The Occasional Observer

I hate huge blockquotes, but Rush nails the politics of this issue: from the myopia of the GOP, to the intelligent long-term strategy of the Dems, to the joint effort at obfuscating the real issues at play, in which Congressional Republicans are willing participants. The GOP will get the blame for this bill in the short term because it will be seen as Bush's bill (and throw away whatever '08 chances they have left), and the Dems will reap the demographic benefits in the long term.

Here's the link to the complete transcript

We're discussing the Comprehensive Destroy the Republican Party Act, today, and the Republicans are too idiotic to figure out that that's what this is. What the liberals are trying to do is tear this country down institution by institution and rebuild it in their image, and this is one of the steps that they're trying to do this...

There are Democrats in California and Arizona and Texas and Virginia. Look, we've lost California. It used to be a Republican state. We've lost it. It's gone. We don't even compete there, do we? When we elect a Republican governor, look what he has to do to stay in office: become one of them. If we lose Virginia and we lose Florida, folks, it's over. I'm talking about electorally here. This is very, very serious stuff. These Democrats will get hurt, some of them will, particularly the freshmen in the House. The Senate Democrats, the Democrats would love for the Republicans to be the ones seen as passing this bill. They would love two things to happen: the bill get passed, and they get to build their new welfare state. You know, one of the provisions in this is scary. It allows family members to come on in -- and, by the way, don't believe this business that they gotta go back home, come back, get in line and so forth.

The minute this bill passes in whatever form -- the minute the president puts signature on it -- they are legal. That is something everybody's missing. They are legal without having to leave the country or go home or come back and do anything. The fact of the matter is that the Democrats would love for this thing to get passed and create their new welfare state -- and then the anger in the country over it be directed at the Republicans. The key to this is, there's a Republican president that's going to sign it!...

...there's so many terms that the supporters of this are using to try to capture your heart and to wrest control of your emotions. This is not about citizenship. To say it's about citizenship is a diversion. All of these people will become legal the moment Bush signs the bill. Whether they become citizens or not, they become legal -- and the courts have ruled that we gotta educate the children of illegals in some states. We have to educate the children of illegal immigrants! Even though they're not citizens, we have to pay their health care.

Hello, new welfare state sanctioned simply by the signature on the bill. Don't get caught up in citizenship. Get caught up in the word "legal" and what that will mean legally and financially...

When they become legal, they are conferred with rights and benefits. Those rights and benefits are immediately conferred upon them. They are here legally. They cannot be deported. They can work wherever they want. They can live wherever they want. They receive the same due-process rights as the rest of us.

This is the big lie in the bill, where they tell us all the measures an illegal has to take to become a citizen, have to pay $5,000, have to go home, come back and so forth. They become legal immediately. All of that is just window dressing to make you think there's going to have to be some sort of effort made on these people's part for this to happen, but it's not. Once they become legal, citizenship or no citizenship, then it's over. They are legally entitled to the welfare state. They are legally entitled to whatever any other citizen is entitled to, even though they're not citizens. Ted Kennedy knows this.

In addition, they plan to allow 400,000 new aliens to come to this country every year who will be on a fast track to legalization. We are not just talking there about legalizing the 12 million or 15 million or whatever the number is. We're going to now add 400,000 more per year on a fast track, in addition to that number -- and each one of them, the 12 million, 15 million who are here, the 400,000 who come each year legally can bring certain members of the family with them, on average at least four. You bring husband. You got wife, you got kids, you got parents. We are talking tens of millions. We're talking a profound demographic shift, radical demographic shift on this, and what's this about? Let's get into the politics of this, because it ain't about citizenship, and it isn't about compassion. It isn't about leading the poor, the tired, the worn out to brighter futures and brighter lights. The liberals and the Democrats in this country are changing the electorate so they can destroy the Republican Party and guarantee victory for as far as the eye can see. Anybody out there who thinks that these new millions who are coming in here are going to somehow become conservatives, when they don't have to...

...They are going to be wards of the Democrat Party, and the Democrat Party knows it. Check out who's behind the sponsorship of this bill, check out who had veto power, check out all liberal organizations. Check out who runs these protests on illegal immigration, and look at how many people show up. If you think you're looking at a pool of future Republican conservatives out there, you need to look again. This is about getting a brand-new electorate, reshaping it and being able to win election after election after election. These are socialists, folks. I'm not talking about the illegals. I'm talking about the liberals. They are socialists who want a big government, and they want a big state, and they want people in need and dependent on that state. They are running out of victims. Hence, this is part of it. I assure you that I am right about this. This bill, this piece of legislation assaults virtually every aspect of our belief system. Let me run down the list here for you. I wrote some things down. We are giving benefits and rights to lawbreakers. That's not conservative. That's not even American. We're expanding massively the size of entitlement programs. Meanwhile, Social Security is on the brink, Medicare is about to fall apart, and what are we doing? We are redistributing wealth to subsidize all the poor people who flow into our country from the Third World. We are leaving border security to another day -- and these phony arguments that they're beefing up the border, that's just strategeric posturing as well. They haven't built the 700 mile wall. They're not in a rush to do so. In fact, they built like 28% of it.

Once illegal immigrants have been legalized, they're inexorably on their way to voting. "Two-step amnesty," as Bay Buchanan calls it.

This is going to be a huge push down the road to give all these people the vote. "Look how hard they're working." Even if they don't become citizens, that's the next thing that's going to happen because that's what this is all about. "Yes, these people, must have the right to vote! They're hard workers. They are among us. They are contributing to this country's GDP. They must have the right to vote on their representation." I can hear it all now.

They work hard. Get the violins out, folks. "They work hard. They pay taxes. They contribute to our society. Why shouldn't they vote? This is slavery," Ted Kennedy will say. "It's slavery. Why, it's bigotry," and it will all, of course, be blamed on the Republicans. "Republicans are racists and sexists and bigots!

They don't want these people in the country! Oh, they don't want them voting and all that," and of course, sadly, there will be some Republican types -- you can name the names -- out there agreeing with them when they try to change the definition or terms in this legislation, like giving them the vote before they become citizens. At the end of the day here, what we're talking about is the marginalization, if not the destruction of the Republican Party. Look, it's time to be blunt here. I said I'm going to stop carrying the water last November, and I'm not carrying the water. The current crop of Republican leaders has not only lost the Congress, the current crop of Republican leaders is on the way to destroying the base by signing on to this kind of legislation.