While you were out
You leave for a couple of weeks and look at what happens.
President Bush has been pretty busy since we have been out of
school. During the break, he has extended his foreign policy to the
moon and Mars, he proposed changes to the country’s immigration
system and today he is giving his State of the Union speech.
On Jan. 7, Bush proposed new changes to the country’s
immigration system. Under his proposal, illegal workers living in
America now can join a temporary labor program. These workers then
receive a three-year temporary visa that is renewable one time.
This will curb the number of unregistered illegal Mexican migrant
workers and give the country realistic immigration laws, the Bush
administration hopes. The United States needs an immigration system
“that serves the American economy and reflects the American dream,”
Bush said about his plans.
This was an unexpected policy coming from the Bush
administration. Similar plans have been proposed by Democrats in
the past. This isn’t Bush’s most popular plan, but it seems to me
that the administration is coming more into grasps with
reality.
Like it or not, millions of illegal Mexican immigrants come into
this country taking jobs that Americans are apparently unwilling to
take. The goal of this plan is to allow these immigrants to work in
our country, without the fear of being deported and work toward
becoming a citizen and taxpayer.
It can be argued that Bush is doing this to win the needed
Hispanic vote in California, but this is what happens when sections
of voters become important, whether it be women or Asian Americans
or what have you; they benefit from politicians who are trying to
be reelected. I personally see the plan as progress to fixing a
fundamental problem this country has had for decades.
America has never been able to secure our southern border and as
our middle class becomes more and more educated, certain jobs
become vacant leaving employers desperate enough to hire illegal
immigrants. These immigrants live in our country, working jobs that
remain unfilled from Americans, despite a high unemployment rate,
and don’t pay taxes. Meanwhile, they are vulnerable to exploitation
from employers who pay them as little as possible. As long as they
are illegal they can never report abuse from employers or any other
crimes, but with this program they are protected and they are on
the track to become taxpayers.
Where there is water, there is life. And where there is life
there is…oil. No, I really don’t believe Bush’s plan to get
America to Mars is a ploy for natural resources, but I couldn’t
resist ripping off The Daily Show. Bush wants American flags to
wave on the moon’s surface again by 2020, in hopes for the moon to
be a stepping-stone to the red planet. Though I don’t mind or argue
Bush wanting to put exploration back on NASA’s agenda (I mean how
many times can we orbit the Earth before we run out of things to
discover), but how good does this make Bush look, patting the back
of NASA who is experiencing resurged popularity with its Mars rover
making headlines and the cover of Time. I can’t help but think this
has to do with China and its space program. Are we really prepared
for another race? Let’s hope so.
CNN reports that Bush is going to announce a new work force
training program aimed to prepare American workers for today’s
economy. He is expected to announce $120 million in grants to go to
enhancing work force training programs at community colleges. Bush
has a lot to prove to voters since being in the oval office. The
economy has lost about 2.3 million jobs since he took office in
2001, giving him the worst job-creation record of any president
since Herbert Hoover, as reported by CNN. Though the dollar amount
isn’t enough to fix the problem, it will hopefully help college
graduates become employed and reverse the boomerang trend, grown
children moving back in with parents, surfacing in America.
Its not surprising that Bush has been so busy, after all this is
election year and there are votes to win. I mean you can only catch
Saddam so many times.
Chris is the opinion editor of The Collegian. He is a senior
majoring in history and technical journalism and doesn’t understand
this Atkin’s diet craze. Double bacon cheeseburgers are healthy as
long as you take off the bun?
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