I've never heard of Alex Nowrasteh before today and I've only heard in passing of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. But the headline in his June 28th FoxNews.com opinion article, "Arizona Declares War on on Capitalism", certainly caught my eye.
A summary of his dissertation is as follows: Illegal immigrants don't commit a disproportionately high rate of crime and Arizona is simply punishing businesses. He then cites US Bureau of Justice Statistics to show that from 2006 to 2008 both violent and property crimes dropped significantly.
Mr. Nowrasteh doesn't bother to mention that in that time frame (specifically, 2007) Arizona passed the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which requires that all employers use the Federal e-Verify system (admittedly a flawed system) and that any employer that knowingly hires undocumented workers will face a 10-day suspension of their business license on the first offense and permanent suspension of their business license on any subsequent violations.
It is believed by many in Arizona that the drop in crime can be at least partially attributed to the enforcement of this act, which went into effect on January 1, 2008, because of a sudden migration of undocumented persons away from Arizona (to Texas, I am told. Sorry, Texas).
Mr. Nowrasteh then goes on to say that SB 1070 and the Legal Arizona Workers Act essentially turns every business and employer into an immigration agent of the state. Well... in a word, Yes. There is precedence for this. Every business that sells goods or services to consumers are expected to collect local, state and federal sales taxes. Every business that hires employees (as opposed to contract workers) must withhold federal taxes from employee paychecks and forward that money to the IRS. Every business must conform to OSHA, Dept. of Labor, or Dept. of Sanitation requirements. Every business must conform to equal employment opportunity regulations to prevent discrimination. Every business must pay a wage not less than the federally mandated minimum wage. So, Mr. Nowrasteh's point is somewhat muted by the fact that businesses are already conforming to a myriad of laws, rules and regulations being mandated from all levels of government.
What Mr. Nowrasteh does not point out is that any undocumented worker must provide some form of identification in order to be employed. That's what e-Verify is all about. So of course, any illegal immigrant that is using bogus identification is causing material harm to a legal U.S. citizen. That illegal immigrant can cause irreparable damage to credit ratings and worse, legal history.
Mr. Nowrasteh makes the claim that many of the people that illegally migrate to the United States do so because they have no chance of doing so legally. Really? It may be hard, yes. It may cost money, yes. But have "no chance of doing so legally"? Please, Mr. Nowrasteh, would you mind submitting any kind of example or proof to support this statement. What utter hogwash.
I believe that Mr. Nowrasteh's underlying motive for this article is exposed in this one sentence buried deep in the midst of this article: "Now, businesses are going to be further punished when they do what naturally comes to them: lowering costs and passing those savings onto consumers." Yup, if you run a business that is caught hiring illegal immigrants and paying them sub-minimum wage or worse, under the table in order to avoid federal tax withholding collection, then you are going to be punished. Mr. Nowrasteh's capitalist world of minimized costs at all costs is creating and perpetuating a permanent serf-class in this country. Is that really what America is all about in your world, Mr. Nowrasteh? Laborers who are viewed as two-legged mules, to be fed and watered occassionally, but who ought not to expect any joy in life?
If Americans want a high standard of living (high pay), then they have to expect that they will have to pay for that standard when buying goods and services from domestic businesses. I take pride in the fact that many of the companies that I do business with aren't the cheapest, but that every time I make a purchase, I'm helping their employees to live the "good" life.
A Bible verse to memorize
4 hours ago
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Decades long wait is not an option, especially when that person would have to wait in brutal poverty.
http://reason.com/assets/db/07cf533ddb1d06350cf1ddb5942ef5ad.jpg
I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened. All of us ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated, but this is not the case.
I know the proponents of this law say that the majority approves of this law, but the majority is not always right. Would women or non-whites have the vote if we listen to the majority of the day, would the non-whites have equal rights (and equal access to churches, housing, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, schools, colleges and yes water fountains) if we listen to the majority of the day? We all know the answer, a resounding, NO!
Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics and do what is right, not what is just popular with the majority. Some men comprehend discrimination by never have experiencing it in their lives, but the majority will only understand after it happens to them.
I feel sooo frustrated by hearing sooo many people supporting illegal aliens and NOT supporting the laws of our country. If I were to sneak into Mexico or any other country illegally I would be severely punished and put in jail or kicked out. If people want to help these poor illegal aliens, why don't they concentrate on changing the immigration laws and make it easier to come into this country, legally?
Instead of demonstrating and complaining about Arizona, what if people complained to their senators and representatives about immigration laws? Maybe things would change for the better, faster.
Everyone's rights are diminished when some people think the law doesn't apply to them.
“All Men are created equal”! The founders had it right, when attempting to form a perfect union and they also knew that they were not there yet but knew we one day would get there. Lincoln moved us forward as did JFK and LBJ. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.
It is my contention that this AZ law is not constitutional and will fail when challenged (unless, of course, they keep adding more amendments), pretty funny for this so called perfect law, that many internet bloggers claim it was copied “Word for Word” from the Federal law, which I frankly do not believe, if it was then no amendments would have been made, right?, of course, keep those lies coming.
As for the undocumented workers, as was attributed to Ronald Reagan “It’s the Economy, Stupid”. When the economy is good we say let’s all celebrate “Cinco de Mayo, my brothers” but when the economy is down “it’s all your fault, you damn immigrant”. This too will pass, the real problem is the narcos, arms and people smugglers and that’s what the focus should be on.
Don’t you find it funny that no one ever voted for Brewer for Governor, she is trying to get elected on the back of undocumented workers, it’s all about politics, do not be fooled. In the last few months Busy Brewer has passed S.B. 1070, no permit conceal weapons law, the famous Birthers law, banning Ethnic studies law, (could she be behind the Mural in Prescott, Arizona) and if history is a lesson and if she can read, she should look up Arizona’s House Bill 2779 from two years ago (which failed when legally challenged) and the craziest one the boycott of Martin Luther King Day, not wanting another holiday, how crazy is that. I believe there is an undercurrent to their enactment of new laws, they real love following a distinct pattern. Poor Brewer, in an attempt to gain sympathy, in an interview she first said her father had died in Germany fighting the Nazi in World War II (which ended 1945) and we find out her father was never in Germany and died in California in 1955 (watch her play the victim card, again) and then she went to Washington and came back empty as always, poor dear.
It is odd that there has been this big spike in right wing idiocy coming out of Arizona though. Texas has a higher background level of crazy and right now Arizona is like a supernova taking the attention. I wonder how long it will last.
Actually it isn’t that strange. Arizona has been moving gradually towards the middle over the last twenty years. The population has doubled in that time and a big part of that spike wasn’t old retirees who tended to be conservative, but a lot of younger families moving from blue states, etc. In 2008 McCain only received 53.4% of the vote here in Arizona, his sixth lowest vote total among the states he won. Now think about that, his home state was one of his least supportive states. Had McCain been from Texas, Florida, etc., he likely would have lost Arizona.
This state has a long history of very conservative, often racist politics and the supporters of those policies aren’t happy that they are consistently losing ground to moderates and liberals (simply termed as liberals in their tirades). Because of how the state legislature is set up conservatives still have a major majority in both houses but, when Napolitano was governor, she vetoed a lot of their stupidity. In fact she set the record for vetoes in the history of the state. You take her away, bring in Brewer who is a wing-nut’s wing-nut, and you see incredibly stupid legislation that was shut down by a reasonable governor make it out of the state house. At the same time you see an increase in non-conservative population as well as an increase in non-white population and the far white err, right is freaking out.
Benito states that "this Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened." Good words. And further, I disagree with him not at all. But again, like every other antagonist of SB1070 he claims that this is racist legislation targeting Hispanics, when in fact it is criminal legislation that targets people who have entered this nation without properly obtaining permission from our government. Since the Federal government has decided not to enforce these laws (which SB1070 mirrors so closely that Eric H. Holder, Esq wisely chose not sue on those grounds) the state of Arizona has been forced to do something to control this situation.
Imagine, if you will, that you are sitting in your front-room watching television when suddenly you discover that somebody is in your bedroom cleaning it up. That person is completely unknown to you. What would you do? Let them continue to clean your bedroom or would you be inclined to throw them out of your house? But wait! This is a man, created equally by his divine Creator, so you decide to let him remain? It's not realistic. Living and working as a foreign national in the United States is not a right, it is a privilege that must be granted.
Benito states that he is committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. Let me ask him a question: Does the struggle to be free include illegally crossing the border of a sovereign nation? Is this the only avenue of redress for the oppressed? Would it not be better for Mexicans to fix Mexico? Or is that not possible? Keep in mind that prior to 1775, most if asked would have said that the colonies gaining independence from Great Britain would be impossible, yet it was done.
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