What should be done about illegal immigration?

He has been President for less then 100 days, so an approval poll now is meaningless.

Lets see what his numbers are in 2 years.

In November 2001, President Bush's approval rating was 88% - disapproval 8%.

At this point in 2001:

Partisan Gap in Obama Job Approval Widest in Modern Era
April 2, 2009

For all of his hopes about bipartisanship, Barack Obama has the most polarized early job approval ratings of any president in the past four decades. The 61-point partisan gap in opinions about Obama's job performance is the result of a combination of high Democratic ratings for the president -- 88% job approval among Democrats -- and relatively low approval ratings among Republicans (27%).

By comparison, there was a somewhat smaller 51-point partisan gap in views of George W. Bush's job performance in April 2001, a few months into his first term. At that time, Republican enthusiasm for Bush was comparable to how Democrats feel about Obama today, but there was substantially less criticism from members of the opposition party. Among Democrats, 36% approved of Bush's job performance in April 2001; that compares with a 27% job approval rating for Obama among Republicans today.

The partisan gap in Bill Clinton's early days was also substantially smaller than what Obama faces, largely because Democrats were less enthusiastic about Clinton. In early April 1993, 71% of Democrats approved of Clinton's job performance, which is 17 points lower than Obama's current job approval among Democrats. Republican ratings of Clinton at that point (26%) are comparable to their current ratings of Obama today (27%).

The growing partisan divide in presidential approval ratings is part of a long-term trend. Going back in time, partisanship was far less evident in the early job approval ratings for both Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. In fact, a majority of Republicans (56%) approved of Carter's job performance in late March 1977, and a majority of Democrats (55%) approved of Nixon's performance at a comparable point in his first term.



http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1178/polarized-partisan-gap-in-obama-approval-historic

Isn't that interesting? 88% of Democrats approve of the job Obama is doing right now. Which is absolutely comparable to the 87% of Repbulicans who saw Bush's performance as positive. Likewise, 57% of independents see the job Obama is doing in a positive light, and almost the exact same percentage - 56% of independents - approved of Bush's job performance.

The only reason that the partisan gap is so large is because Republicans are far more partisan when it comes to judging the job performance of Obama than Democrats were in the way they rated the job Bush was doing.

Maybe something to keep in mind when complaining that Democrats opposed everything Bush was doing right from the beginning....

Oh, and by the way: what point do you think you're making by pointing out that Bush's job approval rates went up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks? Do you think this somehow reflects negatively on Obama's current job approval rates?

The Democrats and Independents seem pretty much in agreement.

This suggests that the Republicans are the ones who are out of touch.

I am surprised that Carter is the outlier (the only Democratic president who got over 30% from the Republicans).

Were Republicans less partisan back then, or was this a Southern thing?

How to deal with illegal immigrants??

No, just pointing out that your adoration and adulations heaped upon the Messiah are misplaced at this stage of the game.

Apparently Pharisees aren't too fond of any messiah.

No they weren't, or at least they were certainly not fond of any Messiah that didn't fit their narrow definition what a Messiah must be. So who are the Pharisees here? Certainly not the ones who see the big picture and the sins that will be visited on the children unto the fourth and fifth generations and who want the best for all instead. But perhaps modern day Pharisees are those who presume the moral authority to demand that their opinion is the only one that counts and everybody else are racists and bigots.

I love the way conservatives exaggerate everything when it's something they see wish to belittle, and show the same devotion to their own beliefs by using different adjectives (of apologists). Funny, that!

Obama is a "messiah" with less than 100-days in office. Bush was a "good" president after eight years of destruction.

From msnbc:

McCain would have been an absolute disaster for the country, and the public knew this. He would have continued Bush's failed economic, health care, energy, etc., policies.

The big problem O has is that the Dems in congress are very independent. For instance, when O said he wanted to increase taxes on those making over $250,000, a number of congressmen and senators bitched and indicated their opposition (most likely because this would affect important supporters). However, when Bush pushed very big tax cuts for the wealthy, there was iron discipline amont the Reps, and not a single one opposed Bush. This discipline, which doesn't exist on the left, continued throughout the eight years. This independence among the left has a good chance of destroying O's momentum.

You know, that would be such a valid point if you could show that people were actually adoring Obama and heaping adulations upon him for his job approval ratings. Or maybe even if you could just bring yourself to making the same point without derogatory statements or disparaging others.

Simple.
Go back thru a2k since Obama was elected and read all of the posts from the left that specifically mention his job approval ratings anytime something negative is mentioned about him.

Precious little independence, Advocate, especially in the Senate, but a little more in the House. Privately, I think many are tired of Nancy ramming things down their throats, but so far, most are toeing the line. I think the political capital for Obama is dwindling, however, which is a very good thing. And on the world stage, I think what credibility Obama had has to be dwindling as well, at least privately, and Sarkhozy is making fun of Obama. walking on water.

By the way, by now, I hope you have figured out Obama is no friend to your immigration policy or Israeli policy, not even close. Don't say you weren't warned.

Happily, despite O's push for an amnesty for illegals, there are an increasing number of state and local crackdowns on illegals.


As Obama Promises Immigration Reform, State Backlash Continues

New America Media, News Report, Marcelo Ballvé , Posted: Apr 21, 2009

Editor's Note: As immigrant rights advocates welcome the Obama administration's promise of comprehensive immigration reform, state and local authorities are stepping up efforts to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) identify, arrest and deport undocumented immigrants.

Despite the Obama administration's promise to act on immigration reform this year, a backlash against immigrants continues to rage countrywide. One result is a growing patchwork of hardline state and local policies aimed at curbing illegal immigration.

Even immigrant advocates focused now on mobilizing for reform acknowledge their battle will ultimately need to go beyond a Washington D.C.-legislated fix. The backlash against immigrants has sprung up in neighborhoods and far-flung localities, and also needs to be combated at the grassroots.

"This isn't going to be over when comprehensive immigration reform is passed," said Tony Stephens, communications associate with the New York-based nonprofit The Opportunity Agenda, during an online meeting last week with immigration reform advocates.

In Mississippi, over 20 hardline immigration-related bills were introduced in this year's legislative session, according to the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA). Utah's hardline immigration law goes into effect July 1. In New Jersey, a directive that orders police to question individuals arrested for a serious crime about their immigration status has been abused, and routine traffic stops become immigration busts, according to a report released this month by the Seton Hall University School of Law.

In Alamance County North Carolina, Sheriff Terry Johnson's participation in a federal program that deputizes local law enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants has fanned a divisive debate on immigration and Mexican culture, casting a pall on all Hispanic immigrants, whether they entered the country illegally or not.

An Elon University study found that Sheriff Johnson was grossly underreporting the number of Latinos his department was pulling over, though he denied racial profiling. And earlier this month, University of North Carolina law professor Deborah M. Weissman testified on Capitol Hill about the same sheriff's "brazenly racist claims about Mexicans."

According to Weissman, Johnson had been quoted saying, "[T]heir values are a lot different -- their morals -- than what we have here. In Mexico, there's nothing wrong with having sex with a 12-, 13-year-old girl ... They do a lot of drinking down in Mexico." Sheriff Johnson participates in a federal program named 287(g) for a section of the 1996 immigration law creating it. Made most notorious by Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, it's meant to partner police and sheriffs with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and bolster the country's ability to target transnational crimes and deport undocumented immigrants with rap sheets. Instead, critics say, it has become a favorite tool for rounding up Latinos and intimidating immigrant communities.

The federal program is also at issue in one of the get-tough immigration measures that's still pending in the Mississippi legislature (23 bills considered "anti-immigrant or anti-worker" by immigrant rights advocates did not win approval). Gary Chism, a Republican state representative, tacked on a provision to an appropriations bill that would require Mississippi's Department of Public Safety to participate in 287(g) ICE training.

Chism also added an amendment requiring Mississippi's Department of Corrections to participate in a separate ICE program that connects prisons with federal agents to track inmates who are immigration violators and funnel them to deportation proceedings.

Chism said he's optimistic that at least the corrections measure will make it into law, but the 287(g) proposal may stall since it's costly. He said the federal government isn't doing enough to control illegal immigration.

"We need to protect Mississippi and Mississippian jobs" from illegal immigrants, he told New America Media.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has launched a review of 287(g) and the program may be in for some changes, but department spokesman Matt Chandler acknowledges it remains popular with state and local law enforcement agencies.

"Participants realized drops in crime and removal of repeat offenders," he said in a phone interview.

He would not say what an overhauled 287(g) program might look like, but gave no indication it would be scrapped altogether, as some immigrant rights groups have demanded.

MIRA Executive Director Bill Chandler sees Chism's 287(g) and prisons proposals as part of a concerted effort by xenophobic politicians to hound Latinos, not just illegal immigrants, out of the state.

A broad, hardline immigration law passed last year includes a plank making it a felony for an undocumented worker to accept work in Mississippi, authorizing penalties of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. U.S. residents may also sue businesses if they are fired and replaced by an unauthorized worker.

Though officially called the "Mississippi Employment Protection Act" Chandler calls the law the "ethnic cleansing act" and has lobbied furiously for its repeal " so far without success.

In Utah, a similarly broad law will go into effect July 1. Though stopping short of criminalizing the labor of undocumented immigrants, the law requires, among other things, that state and local agencies verify the immigration status of anyone applying for certain services, including health care. The law stipulates penalties for undocumented immigrants accessing services they're no longer authorized to receive.

Though the law excludes emergency care, vaccinations and care for communicable diseases, there's still confusion over exactly what services might be off-limits. Community clinics worry fearful immigrants, whatever their immigration status, might forgo health care altogether, potentially creating public health risks.

The law also allows all Utah law enforcement agencies to deputize their agents to enforce immigration law. Already, however, some say they'll opt out of that plank of the law. Park City's Police Chief Wade Carpenter, for example, said he wouldn't participate because it's an idea driven by the politics of immigration rather than an effort to find real solutions.

"I don't think it accomplishes what we need to accomplish," Carpenter was quoted as saying. "It's the tail wagging the dog."

I believe there's a natural reduction of illegal immigration as jobs disappear from our landscape. I still see many standing around Home Depot in hopes of getting a job, but the numbers seem smaller now then just a few months ago.

Count the ways that the USA is being screwed over by illegal aliens.


The Illegal Alien Tax Credit

It is an appalling example of our nation’s lax approach to illegal immigration that $7 billion in child tax credits went to foreign workers " including lots of illegal aliens " from 2004 through 2007. A federal report found the IRS improperly granted the $1,000 tax credit payments to millions of foreign workers, a lot of whom didn’t even pay any federal income taxes.

Many of the workers had used government-issued tax identification numbers " instead of Social Security numbers " on their tax returns. But only people with Social Security numbers are entitled to work in this country.

“As it now stands, the payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside and work in the U.S. without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy to remove such incentives,” the report said.

It’s past time to halt those incentives.


-- timesfreepress.com