Friday, May 25, 2007

TruCoat

One of my favorite movies is Fargo, the light-hearted tale of kidnapping gone sour in North Dakota.

There is a scene in which anti-hero Jerry, a crooked car salesman, makes final delivery on a brand new car:

                  CUSTOMER
We sat here right in this room and
went over this and over this!

JERRY
Yah, but that TruCoat -

CUSTOMER
I sat right here and said I didn't
want no TruCoat!

JERRY
Yah, but I'm sayin', that TruCoat,
you don't get it and you get
oxidization problems. It'll cost
you a heck of lot more'n five
hunnert -

CUSTOMER
You're sittin' here, you're talkin'
in circles! You're talkin' like
we didn't go over this already!

JERRY
Yah, but this TruCoat -

CUSTOMER
We had us a deal here for nine-
teen-five. You sat there and
darned if you didn't tell me
you'd get this car, these options,
WITHOUT THE SEALANT, for nine-
teen-five!

JERRY
Okay, I'm not sayin' I didn't -
The immigration bill reminds me of that scene. I substitute amnesty, guest worker programs, waived taxes, and "comprehensive plan" for "TruCoat", and it all sounds about the same.

"But this isn't amnesty. We're charging a fee."

Lawbreakers should not get amnesty, and that's what the current bill implements. I don't care that we "can't round them all up", because "can't" means "don't know how yet".

Illegal aliens should not pay taxes, because they are not citizens. No representation, no taxes. On the other hand, they shouldn't be here at all. I reject completely and on multiple independent but individually sufficient grounds the proposition that we can collect taxes from someone but can't buy them a bus ticket even from the proceeds.

"But this comprehensive plan..."

The "comprehensive" plans are always full of benefits for people who deserve only a bus ticket. We should secure the border and stiffen workplace enforcement. Once we control how many people come across the border, then we can talk about what to do with the people who are here.

"But this guest worker program ..."

The guest worker program is the worst of it all. It creates a permanent underclass of divided families and unattached young men, and reduces America to a temporary employment agency.

Ideologically, I want people here who want to be Americans. A guest worker program implies that the people in it have their first national loyalty to a foreign power. No economic benefit can outweigh that.


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