Is it just me, or are we losing all sense of decency in our country. Arizona's latest is a case in point. Fueled by out of state oldsters who shiver at the thought of hispanics - Hispanics! HISPANICS! PANICS! PANICS! - vote to let police pull over anybody - jeeze who might that be? What might they look like? What color hair and eyes and tone of skin would such persons have. Hmmmm... - for not being a u.s. citizen, and arrest them if they can't produce their papers.
For the last ten years, hell, since Nafta was signed, cheap abundant labor from Mexico has seeped through the cracks into our country. Why? Because their was work here, work that by and large, nobody white or black or brown wanted to do. Work like killing chickens, slaughtering cows, bussing tables, washing dishes, cooking in restaurants, roofing, cutting grass, all for the grand prize of minimum or subminimum wage.
If all of them were to disappear tomorrow, our country for a good long while at least, would grind to a halt.
But given our laws, should we just throw up our hands and grant them citizenship. No. But guess what? Their children, born here, already are citizens.
So what do we do?
My proposal is simple. Let them in. A million a year. Seriously. Register them. Give them guest worker papers that will let them stay here for 20 years. That's right. 20. Make them pay taxes. 15%. No refunds on these taxes. Take from them as well an additional 25% forced savings tax. Make them pay into medicare, but not into social security. They should not be able to get social security. Once they have been here for twenty years, they must return to their own country, where, check by check, their twenty five per cent saving will be returned to them, monthly. Call it a retirement. Should they return, they forfeit
Saturday, May 1, 2010
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