Head of NE Dem party on the radio - we're screwed

[TheFarseer]

(Steve Accopold or something) if these are the people masquerading as democratic leadership. They are talking about Ben Nelson's proposed immigration reform on KFAB. The hosts are accusing Ben of flip-flopping on this issue and the guy is defending him by saying, "well 9/11 changed everything, we need better border security. Ben is just recognizing the new realities that we live with in a post 9/11 world" Isn't that a bush talking point? Then the hosts are saying that illegal immigrants take jobs that no one else will. He never even answered that charge. He never tried to refute that. He never pointed out that alot of people are looking for unskilled work. He never said that people won't take those jobs because illegals have driven down the salary for them and he never said that illegals are straining our social services. I've said for a long time that Dems should jump on the immigration reform bandwagon, but don't give bush talking point reasons for doing it!

[mike_c]

1. in my mind this has been one of the greatest failings...

...of the democratic party during the last five years. They have consistently allowed the GOP, and especially the Bush administration, to frame the political agenda in its own terms. "Everything changed on 9/11" is a classic example.

[electropop]

2. It never made sense to have wide open borders.

Now that 9/11 has been shown to be the work of BFEE intentional negligence, and has been used to trick us into an unrelated war, its propaganda value has diminished. We have perfectly valid points on security being the most important job of the government at all times, and labor fairness being a basic right of Americans.

Let's just say it, people! Let's keep educating our so-called leaders until they are on-board with OUR talking points.

[FlashHarry]

3. There's a Democratic Party in Nebraska?

I thought it existed in only a couple of houses in Omaha's Dundee neighborhood... ;-)

[elehhhhna]

4. Sadly, the immigration "issue" requires a deeper dialogue than

we idioticamericans are willing to have. If an issue can't be parsed into a neat micro-blurb, it gets lost. This one can't be oversimplified for the public while simultaneously opening a national dialogue.

The (racist-motivated image of) maurauding mexican and central american immigrants are not this country's biggest problem, jobwise. 7 or 8 short years ago the crappier jobs were valued because employment was HIGH. The parttime gig at Walmart was a sweet option for students & stay at homes. The lawn services are generally independent and can pay well*--and noone's stopping middle america from cutting grass for pay last time I checked. (* 4 low skilled men cut our HUGE lawn in 15 minutes for 25 bucks, including edging, weed whacking, and leaf-blowing. They work at least 6 houses on my block and are out of here in an hour and a half. If you do the math, conservatively, each is making a good $10 per hour, probably in cash, and I'm including travel time & gas. A highschooler doing 4 yards per week (say it takes him 8 hours total, tops) would get at least 100 bucks plus tips. GOOD LUCK FINDING ONE.

Best of luck locating same to simply vaccum & mop your floors once a week. We are spoiled, people. Lots of Americans really don't want these jobs. I'd be happy to hire an unnemployed neighbor to do this stuff, and I'd probably pay more for it. But the ones I know are busy boozing and/or trying to scam their way into SSI disability...

[Rainbowreflect]

5. I have to admit I have been doing some research on the

Nebraska Green Party & I am considering joining.
The Nebraska Dem Party is just way too conservative for me.

[acmavm]

6. You would have to see the guy to believe him. Just a little bitty guy,

if he's over 5 feet tall he's on stilts. He epitomizes the democratic party in Nebraska.

Oh yeah, he's an attorney. Corporate law is his forte I believe.