Douthat: The Media, Immigration and G.O.P. Donorism



Douthat: The Media, Immigration and G.O.P. Donorism

“As long as I’m playing the media critic on social-issues coverage, this piece last week from the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan offered a fascinating example of how the press covers the role of money in the immigration debate,” says Ross Douthat in the New York Times.

“The whole thing makes particularly fascinating reading when you compare it to the way that Republican billionaires and bundlers are generally treated by the press: As a cynical, self-interested lot whose ruthless quest for political quid pro quos contrasts with the high-minded principle of Democratic check-writers and bundlers, who supposedly give without asking for anything in return.”

No, Amnesty Won’t Help Social Security Remain Solvent

“Advocates of comprehensive immigration reform give many reasons for their effort. They want to fix the nation’s “broken” immigration system. They want to secure the border. They want to bring 11 million illegal immigrants “out of the shadows.”
But there are other reasons that don’t receive as much attention. For example, during the recent Senate debate, reform supporters expressed hope that a new generation of immigrants would pay for the Baby Boomers’ golden years — and get the nation out of a huge fiscal jam,” says Byron York at the Examiner.

“It’s understandable that Democrats who have long resisted entitlement reform might hope to solve the nation’s coming entitlement crisis simply by importing new taxpayers. But it’s less easy to understand why Republicans who advocate entitlement reform would hope to solve the problem by bringing in a new generation to prop up the system — a generation of workers who will, of course, put their own burdens on entitlement programs as they age.”

Poll Shows Hillary Beats Rubio, Jeb Bush

“A new poll of likely Hispanic voters in the 2016 presidential election shows strong support for the two candidates seen as potential Democratic nominees: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Biden. The survey, by Latino Decisions, also revealed Republican candidates continue to significantly trail among Hispanic voters, with even champions of immigration reform like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush significantly behind top Democrats,” The Hill reported.

Jorge Castaneda – Low Skill Immigrants are a Burden for Mexico

“A former Mexican cabinet member says the U.S. should accept more low-skill migrants from Central America, because otherwise the migrants would stay in Mexico. If they can’t get into the United States, ‘they’re going to stay in Mexico, creating a burden for us that we have to carry,’” Jorge Castañeda said on ‘Al Punto,’ a Spanish-language show on Univision,” the Daily Caller reports.

“The Center for Immigration Studies reports that Castañeda criticized the Mexican government for being too passive when discussing the bill with the United States, out of respect for not becoming involved in foreign affairs. Immigrants hoping to enter the United States, legally or illegally, will invariably pass through Mexico to get there, Castañeda said. Assuming they can’t get into the country, with the heightened border security, he predicted that they will just stay in Mexico.”

About Author

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Dan is the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)'s President after joining the organization in 1982. He has testified more than 50 times before Congress, and been cited in the media as "America's best-known immigration reformer." Dan has appeared on virtually every significant TV and radio news/talk program in America and, in addition to being a contributing editor to ImmigrationReform.com, has contributed commentaries to a vast number of print media outlets.

6 Comments

  1. avatar
    cyntha curran on

    Anyway, enough about social security. Of course Hillary is leading Rubio and Jeb Bush among Hispanics, who as a group think much more like Democrats than Republicans. That is not going to change because the GOP caves into Democrat pressure and votes for amnesty. Ted Cruz has done a great job in Texas, winning 40% of the Latino vote, but the idea of the GOP getting over 50% of the vote is fantasy. Gabriel “Gang of 9″ Gomez is proof that amnesty and a path to citizenship is a sucker’s deal for the GOP.

    They probably voted for him since he was more honest. At least 10 percent of the so-called Hispanic population has been here for a long time and are white. I seen a lot more white Hispanics now in both Texas and California than in the past even with the high illegal populations but will both parties being honest about this, that the so-called hispanic population contains at least 10 percent of their population that looks white.
    Also, Asians are another group that would take advantage of guest worker programs or H1B programs and might compete against latins even in the low skilled guest worker programs. Believe me, Asian immirgation added at least 500,000. Also, some Eastern European groups like Russians are buying a lot of property as well, the Hispanic as US Density might be exaggerated by those that want to legalized them.

  2. avatar

    Mark Zuckerberg is a big proponent of this so called “reform” because it will give him lots of cheap wage/no benefit tech workers on visas. This big hero to many of the so called enlightened had to pay out huge sums because those who worked with him in college on launching Facebook alleged he reneged on all the agreements he had with them. Watch the movie, it’s based on official testimony.

    Plus a lot of people took a bath on the initial public offering of Facebook stock a couple years ago. Like Bill Gates, he’s a business man and only cares about the bottom line at the expense of Americans. Gates was laying off workers at Microsoft, while lobbying for unlimited H1B visas.

    • avatar
      Carmen L. Blair on

      I agree.Mark Zuckerberg has become increasingly influential in politics among younger people.He is a globalist,evades paying taxes anywhere and obviously his own best interests are his priority.So, instead of Hispanics,he would favor an increase of Asian tech workers.Bill Gates has his own vision for the world and has also become increasingly powerful in American politics.It does not surprise me that he would also advocate unlimited H1B visas,because his own global empire could cut costs when it has to operate in the U.S.A. He would probably favor high tech workers from Africa that his foundation has trained.It seems every big business interest in the U.S.A. has it’s own favorite group of people to be brought into the country on visas or assisted in remaining here,all according to what benefits their own bottom line.This “Gang of 8” affair is becoming really bizarre.

  3. avatar
    Concerned Citizen on

    As a Generation X citizen, I have informed leaders, including most recently the Romney campaign, that I enthusiastically volunteer to raise my own social security age. In fact, I insist on it!

    It’s obvious to me that the system can’t sustain itself, and apparently projections indicate that payments in my generation, which will be made entirely from taxes because the trust fund will be cleaned out by Boomers, will be about 75% of current levels. Social security was rolled out when people didn’t live much past 65, but now many will live past 100. My own doctor projects that I’ll live to the upper end of the life expectancy range, and I’d rather have that social security check, if I need it at all, when I really need it — which means my mid-80s or even later. Give me the option for a significantly deferred retirement age and a better monthly payment along with it, and I’ll gladly choose it. My father is in his 80s and he still works. The thought of sitting around on the porch at 80 is not appealing to me at all. I plan to be working. So much for the idea that Americans born in this country are not vigorous.

    Granted, raising the retirement age is touchy politically, but it is the right thing to do. Maybe I need to start a non-profit advocacy group.

    Anyway, enough about social security. Of course Hillary is leading Rubio and Jeb Bush among Hispanics, who as a group think much more like Democrats than Republicans. That is not going to change because the GOP caves into Democrat pressure and votes for amnesty. Ted Cruz has done a great job in Texas, winning 40% of the Latino vote, but the idea of the GOP getting over 50% of the vote is fantasy. Gabriel “Gang of 9” Gomez is proof that amnesty and a path to citizenship is a sucker’s deal for the GOP.

  4. avatar

    It Isn’t Whether its Right, Wrong and/or Legal to Open Border Pundits

    Just how much campaign loot the foreign corporates gave ’em…..legal citizens in America are just ants to step on.