Subject: txt 2010 immig -
The Washington Post has published a poll of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents on the state of the GOP. (See the front-page story here, and the complete poll questions and results here.) Immigration makes only one appearance, but the result was important. On a list of issues, respondents were asked whether they thought the party placed too much emphasis on them, too little, or the right amount. Here are the results:
Too much Too little Right amount No opinion
a. Second amendment gun rights 16 33 50 2
b. Same-sex marriage 27 32 38 3
c. Abortion 23 34 42 1
d. Federal spending 11 60 28 1
e. Taxes 11 44 44 1
f. The environment 14 38 47 1
g. Illegal immigration 9 61 29 1
h. The economy and jobs 3 60 36 1
In other words, illegal immigration is the area where the largest number of Republicans feel the party isn't doing enough (and note that only 9 percent thought there was too much emphasis on it).
To see the immediate economic benefits of immigration enforcement for American workers, see the work of my colleague, Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter Jerry Kammer,
here and
here.
One simple measure Republicans could champion would be to permit employers to use E-Verify to screen their workforce.
In any case, as David Frum wrote last
week,
"It's time for Republicans to revisit the actual economics of immigration rather than the slogans."
READ MORE
Obama's Afghanistan address sounded vaguely Bushian. He said the U.S. had underwritten international security for decades, and that "moral authority" gave us the power to do what we thought was right. He sounded like he viewed the threat from Al-Quaeda as real, saying the American effort will "involved disorderly regions, failed states, diffused enemies."
