April  • May 2006 • Vol. XXIV No. 4 • An Arnold Publication

From the Editor—

 A thought about breaking the law. . .

First thing out of the box, I want to say that this editorial has nothing to do with my opinion about immigration, but it does have to do with the apparent cowardice of our U. S. Senate when it comes to making tough decisions.
Here’s an example of what I mean.

The congress has passed enough laws about immigration to fill quite a few volumes of very confusing reading. Those laws talk about who can come to the U. S. from which countries and about what kinds of people we want. You know, scientists, engineers, doctors, computer experts, that kind of thing. The laws also talk a lot about the undesirability of illegal immigration. After all, we have to protect the homeland. But so far, it’s been all talk and no beef.
Case in point. In 1986, under the Reagan Presidency, about 4 million illegal immigrants were granted amnesty. Why? Well, because there were just too many of them to round up and send home. The task was just too big to handle any other way. But, “Never fear, your congress is here,” they said.

They passed some really tough laws with big fines to be levied against companies who hired illegal immigrants. There now. That made everyone feel a lot better. But then we blinked and discovered they had passed the laws but forgotten to fund any kind of enforcement mechanism.

The result?

Ah! Since then, we have another 11 million immigrants who have crossed our border “illegally.”

So what is our brave senate doing about it?

“Well, there really are too many of them to round up and send home,” they say. (Does that sound familiar?) “So, we have to figure out a way to allow those folks to stay here and work. We’ll find a way to fine them and put them on a schedule to become citizens. But, of course, we don’t know how to enforce this new law. It will have to be voluntary. Still, it’ll make everyone feel good. And, of course, we’ll fine the employers again. Isn’t that tough of us?”

Fine, I say. I have no problem with a guest worker program, think it’s a great idea, in fact. My problem isn’t with the immigrants who want to get
jobs to improve their lives. I’d probably do the same thing in the
same circumstance. My problem is with the cowardly people we’ve elected to represent us in the U. S. senate. They caused the problem in the first place, but now they say it’s too big to handle. So what are they going to do?

Nothing. They’re afraid to run the ball, so they’re going to punt.

Which just gave me an interesting notion.

What if about 11 million Americans decided not to pay their taxes.
Would the government figure there were just too many for the IRS to chase down? Do you think they would be granted amnesty?

Hmmmm. . . .

I don’t think I would hold my breath. . .

                                                                                   C. H. Bush, editor