Another amnesty?
September 25, 2007 | By Nathaniel Ward
Featured video
|
||
Congress may take up “nightmare” legislation that would grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, just a few months after the Senate’s last amnesty proposal failed.
Heritage Foundation visiting fellow Kris Kobach explains that the DREAM Act is “a backdoor amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens who brought their children with them to the United States.”
This bill “is a massive amnesty that extends to the millions of illegal aliens who entered the United States before the age of 16.” In addition, it grants in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens at public colleges and would “encourage states to defy other federal [immigration] law in the future.”
The bill, Kobach argues, is “an insult to the rule of law.”
Another bill, explain Heritage national security experts James Carafano and Diem Nguyen, would grant amnesty as part of the upcoming farm bill.
“The bill contains the same language as this summer’s failed immigration legislation, including provisions granting amnesty to undocumented workers,” they write. But that’s not all: “In addition to this amnesty, several provisions in the act would compound the illegal immigration problem.”
Many lawmakers still don’t understand that, as Carafano and Nguyen write, “amnesty, however it is clothed, is the wrong answer.”
The importance of the Constitution
Since its writing, the Constitution has been held in the highest esteem. “I doubt too whether any other convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution,” Benjamin Franklin told members of the Constitutional Convention 220 years ago. More than two centuries later, the Constitution remains central to our system of government.
But some have nevertheless strayed from its principles. To ensure elected officials and the American people understand the importance of the Constitution, which George Washington called a “momentous work,” Heritage scholar Matthew Spalding has written a brief history of its writing. In his article, Spalding outlines the principles embodied in the Constitution, like limits on government authority, separation of powers and federalism.
Meanwhile, Ryan Messmore responds to liberal “misconceptions of the role of government and its responsibility to American citizens.”
Un-dividing America
The nation has lately been divided by harsh partisan bickering, where politicians on both sides of the aisle resort to often bitter attacks. But what America needs is unity, not division, a point often stressed by Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner.
Cal Thomas, America’s top columnist, and Bob Beckel lay out a solution in their forthcoming book, Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That Is Destroying America. The book comes out October 9, but you can pre-order your copy today at CalThomas.com.
Cuba’s future
As Fidel Castro’s health deteriorates, the question of his successor looms large over Cuba, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said last week at The Heritage Foundation.
Castro’s authoritarian regime has led Cuba into dire poverty, Secretary Gutierrez said. It is “the human rights travesty of our hemisphere,” as it ignores the destitution of its own people while supplying foreign guerrilla groups with munitions. And the government maintains strict controls on its people: citizens cannot access the Internet, change jobs or move without government authorization.
By contrast, Latin American countries like Peru, Panama and Columbia demonstrate impressive economic growth and development, as he saw on his recent trip to the region.
What’s the difference? Free enterprise. The latter countries have opened up to international commerce, for example through trade agreements with the United States.
Learn more about the benefits of global free enterprise in Heritage’s Index of Economic Freedom.
Ultimately, the oppressive regime will end and when it does, new leaders who truly care about the people of Cuba will need to rise up and assume positions of leadership. “The future of Cuba is in the hands of the people of Cuba,” Gutierrez said.
—Colin Gowan
Fighting the liberal agenda
Heritage is recommitting itself to conservative principles, and to do that we need to fight back against the radical liberal agenda. Find out more at StopLiberalsNow.com.
Other Heritage research of note
- Health care expert Nina Owcharenko has laid out an alternative to liberal plans to dramatically expand the government health care program for poor children. Her proposal would renew but not expand the program, enact a child health care tax credit and adopt a health care initiative based on federalism.
- Instead of diverting transportation funds to programs like the costly and inefficient Amtrak subsidy, Heritage’s Ron Utt argues, Congress should concentrate on repairing broken bridges to prevent another collapse like that in Minnesota.
- Rising state and local taxes may thwart liberal efforts to raise federal taxes, Heritage economist J.D. Foster writes. In any case, taxes are already above historic averages, so lawmakers should consider policies of tax relief.
- Nuclear power has the potential to meet future energy demand while alleviating environmental, economic, and security concerns, Heritage nuclear expert Jack Spencer writes in a new analysis.
In other news
- Speaking Monday as the invited guest of Columbia University, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for an investigation into “the root causes of 9/11” and defended Holocaust deniers. Columbia President Lee Bollinger introduced Ahmadinejad as a “petty and cruel dictator.”
- A new report on Social Security’s looming long-term fiscal problems has prompted renewed calls by the Bush administration for reforming the decrepit system.
- Because it has failed to enact spending bills for fiscal 2008, Congress will need to pass a special spending bill by next Monday to ensure the government keeps running. To ensure government doesn’t shut down, Heritage budget expert Brian Riedl offers up a simple proposal.
- Tony Blankley, the former editorial page editor of The Washington Times, will join The Heritage Foundation as a visiting senior fellow in national security communications. He will analyze the international communications challenges facing the nation as America seeks to maintain and expand alliances in the global war against terrorism.
- Exercising welcome judicial restraint, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against automakers for their alleged contribution to global warming. “The Court finds that injecting itself into the global warming thicket at this juncture would require an initial policy determination of the type reserved for the political branches of government,” he wrote.
- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has introduced a new health care proposal. Heritage health care expert Bob Moffit explains that her plan relies on “old-fashioned central planning.”
- America remains the destination of choice for those seeking high-quality health care. A Canadian parliamentarian recently traveled to California for cancer treatment; her spokesman said the facility was the best for this sort of care.
Coming up at Heritage
To attend these or any other Heritage Foundation events, RSVP at Heritage’s events website. Or you can watch these events live online at Heritage.org. All times are Eastern.
- On Thursday, September 27 at noon, a panel of ambassadors will discuss the implications of Ukraine’s upcoming elections.
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Colin Gowan contributed to this report.
