty are in, repeal all laws prohibiting police, EMT, hospitals and anyone else from reporting illegals to the INS. In fact, make it their duty to do so. If a person can't prove status -- deportation without trial. Any employer caught employing an illegal should go to jail and face millions in fines. There should be no kidding around.

6. Once the fence and amnesty are in, withdraw certain federal subsidies from cities and states that try to interfere with this policy.

7. Rework current employment and immigration laws in such a way that people can still come in as workers for a specific place (like H1 visa people) but no other. We probably need seasonal workers to still come and work here (no families, no kids). They should not be eligible for anything public like schools. Emergency medical care only, unless they can pay for their own treatment. Any trouble with the law -- a misdemeanor or felony conviction -- should result in immediate deportation and permanent ban on return. We should somehow make it clear that is ok to come and work and then leave so you can come and work again.

8. Proof of legal status must be obtained for everything -- getting a job picking grapes, opening bank accounts, getting a driver's license, buying a house, buying an airplane ticket, anything. In other words, even if a person manages to slip in -- he can't live a life worth living, and that should work as a part of the deterrent.

I'm sure this isn't perfect, but it would be a start ;)