President Abe Lincoln vs President George W. Bush

We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things ... liberty and tyranny.

There are some jobs in America that Americans won't do and others are willing to do.

The push and the “fix” by President Bush and other inside the beltway politicians for a plan to get cheap foreign laborers into the USA legally is the most odious part of the CIR. This is worse to me than the ‘path to citizenship’ components of the bill. Rich Lowry of NRO wrote a piece about this:

“A core element of the American creed has always been a belief in the dignity of labor — at least until now. Supporters of a guest-worker program for Mexican laborers say that "there are jobs that no Americans will do." This is an argument that is a step away from suggesting that there are jobs that Americans shouldn't do.

President George Bush, a strong supporter of the guest-worker program, has long said that "family values don't stop at the Rio Grande." We are supposed to believe, however, that the work ethic does stop there — it is only south of it that people can be found who are willing to work in construction, landscaping and agricultural jobs. So, without importing those people into our labor market, these jobs would go unfilled, disrupting the economy (and creating an epidemic of unkempt lawns in Southern California).”

I sense that many rank and file Democrats are mostly concerned with the guest-worker program part of the CIR. If the Republicans who oppose CIR for other reasons will remain united with the Democrats on the guest-worker part, then this bill should remain DEAD.