Health Care and Immigration

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/12/04/the-truth-about-immigrants-and-health-care/

With the debate of health care growing more intense by the day, other important facts are beginning to become more of an interest. The question of illegal immigration and their coverage on the new proposed universal healthcare plan. This is becoming more and more debated in terms of both issues. Accoding to the legislation illegal immigrants are included and covered by universal health care. It is said that of the over 12 million illegal immigrants currently living in this country approximately 4 million are already covered by employer based plans. Within these plans the workers are responsible for paying some of the way as well as the deductibles that may apply to the coverage. This article proposes the idea of making all illegal immigrants use their own money to help cover their own health care. This would strain some of the heavy burden on the budget for this proposal, as well as, allow many other Americans and those that truly need it access to health care. It also states that immigrants are said to be less likely to need health care, and with their added revenue it is more likely the system will be a success. By letting immigrants into programs like healthcare, social security, and other government funded agencies they will contribute more thus benefiting everyone. Illegals should not consider themselves to have a free ride, reaping all the benefits while contributing little, contributions must be made in order to receive other benefits.

Phone Application to Help Illegals

http://www.tonic.com/article/phone-application-helps-immigrants-navigate-across-border/

Recently while watching the news i came across a report on this new application designed to make it easier and safer for illegal immigrants to cross the border into the United States. The application is a GPS type device designed for working in remote areas such as the desert. It is said the device will guide immigrants to the safest area in which to cross weather that is dealing with rivers, highway, or even avoiding border security. It was created by a team of researchers in San Diego who claim that it is the name of humanitarian rights. Personally, i feel this troubling due to the fact that American scientists are created newer simpler ways to help immigrants sneak into this country. It is one thing to have Mexican researchers develop this to help their countrymen but completely another to have Americans completely undermined the efforts of the American government, as well as, border security from keeping these exact same people out. Another thing i could not help thinking while watching this is what kind of poor Mexican immigrant that so desperately needs to get into the United States has a Motorola cell phone equipped with many applications including this high quality GPS. Even in America these types of phones are very expensive to afford and maintain. If a person has these such possessions they obviously have the means and ability to enter the country legally. As Americans i dont beleive we should be encouraging and promoting what is already a large problem.

Real Time Immigration Counter

http://immigrationcounters.com/

This link takes you to a website that continuously counts the number of illegal immigrants are currently in this country and some of the major costs they have to the federal government. It is said that their are more than 22.5 million illegals currently and rises by about 3-4 every few minutes. Of these 22.5 million only 570,00 are not from Mexico. These numbers are shocking and bring to light the seriousness of this problem. This calculator also tracks U.S. aid sent to Latin America and Mexico as well as the number of children in public schools and the cost, as well as, the number incarcerated and the cost of that. This number adds up astronomically but tends to be overlooked by the general population. I have always been against illegal immigration abd stricter border security but not even i have realized the actual cost illegal immigrants and their families are burdening on the United States.

While cruising around the internet the other day looking up current information on immigration and its current situation in American and the feeling towards by American citizens. I believe this comic was very true when it comes to the real thing. Many people feel immigration is a terrible thing that will potentially cause major problems to our country. However, little is done to secure the border or export illegalls that are currently residing in the United States. As the cartoon implies the American government provides great things to the population through the use of taxes. Immigrants and more specifically illegal immigrants come into this country and provide little while consuming much. This poses a problem for those that are truly entitled to these benefits. The price of incarceration is another burden illegal immigrants impose on America. It is said that there are nearly half a million illegal immigrants currently incarcerated in the United States costing the tax payers almost 1.5 billion dollars since 2002. This is also adding to the already overcrowding problem in the United States forcing dangerous criminals back on the streets prior to the ending of their sentences. Many people believe that a stronger border or stricter requirements to become a citizen will help curve the immigration problem in America, however, many other steps need to be made by our federal government. Though it is much easier said than done, people living in the united states that are not citizens and do not pay taxes should not be able to collect social security, health care, or any other handout. Yes, this is a daunting task, however, steps towards bettering this i believe will have greater success in the long run.

Presidential campaigns

Immigration is a largely debated topic with much of the country being affected. This debate seems to heat up during presidential races. This past race was no exception. John McCain took the typical republican view saying that immigration enforcement needs to be raised and border security needs to be heightened. While current President Obama also, suprisingly, supports immigration reform. Obama beleives we need to have better more secure border, create a new overall system for immigrants to enter legally, remove incentives to enter illegally, and work with Mexico to better improve their economic and social well-being. Although his immigration policy had little if not nothing at all to do with his election, Obama seemed to take the conservative road on this issue. Presidential campaigns in the past such as George W. Bush's re-election campaign had strong policies towards immigration. Because of increasing problems from Mexico in the southwest and the effects of the recent 9/11 attacks Americans greatly supported heightened security along the border, stricter requirements for becoming a citizen, and other policies that will improve the security of a weakened country. This shows how one issue, in this case immigration, can have a large and lasting impact on presidential races.

Conflicted Conservatism

Conflicted conservatism is when a person with mostly conservative views has liberal views as well. This can cause problems especially with those of higher office. It complicates the process of running for office because you do not have a specific party to support you. Conflicted conservatism is seen a lot when it comes to the issue of immigration. Immigration enforcement is seen today as more of a republican/conservative movement. This causes potential problems because someone who considers themselves a conservative may be pro immigration and encourage other conservatives to do so as well. These conflicted conservatives can have a large role in campaign races for both the republican and democratic parties. "The conflicted conservatives dictate normal campaign strategy for both parties." This is because representatives from each party do not know which way to lean in regards to an issue to receive the greatest amount of votes. Polling on this issue shows conflicted conservatism through supposed "biased media" polls. For example largely known as conservative FOX news may have a poll that should oppose immigration when in fact the results prove opposite. Although conflicted conseratism may cause problems, I find it somewhat refreshing because it shows someone can hold their own values and views on issues without having to commit to a specific party.

Should Stimson have focused on immigration?

Immigration is a very well known issue that has been around since the beginning of the country. Without immigration America would not be the same as we know it today. Stimson did not focus on immigration. This could be for many reasons. Though immigration has been around for a very long time the opinion of the public towards it has been relatively steady. Obviously, in the beginning almost everyone was an immigrant and encouraged friends and family to immigrate hear as well. Accordingly, public opinion greatly supported immigration. This trend continued for sometime until illegal immigration became a problem. When this occurred government began taking more action and the public began to realize the severity of the problem. Since then public opinion has gradually flipped to the majority opposing immigration and favoring heavier government action on illegal immigrants. I believe this would have been a good issue for Stimson to cover because it is easy to understand and it is a good example of how public opinion can go from one extreme to another over a long period of time.