The Death of Amnesty

I hope that this title is not premature. We know that Congress, with its typical inability to accomplish anything, has been unable to prepare legislation that We the People can agree to. Both fortunate (in that the cloture vote failed) and unfortunate (in that Congress is inept), this action goes far beyond the simple fact of reducing this to dust. It lets our "representatives" know that we are unhappy with their performance.

In the business world, companies generally implement policies that cover the handling of employees whose performance is questionable. After repeated (usually 3) warnings, the employee is terminated. What recourse do We the People have? It is clear that voting, in and of itself, is not the answer. There are numerous long-term senators, who should have long ago been removed from their positions of lazy power.

First, we must insist upon term limits for congressmen and women. More than any other statement, this directly tells them that they have a finite amount of time in which to perform the duties that they were elected to perform.

Second, must must stop allowing them to try to convince us of the value of their proposals. How many congresspeople did we have to watch and listen to, trying to make us understand how this ridiculous, long-winded, ineffective legislation was NOT AMNESTY? Their job is not to try and convince us; their job is to represent us. This fiasco only underscored the obvious--it is not We the People who are being represented; rather, it is illegal aliens that are being represented.

I can imagine Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison right about now.

Beyond the abhorrent failure of Congress to perform lies the question of illegal immigration itself. I have spent the past couple of days, listening to business owners in my area, touting the benefit that these workers have provided. There is no argument with this. The workers ARE working, and we need them to do that. So if they are so important to our businesspeople, why don't our businesspeople sponsor the workers so that they can become properly
processed and registered into our systems?

This seems inordinately simple. What is the problem? I suppose that is obvious as well. These businesspeople who need these illegal workers so desperately, need them because they can pay them below the minimum wage. So who is kidding who? Let them put their money where their mouths are.

We the People are confused by the degree to which politicians and businesses will go to defend those who are continually committing crimes. As a citizen of the US, I, and you, are always in a position of having to provide PROOF - citizenship, immunization, work status, residency, and yet, that is readily accepted by all of us, as it should be. On the other side of the fence (pun intended) lie those who flaunt our laws, and expect to be understood and compensated as well.
What is the impetus, then, of our conformance with the laws? It has clearly gotten us nowhere.

Do we get amnesty if we lie on a job application? Do we get amnesty if we send our children to school without the proper immunization? Do we get amnesty if we misrepresent ourselves on our tax returns?

What has happened in the United States? How did we get to a point where the citizens are the last ones to be considered when business and politics need to make a decision?

Our voices were heard these past few weeks. The amnesty bill no longer exists. But, it is not time for us to be quiet. We must make more and more noise.

We must demand representation - we certainly already have the taxation!