-Caveat Lector- A GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS A NATIONAL ACT OF SELF-DESTRUCTIVE MADNESS By Jeff Elkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Amnesty for immigrants is "a great leap forward," according to a press release issued by the Libertarian Party. In a utopian society, one fully free, without a warfare/welfare government, there are arguments to be made for open borders. There are equally compelling arguments for maintaining a sense of national identity via selective immigration. However, open borders for the United States as it exists today would be a national act of self-destructive madness. An amnesty for illegal immigrants, effectively step one in such a plan, should be vehemently opposed by both conservatives and libertarians. "Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery," said Steve Dasbach, national director of the Libertarian Party. "Every industrious immigrant who comes here is making a statement that they want to live and work in the freest, most prosperous nation on Earth -- as so many millions of our own forefathers have. America should welcome them." Dasbach is living in a dream world. The policies the LP advocates along with its new partner in crime, the Demopublican party, will have the effect of increasing the power of the Leviathan state that the Libertarian Party claims to oppose. The vast majority of immigrants today don't conform to the idealized picture painted by Dasbach. Assimilation into American society is no longer the goal; instead, the goals are for the immigrants, a free ride on the federal gravy train, and for government, increasing the 'multicultural' aspects of our society and expanding the number of dependent clients, thereby expanding bureaucratic power. Also, let's not forget that the majority of new clients are coming from societies without any tradition of pluralistic politics; in addition to being tax liabilities, they are political liabilities as well. This is an added benefit for the power of the state. Dasbach acknowledges that many Americans are concerned that more immigration drives up welfare costs, thereby increasing the size and power of government. "Democrats and Republicans have worked for decades to create a powerful welfare magnet, and they shouldn't be surprised when it attracts millions of Americans and non-Americans alike, the solution isn't to reduce immigration; it's to eliminate the welfare state. President Bush should ignore his critics, recognize that immigration is far more American than welfare -- and grant amnesty to every hard-working immigrant who comes to America in search of a better life." Dasbach says, in a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. Horse feathers. The proper path is to drastically curb legal immigration, at least to the levels we knew prior to the 1965 Immigration Act, and to engage in a national debate on how to deal with illegals, a very touchy issue, since it raises grave concerns about civil liberties within our borders. Concurrently, we should turn our attention to dismantling the welfare culture that attracts undesirables to our shores. A true reform of welfare statism would do much to alleviate the problem of illegal immigration anyway. Without a guaranteed dole, the majority of immigrants, legal and illegal would indeed be productive members of our society; now the vast majority aren't. I refer Mr. Dasbach to Peter Brimelow's magisterial book on immigration, Alien Nation. The Bush administration is already seeking political camouflage for their plan. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell recently discounted the idea of a sweeping amnesty program. Powell, as head of a White House task force on immigration, scuttled away from the dreaded 'amnesty' word. In typical Washington weasel-speak, Powell says that officials are considering options that "will include ways for some of those who are in the country to remain in the country and try to regularize the flow of people back and forth" between the U.S. and Mexico. The plans "do not at the moment include just simply a blanket amnesty for everybody who is in the country.." Don't believe him. His lips are moving. Bush's attempt to woo Hispanic voters has already been seized by his across-the-aisle opponents as not going far enough. House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) is working with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) to draft "a comprehensive immigration proposal" and House Democrats are forming an immigration task force co-chaired by Reps. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), ranking member of the House immigration subcommittee. Gephardt said the Democrats' proposals would expand on measures the party has pushed in recent years that could make millions of illegal immigrants from Mexico and a host of other countries eligible for legal status. Which party will claim these millions of Mexican, Honduran and Guatemalan immigrants as clients? Most likely the Democratic Party, and any Republican scheme to woo them is probably doomed to failure before it starts. But no matter - whichever party grabs the immigration political spoils, the ultimate beneficiaries will be the bureaucratic state. The losers of this political and social battle will be the average American citizen. In the long term, all of us, but in the short term, the burden will be crushing for inhabitants of the magnet states of California, Texas and Florida, with serious overflow effects in surrounding states. Those states already bear a horrible burden and the inhabitants of the swamps of Washington D.C. will increase it a hundred-fold with this nationally suicidal plan. As a paleo-libertarian, there are many parts of the LP platform I'm in agreement with. However, this crackpot scheme to provide a free lunch for our south of the border neighbors at the expense of the American taxpayer is not one of them. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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