The endangered species not caused by global warming

I know it's been a long while, but hey, cut me a little slack...we just moved again! We're settled in back here in TX and I'm hoping to start up my job the first of next week. It's just a part timer, but since we're moving again in 5 or 6 months, I figured this way I wouldn't feel bad bailing on them ;) I've really just been unpacking and settling in and haven't felt very inspired lately to write much. But I got inspired over the past week, culminating today.

*Warning* ...Bek's hopin up on the soap box and ready to rant!
*Attention* ...anyone who thinks they are "middle class"

I've prefaced myself on here before saying I'm not usually one to get really worked up about things and I'm not one to be very political. Today, I am worked up and political!
This latest joke of a bill they are calling a 'comprehensive immigration bill' has me furious! It's like everyone in Washington is sharing each other's crazy pills! I don't think a one of them has a lick of common sense left in them. I have so many problems with this whole thing, I don't even know where to start. Doesn't anyone have any common sense or spine anymore, or are these politicians so blatenly just doing what it takes to keep their jobs?
What really got to me most recently was the President's speech about the bill I saw today. Now, I'm a republican. I voted for Bush. I've supported the war (maybe not how everything has panned out) and the troop surge and I think a lot of people have cut and run on the war issue and hung him out to dry. But I don't understand how he can preach on supporting our troops and attacking our enemies abroad so they don't get us here (both of which I support) and then turn around and let millions of people sneak in the back door. The two concepts are so contradictory it's unbelievable! Forget 'comprehensive,' let's just take it one step at a time. Let's focus on the biggest, in my opinion...SECURE THE BORDER!
This bill not only does not secure the border, but it allows a "path to citizenship" for millions of unskilled felons! (Btw-just because you don't call it "amnesty" doesn't mean that it isn't!) In case these politicians forgot, the word "illegal" means against the law, and therefore, criminal! They conveniently overlook the fact that each of these people has committed a crime simply by coming into the country undocumented...not to mention, forging documents, stealing identities, ect. What gives them the right to think the law doesn't apply to them? The fact that they aren't Americans? Well, that's a slippery slope. What gives them the right to circumvent the system--the same system that each of our ancestors went through with each wave of immigrants in American history? What gives them the right to jump the line of the thousands who are going through the proper channels to become American citizens? If they want the benefits afforded to those in this country, they should have to follow the rules, like everyone else, or be punished, like everyone else. What gives them the right to not assimilate so rigidly? There are plenty of immigrants who have maintained a sense of their own culture, while at the same time, embracing "being American," including learning the language. You can't have it both ways. Either be Mexican or be American! We simply cannot afford to take in everyone around the world who isn't as well off as we are, or don't have the opportunities we do. We'd have to take in over half the world!
I hate the arguement that deportation breaks up families. Any time someone is caught committing a crime and is punished for it, it takes them away from their families. It is one of the consequences of breaking the law. You know what else takes people away from their families? Immigrating illegally into the US. A large number of immigrants are men. The desert their families, leaving poor, single mothers all over Mexico.
I hate that people are making this a race issue. It is not racist to oppose illegal immigration. Anyone who says differently is race-baiting. Our polarization and our political correctness have gotten so out of hand we can't even call things the way they are anymore for fear of being labeled negatively. It is a fact that most of the illegal immigrants in this country are hispanic. It is a fact that most of them are unskilled workers. It is a fact that illegals are costing American taxpayers millions, paying for their healthcare and educating their children, while they fail to pay income tax themselves. It is a fact that illegal workers are killing the American middle class. The government is selling out the middle class to satisfy corporate America.
Just think about this logically for a minute...wages are steadily going down in the main fields that employ immigrant workers, including construction, hospitality, and restaurants, because employers hire more illegals who work for less money doing the same job. Americans aren't in these jobs and aren't hired because they demand higher wages. It's not that illegals do jobs Americans won't do, it's that they do jobs at a wage Americans can't afford to do them at. All of this simply increases profits for the corporations who own these businesses. The corporations are leaning on the government, via their money and lobbies, to allow illegals to continue to work here so they can keep lining their pockets, and hence, we have this bill. This bill will allow an increase in hundreds of thousands of "guest workers," increasing the problems we already have. This all creates a dip across the board in wages and, along with the tax issue, shrinks the middle class closer to the lower class. I have applied to jobs, as an experienced, college educated, overqualified candidate, and not even gotten a phone call simply because I am worth too much money; I demand too high a wage. If everyone was demanding higher wages, the companies would have to pay up or do without. (Ironically, Congress just passed a bill to raise minimum wage.)
Besides all of this, the government isn't even listening to the American people. "Only 26% of Americans favor this bill," according to Rasmussen poll. In another recent poll, a staggering 69% of Americans support deportation of illegals. You don't get more of a mandate than that. A mere 20% support the increase of immigration. These numbers are not a party line division. They don't indicate a metro vs country opinion. I don't ever remember hearing so many people in this country feeling the same way.
The President did say something right in that speech he gave...it's time to do what's right for the American people. He was just wrong about what's right. Lou Dobbs on CNN and Glenn Beck (who's a bit more irreverant) on Headline News, I know, are 2 news people who feel like I do about this. Check them out if you want more info. Also, NumbersUSA also has a lot of specific information on this topic, includingpoll data, which congresspeople have voted for what, links to the actual bills in their original language, and data about the effects of the overpopulation, partially caused by illegal immigration. All 3 sites also have information, or at least links, to find out about your specific congressman or woman and ways to contact them and tell them how you feel. You can use the "do-what-I-have-to-to-keep-my-job" mentality they have to your advantage! This is a very serious issue with far-reaching consequences that will depend on how it is handled.

I realized I forgot to mention quite possibly the most ludicris aspect of this bill..the path to citizenship requires illegals to come forward, pay a fee of up to $5000, go back to Mexico and wait for their visa. Do ya seriously think ANY of these people are going to comply. They're doing just fine now as illegals, why would they change now? Who of them is going to volunteer to pay out as much as 1/3 of their annual income and go back? It's crazy! Like I said...commons sense has gone out the window.