The Party of NO ... DETAILS !!

Well hip hip hooray for all Republican supporters that have grown sick of being referred to as "the party of NO". This common criticism of the Republican party is well earned and well deserved because at a time when the United States faced economic hardships not seen since the Great Depression, they decided it was in their best POLITICAL INTEREST to just oppose, oppose, oppose, ... say No, No, No (shout out to Dawn Penn and Destiny's Child) to every idea proposed by the Democrats with the hope that the economy would remain in the crapper long enough so that the American people would say "screw it !! we want some more change" and put the Republicans back in power.

When you think about it, it was a politically smart strategy. What would the Republicans have to gain by actually COOPERATING with the Democratic majority to actually remedy the problems faced by the country ? (You know ... besides actually improving life circumstances for the people they represent ... that mushy stuff is overrated). If the Republicans decided to play ball and work with the Democrats and come up with bipartisan solutions that would restart the economy, fix the healthcare crisis, and sing a common tune when it comes to foreign policy issues then with the Democratic administration in the White House and Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, then who do you think would get credit for fixing the problems ? Democrats ... OF COURSE and with the country busy patting Democrats on the back, the Republican party would end up being a footnote in history before long. So facing that damning prospect, the next best thing for the Republicans was simply to just become the party of "NO !!". If we simply say no to everything they propose (regardless of whether or not we were previously for it), and obstruct whatever they try and accomplish, then the American people will just get UTTERLY FED UP with the lack of progress from a party that is in total control of both the executive and legislative branches of government and decide it's time to for yet another change and put them back in power. In essence, it is a SHOCKING REVELATION that a group of politricksters are more concerned about maintaining power than they are about SOLVING REAL PEOPLE'S REAL PROBLEMS !! WHAT A SHOCK !!

So as we approach the midterm elections for 2010, the Republicans must've been getting a vibe that "although the people don't believe they've gotten the full change that they voted for back in 2008, they aren't sure what they'd get from the Republicans" because, quite frankly, they've brought NOTHING to the table. So after 2 years of offering a big bag of nothingness, the Republicans decided to reveal their "Pledge to America" which is SUPPOSED to be an outline of what they would do if put back in power in either or both houses of Congress. There's only one itsy bitsy problem though. The 26 Page document which is supposed to outline "The Plan" to revive the economy, slash the federal deficit, and get America back on track, PROVIDED NO DETAILS !! It's all good to speak in good warm and fuzzy tones such as "reign in spending", "put Americans back to work", and all the feel good stuff people like to hear but when it comes to actually GOVERNING, I'm gonna need some details on how you gonna do that. If you're gonna tell me you will reduce the federal deficit yet you wanna slash the nation's income source by $700 Billion by extending the Bush Tax Cuts for everyone and not propose cutting of any expense that has sizeable dent in the federal deficit, then you aren't really serious about tackling the problems. This is no more than a political plow to say "you see !! We have SOME CLUE".

So the Republicans have ridden "the party of NO" title for as long as they could and as we approach the November elections and the people are calling for SUPP'N, they have obliged and given the people a "so-called plan" but a plan with NO DETAILS. It is impossible to govern on NO DETAILS. The Republicans know EXACTLY what they wanna do if they get back in power but because they fear that their "new agenda" will look strikingly familiar to the "old Bush agenda" which got their arses booted up outta Congress four years ago and brought the Global Economy to it's knees, it is now in their best POLITICAL INTEREST to stamp "The Party of NO DETAILS" decal smack dab on their foreheads.

The Dirty Little "not so secret" about Immigration

Democrats, Republicans, friends, Romans, countrymen !! I've got a dirty little "not so secret" fact about the political football that we know as "illegal immigration". The dirty little secret is this ... NOBODY WANTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM !! If politicians on both sides of the aisle TRULY wanted to solve the problem of illegal immigration, they could do so tomorrow. The fact is, the United States and in particular the BIG BUSINESS COMMUNITY in the United States benefit from having a de facto, constantly flowing, voluntary "slave labor force" beating down the doors of the US-Mexico border for a chance at a better life from what they live in their distant homelands. For fractions of what legal American workers would be willing to work, illegal immigrants sweat and toil in the most difficult of jobs for their shot at the American dream. For American business, this enables them to pay their "willing slaves" crap-wages while selling their products at the same high rates, thereby enabling increased profits, the lifeblood of any capitalistic system.

If Democrats and Republicans in Washington TRULY wanted to address the problem of illegal immigration TOMORROW, they could. They simply don't have the sack to do it. Instead, what we get ever so often (generally around election time) is all of this talk about "securing the borders" and "building thousand mile fences" and "they're taking American jobs" and all of this crap from a buncha politricksters who have no desire or gall to actually address the problem. If they were willing to tackle the root of the issue, they would look into WHY illegal immigrants come to the US in the first place. The only reason why anyone (for the most part) would pack up and leave their distant homeland surrounded by family and friends and move to a strange, cold, and lonely place is for the shot at an improved standard of living which is enabled by any means of gainful employment. If politicians wanted to tackle the issue of illegal immigration, instead of the unrealistic goal of playing laser tag and paintball in the dark along a thousand mile border, they would instead put the pressure on American businesses that hire these illegal immigrants. If a law were passed TOMORROW saying "any company found to knowingly or unknowingly hire an illegal immigrant for employment shall be fined an amount equal to 20% of their annual revenues", the illegal immigration problem would be solved TOMORROW. With businesses unwilling to hire illegal immigrants out of fear of being slapped upside the head with humongous fines, the memo would eventually get across the border that "they ain't hiring over there, how far do we have to walk to get to Canada ?".

The immigration situation as it exists today benefits the major players in the game therefore we stand at gridlock. Democrats can fire up their base by talking about how "Republicans are just immigrant haters who relish in a lily white vision of the homeland", Republicans can fire up their base by talking about how "Democrats want to paint the town brown and are putting the security of the homeland at risk by letting in all of them there illegals", BIG BUSINESS benefits by continuing to pay crap wages to immigrants out on the field picking oranges while selling their orange juice for maximum price for maximum profit in a store near you, and illegal immigrants toil for a few dollars in the US and send a percentage of the profits back home to Mexico, thus benefiting the Mexican economy. That equals a win-win-win-win for everyone involved. The fact that no one has truly had the courage to step up and take on this issue head on and suggest stifling the supply of jobs by coming down hard on big business that hire illegal immigrants just highlights the fact that everyone is pretty darn comfy with the system as it exists right now. Don't expect anything significant to happen on the illegal immigration front for quite some time. No harm, no foul right ? Politrix as usual ...