I don't see how its in our national (or state) best interest to have such a weak Republican opposition. We need a healthy and strong debate on the large array of issues we face.

Yes, we need a healthy debate, but it seems to me it would be more useful to have that debate with the Pacific Greens and other independents, than with the party that wants to repeal the 20th Century.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a debate on what to do about global warming, instead of having to debate whether it really exists?

Wouldn't it be nice to discuss how to fund our schools, instead of whether children should be forced to study Incompetent Design instead of science?

How about a discussion on how to make same sex couples truly equal under law, without first having to argue about whether gay people are OK?

I say, let the Republicans go the way of the dinosaurs and the village blacksmith, and develop an opposition party that actually values such things as effective government, broad prosperity, and learning as a useful activity. Heck, some of us progressives would probably join in challenging the Democrats from the left.

The relevancy of the Republicans depends in large measure in the direction of the Democratic Party. If the Democratic Party stay relatively centrist the Republicans are less relevant unless they get real on social issues such as abortion and gay rights.

Obama for all the talk of "change" that many took to mean a leftward shift, looks like he will be appointing Clinton type moderates to his cabinent. The Blue Dog Democrats are still strong and will remain so. The Republican nuts: the anti-choice, anti-Evolution people are still loud and proud. Our nuts- the race fanatics are temporarily silent since they cannot be more radical than the first Black President who does not make race such a big issue. Indeed, he called himself a "mutt", one step down fromn the N word if said by a white person.

Many here will disagree, but if we want to beat Republicans we need to be moderate. Many people in prosperous Washington County did not leave the Republican party and vote with us, because they want to redistribute wealth and have higher taxes for social programs; they left because of the Republican view on social issues and the rightward direction of the GOP.

If we want to lose again go further left. The economic collapse and more government involvement is more about a Western European/Japanese "new" capitalism than it is about Scandanvian social welfare. Nobody will support higher taxes in this economy without spending cuts.

Why? Because the new DMV identification requirements (spurred by the "illegal immigrant" stoking from Republicans) require even those who've been licensed drivers for decades to provide proof of citizenship or lawful presence in the U.S.

This case sound like nothing more than DMV error. He had a valid OR license and US Passport. The clerk screwed up. BTW, didn't a Democrat Governor of Oregon pass this new law?

the new DMV identification requirements

Unfortunately, Carla, the DMV ID requirements were pushed and written by the Democrats (Sen. Rick Metsger at the helm with the help and consultation of the Gov's office). I know there were those within the caucus who advocated for exactly what you mentioned (grandfathering), but were unfortunately outgunned by the idiots in our own party.

I am ecstatic about the Dem majorities we have, but also a little afraid for the stooooopid decisions we can now make, all of our own accord with no one to blame but ourselves. We need a rational, reasonable, loyal opposition party...but we occasionally also need an injection of prudence and thoughtfulness into our own party.

Many here will disagree, but if we want to beat Republicans we need to be moderate. Many people in prosperous Washington County did not leave the Republican party and vote with us, because they want to redistribute wealth and have higher taxes for social programs; they left because of the Republican view on social issues and the rightward direction of the GOP.

So we should govern as if we lost?

Maybe we should stop thinking in terms of duality (black vs white, Democratic vs Republican, etc.) and start thinking about what makes sense for leaving a better place to the next generation, and preparing the next generations for the immense challenges they will face as the end of the endless-resource fiesta arrives (on top of climate chaos).

George: have you been reading Chief Seattle again? And Joseph Chasing His Horse?

Your frame of reference is right on. The game of politics is a crippling thing. It is a game, while life is serious.

The kids are already paying for this. We can choose to make them pay more, harder, earlier, forever. Or not.

Seems to me that we might be seeing the beginnings of a healthy debate. Gov. Jindal is one of the leaders. He proposes, for instance, that Republicans have a full blown health care proposal, then be prepared to argue that their proposal is better than the Democratic proposal for specific reasons.

Regarding Posted by: mp97303 | Nov 16, 2008 2:06:23 PM

Basic civics: The legislature PASSES laws which governors sign or veto. As I recall, one of the major proponents of the law is a Republican legislator. One who, if memory serves, had the attitude that the logistics could be worked out but the bill was essential because of the principle of the thing.

Any politician who argues theory and says the logistics will work themselves out (generally without government oversight) deserves to lose, regardless of party.

@LT http://news.opb.org/article/drivers-license-debate-hits-oregon-statehouse/ "A federal law will soon require states to rigorously verify documents used to apply for a driver’s license.

Governor Ted Kulongoski put Oregon on the path towards complying with that law by issuing an executive order requiring people to prove they’re in the country legally before they can get an Oregon drivers’ license."

Semantics don't change the reality of the situation

The problem for the G.O.P. is that there are too many on their side who have the manners of a rabid hedgehog.

Reading right-wing blogs and listening to right-wing talk radio, you see and hear that opposing viewpoints are met with appalling rudeness: Name-calling, banning, interrupting, and talking over seem to be the primary tools of a large proportion of right-wing bloggers and talkers.

Lefties aren't immune from bad manners, but it is not the overwhelming tool of the trade that it is for so many on the right.

This puts them at a disadvantage at this time of crisis for them--just when they need to hash out new ideas, they are unaccustomed to polite discourse with those with whom they disagree.

It also helps drive those in the middle toward the left--if you're not sure which way you lean, you'll gravitate toward the side that's actually able to carry on a polite conversation.

I don't see how its in our national (or state) best interest to have such a weak Republican opposition.

That comment alone describes the difference between Liberals and Conservatives. Nothing would please the Conservatives more than to have a weak or nonexistent Liberal opposition. For most of the past 28 years Conservatives have been conspiring to do exactly that.

During that span we nice guy Liberals included Conservatives in the government giving them the respect due to the loyal opposition. What was the result? When Conservatives were in office, we liberals were consistently excluded and accused of treason whenever we disagreed with them.

What logic tells us that in the future we will not be treated with the same high handed vitriol?

I say screw them, exclude them and deny them at every opportunity, they are worse than our enemies abroad.

Personally, I don't don't care if republicans become as extinct as the Dodo bird or the Whig Party. Democrats always have multiple opinions and points of view within their down party and seemingly never hesitate to debate them. Repubs on the other hand have taken their marching orders from the top and have complied without dissent. (See Gordon Smith).

If the republican party is meant to die, by all means let it. In the mean time there is much work to be done to repair this frayed and physically crumbling country.

I kind of like the idea that the Green Party or Libertarian Party or The Party of Holy Wingnuts might emerge to take up the slack.

The current decline of the GOP might in be the best opportunity the Libertarians have ever had. The Republicans have thrown away their "small government" and "fiscally responsible" positions and become the party of wingnuts, theocrats, and angry white men.

Imagine what could happen if large numbers of true "small government" Republicans -- those who actually care about fiscal discipline and individual liberty -- just re-registered Libertarian. The Libertarians might actually be able to run significant numbers of serious candidates drawing on former Republicans who already had held public office. The defection of a few high-profile party members could wind up leading an exodus. And Ron Paul already has a national following and some Libertarian history already, given them a significant Presidential candidate right from the start. (Sure, he'll be 77 in 2012, but he wouldn't be running to win; just to build a viable national party).

I think there are a lot of voters who would respond well to a "get the government off our backs and out of our bedrooms" message. A lot of them are in the Republican party and aren't at all pleased with the direction their own party has taken in recent years. If the Libertarians were perceived as a mainstream party rather than the political fringe, they'd have a ready constituency.

This case sound like nothing more than DMV error. He had a valid OR license and US Passport. The clerk screwed up. BTW, didn't a Democrat Governor of Oregon pass this new law?

I have a friend - senior citizen- who went in to renew her drivers license. She had changed her name many years ago. Got married, see. So she went in with her birth certificate, and was denied a license renewal because she had changed her first name back when she was fifteen, and it didn't match her birth certificate. She'd been using the same name for fifty years and had social security, drivers license, old passports -- EVERYTHING in that name, but suddenly it wasn't enough for the state. the DMV insisted she produce a court order showing the name change -- which she didn't have, because when she did it fifty years ago all she had to do was notify Social Security, banks, and so forth of her name change. Meanwhile, the DMV had seized her license, so she had no photo ID. So she went to the county courthouse to fill out the paperwork for a legal name change only to discover that they couldn't process it unless she could show them a photo ID -- which the DMV had taken. She went to the DMV to try to get her license back, and they told her it had been destroyed. She had two expired passports (no help), and she had lots of paperwork with her current name and address on it, but nothing under her old name to prove she was the same person on the birth certificate.

She eventually got it straightened out, but it took her a couple of months, during which time she had no acceptable photo ID. Try to get photo ID these days when you don't have it already.

I renewed my own license in June--and I had to bring in a mountain of paperwork in order to get it done.

How stupid is this: when renewing your license, a state-issued photo ID (your old license) PLUS a passport (photo ID issued by the federal government) is INSUFFICIENT proof of your identity. You ALSO need to provide something with your social security number on it ... WTF? Do these geniuses think the US government hands out passports to just ANYBODY?

Having gtrown-up with Nixon, Ford, Reagan, 41 and 4, I've experienced over 30 years of "tranny of the majority." During tht time, America enjoyed only 4 years of liberal governance, the other 8 were triangulated New York style GOP pro-business "moderation."

I say let the GOP wander in the dark for thiry years to rebalance our Republic.

I think there are a lot of voters who would respond well to a message. A lot of them are in the Republican party and aren't at all pleased with the direction their own party has taken in recent years. If the Libertarians were perceived as a mainstream party rather than the political fringe, they'd have a ready constituency.

The problem here is that the LP is about a lot more than "get the government off our backs and out of our bedrooms". It's about privatizing virtually everything that the government does now. It's about bowing down to a whackadoodle ideology that is accurately summarized as "I've got mine, Jack, now you fuck off."

"The problem for the G.O.P. is that there are too many on their side who have the manners of a rabid hedgehog.

Reading right-wing blogs and listening to right-wing talk radio, you see and hear that opposing viewpoints are met with appalling rudeness: Name-calling, banning, interrupting, and talking over seem to be the primary tools of a large proportion of right-wing bloggers and talkers."

Actually I think there's a bigger problem that Americans have lost the art of cursing, insult and verbal degradation. I know a lot of Europeans, Italians even, that really hate it when an American flips them off. I never could get that, since they do so much to each other. One day someone clued me in, it isn't the rudeness, it's the impossibility of a reply. When Italians call each other "dog sucker" or "goat scrotum licker", it's to provoke a response. An American flips someone off and turns and walks away. Any exchange is just repetition. Then it became a matter of civil liberty and financial penalty to use PC correct speech. Consequently, American's have been left with little ability to verbally carve someone up. After generations of this- I think Carla will attest- most readers just don't get it anymore.

It's like having a discussion about the Ottoman Turks in Greece in the 19th century and saying that the British admiral "turned a bloody blind eye", and having your 4 year old niece say, "he used a naughty word". That's the level of the conversation on talk radio.

Apart from all that, "Rabid hedgehog" is an interesting choice of words. Funny bit is that I heard it just yesterday on the BBC, referring to the lifetime members of Surrey Cricket, and meant that their protests were of no consequence. I take it you meant the opposite.

The hedgehog is the one that should consider their conversation offensive, after all. Faced with imminent extinction due to human activity, they care more about...well, anything. Besides they've missed a trick with the "we need a strong opposition" rhetoric. They could always say they performed so poorly because the Dems were poor opposition. They certainly weren't strong opposition. Of course, that begs the question of how screwed you have to be to lose to them in a landslide. No doubt, the people having this discussion believe there are good and bad auto dealers, as opposed to merely choosing how you want to be ripped off. Yep, it must have been the fear of a Republican filibuster that kept Speaker Pelosi from introducing debate on a non-binding statement by the House denouncing China's behaviour in Tibet.

The Scandanavian countries have tended to outperform Western Europe and Japan in terms of economic competitiveness in the last decade or so - socialist tendancies and all.

I have a prob. with that statement on its face. If North Korea, Japan and China (read Sweden, Denmark and Finland) had the same economic output for 10 years, would you attribute it to their common social policy? Scandinavia only exists on a map. And is Phil Graham in jail? Then there's no hope!

I sincerely hope the republican party shrinks to the point I can drown it in a bathtub.

I think the Constitution Party took a bigger bite out of the Republicans than any of the others, inculding the Libertarians.

I don't think the Republican party is on the verge of its demise at all. This stuff is cyclical. At this point, I don't think there are any third parties that can seriously challenge the Republican party for the position of "the other" party.

That being said, the future of the Republican is actually in your hands. A lot depends on how well the Democratic majority can deliver during the next two years. If they do well, they will keep the majority. If they don't, the pendulum could swing again.

Voters are fickel. Maybe not so much here in Oregon, but definitely nationally.

@Carla:"Yup. He co-opted a popular GOP issue."

If you think illegal immigration is only a GOP issue, you might be in store for a really big surprise....

Mark Bunster, AKA torridjoe.

Are you off work at 4:11 PM?

Or are you continuing to ripoff the taxpayers who pay your salary?

There is a real and serious difference between a dead bear and a stunned bear, poking it in the nose will quickly inform you of it. When there is no RNC I'll take this "dead" stuff seriously. This election stands on its own, it is not some big social event. Hate and fear are simple messages to play, along with some of the others like "free market", "socialized medicine", ad nauseum. If you think that their message can not play then explain Prop 8 to me.

If you want that change then work for it and use every success on the left to compare to the right. Relentlessly. Partisan? Well, of course, I want something other than a short break from their junk followed by a bunch more of their junk. I'm tired of picking up the pieces so they can do it again. Anybody else?

O dear me: I actually bleed from the ears several colors. I am not a fan of our lack of structure in the area of "illegal" immigrants. It's a lie that they do the jobs nobody else will. I tried hard to find such jobs when between work that paid more than survival. I took those jobs gladly when I was painting, carrying hod and cleaning condos for a living in my twenties as a young "ceremonialist" who could not get other work. My son tried to get little jobby jobs all the time and competed with full grown men trying to feed families. It's a lie that nobody else will do that work. My indian relatives work in the factories and meat packers and agribusiness... it's a lie that we are too proud to do whatever work comes to our hands to feed our children and keep them warm indoors.

I now jettison my pride, what little I have: to skewer a great lie. When I fell on hard times after having achieved a professional space - it barely paid, but it was deeply nourishing to be in research in a top-ranked shop -- well, it was painful to take some jobs and I was indeed afraid someone would see me and look down upon me.

But I will turn my hand to ANY work to keep my son. And I did. Work that god knows who the hell they are like to say only "illegals" will do, for the rates that now are paid by those who lean on "illegals" to staff their machine. I watched the pay scales drop two dollars an hour in Incline Village, the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, when the property managers leaned heavily on immigrant women who lived much more communally and goodness knows what other social factors to make it possible for those millionaires to take such advantage. And down right along with them went the locals who'd been working there for some while.

Nobody blamed the ladies. But all were helpless to protect themselves from loss of wages and, eventually, loss of work due to the beliefs I hear espoused about lazy, overly proud white Americans.

That person was and is not me.

So I guess I'm not a good progressive or liberal, or whatever. I do not know of any other country on earth that simply opens the doors or turns her back. Guest worker programs are not evil. And perhaps could do us some good if run from sound, human-rights orientation.

The current set up? It has not worked for me and mine. And me and mine have never lived in mainstream white reality, even after returning here.

G'head: take your shots.

I just do not believe looking at controls is evil. It's going to be necessary if we are going to get a handle on forcing opportunists getting over on The People, I think.

Ultimately, rules enforced will give us a foothold for a more humanistic reality.

The immigration "discussion" is another opportunity to address what got Bush more power and got Obama elected: xenophobia in its many guises.

And what to do about fighting it while not engaging in the reaction formation to it: do nothing about your porous borders, dynamic national needs, and the seeming natural inclination of those working for-profit to, on the whole, maximize the thickness of their skin by the thinness of someone else's coat.

The GOP may have nastified this by fomenting xenophobia, but apparently the electorate has chosen to move the discussion in another direction.

Truth on License issue...

(1)Miguel Robleto trial in Hillsboro, named by paper "Biggest ID Fraud case in History", over 80,000 Illegal Aliens get a License from this DME. 8 of 12 perps are convicted (some to be Deported after time served) and Ringleader, of course let go with $500,000 Cash in his home & $400,000 in Bank. Judge says "surely crimes were committed here but"...typical Mafia tactics by Boss all blame goes to workers not him. (OFIR witnesses trial and how they all used Voter ID cards in the process of getting License)

(2) "Carousel of Informacion" Gov. Ted finds out that the Mexican Consulate is travelling all over Oregon, with 14 State Agenices in tow including S.O.S. & B.O.L.I. & Un-Employment office, to issue ID cards for Illegal's-Matricula Consular card (legal immigrants have ID)and then go get a Drivers' License. OFIR pressure gets Gov. to stop this ID charade and he does.

(3) Gov. Ted announces he has a visit from the FBI, can't give details except to say Criminal activities involving ID Theft/Fraud are of concern. PLUS...

(4) Bi-Partisan 9-11 Commission, strongly recommends ALL States secure their ID/Licenses. Fact that 9-11 Terrorist's had 63 Licenses/Id's between 19 people to BUY plane tix and rent cars, open bank accounts, etc. and 9-11 WAS the biggest mess via Immgration EVER, implores all states to agree with secure ID. Oregon is almost LAST state to comply w/Real ID laws.

(5) Per FBI, Oregon in top 5 Nationwide in ID Theft/Fraud per capita.

Gov. Ted finally uses some common sense and decides Photo ID/License should be secure...THANKS Gov. Ted!

OFIR has many Democrats and or Progressives that understand our way of life is threatened and a 7.3% UN-employment rate is a reminder that Americans/Oregonians having a Job should be more important than Illegal Aliens having a Job.

Carla, I hope you continue to disagree on the issue of Ilegal immigration (ingore that new Zogby poll too please) and the Democrat control of everything will go away soon, two years and another election is coming fast.

Rick Hickey,

What elections has your organization and other right-wing nut organizations such as Oregon Right to Life helped win in the past decade? Don't bring up gubernatorial contests as Vic Atiyeh was the last and still living Republican ex-Governor of Oregon.

The Republicans are torn on 2 fronts: 1. Structural and 2. Philosophical.

Structurally, the Republicans at the national and state levels need to get with the times and combine the K Street lobbying along with the Netroots to raise funds and build up the grass roots.

Without the netroots, you are cutting yourself off from cultivating and persuading younger voters.

Republicans are doing that right now in the Pacific NW where there is no Republican blog that rivals the fund raising and influence of BlueOregon.

Philosophically, Republicans like Democrats need to put their extremes in the closet during campaign season. Currently, Republicans give the limelight to their jingoist chicken hawks, xenophobic anti-immigrationists, and regressive/repressive pro-lifers.

Put those wackos in the closet until the campaign is over!

Second, Republicans need to craft a message that appeals to Urban and Suburban America.

All I hear from Republicans is this chorus of how small-town America is the REAL America, while they demonize urban and suburban America as the playpen of deviant faggots and welfare-seeking bohemians.

News break! Republicans will not win being the party of reactionary ruralists who get their whole political philosophy from a mindset that is constantly pitting them against "those" city dwellers.

It's a lie that they do the jobs nobody else will. I tried hard to find such jobs when between work that paid more than survival. I took those jobs gladly when I was painting, carrying hod and cleaning condos for a living in my twenties as a young "ceremonialist" who could not get other work.

I'm totally against language requirements laws, but there is a very unsightly situation that develops regularly that gives credence to these feelings. I am an employment counselor and I see it daily.

I've done this for 30 years, and I think there's a time effect. There used to be jobs that no one will do, but with improved working conditions, litigation, labor laws, etc., PLUS the continuing downward spiral of the middle class, there are very, very few jobs that fit the description anymore.

So, why do you still see all immigrant work crews? The story I hear over and over is that the employer requires fluency in Spanish as a work requirement. The argument goes that it is a safety issue to not be able to communicate with your co-workers. Many- MOST- of these clients speak pretty good Spanish, but it is not fluent. I've seen aptitude tests that focus exclusively on nortende slang.

Ultimately, the employers don't want anyone they perceive as knowing even one tiny bit more than the workforce, or they will want more of something. The illegals are by and large very hard working and honest. Their only crime is being here illegally. Unfortunately, employers seem to feel that if they have a law-breaker, then that makes shady behavior on the employers part safer. Basically, the job Americans won't do is look the other way. Here again, I think the employers are wrong.

Here's my simple immigration solution. Let anyone from anywhere do anything for 6 months. Then they have to go home for 6 months. Period. Americans get to do the same in their country. Definitely could bring a new meaning to the concept of "job share".

About non-legals being hardworking and honest. Yes so often so true. Directly experienced.

More on topic, though, this could be a weird ride. The parties have become so close in policy details and there's so much room for jockeying at the moment, it's hard telling where anyone will end up on a given issue. Case in point, from today's Manchester Guardian headline:

Breaking news: Tories drop spending plan as poll shows lead collapse Speculation about early election as business leaders back Labour tax cut plan.

Right. So the Tories want to spend their way out of trouble and Labour want to cut taxes. First bit is familiar. Hmmm, methinks I hear a murmur of "could we get Gordon Brown on the transition team"...

While the left is busy slapping each other on the back and dancing around high fiving one another and telling themselves that their time has come and the country has finally come to their senses and bought into the philosophy of the left and while everyone is still looking for the story behind the story in the election results to expand on that belie, It would be best if you keep in sight a few fundamentals facts that have not changed... This election was not an endorsement of the tried and failed liberal policies of the past,
This election wasn’t a referendum on Reaganism, Neo-Conservatism, or The Project for a New Century…nor was it an indictment of the conservative movement in general.
It may come as a shock to your readers to know that when conservatives run for office as conservatives they win elections. McCain is not a conservative (for that matter President Bush is not a conservative either) It is dishonest and delusional to continue to use this election to attempt to write the obituary for the conservative movement without at least mentioning the fact that you were somehow able to determine this even though there were no conservatives running for office. What this election was, and all that this election was, is the culmination of an 8 year hatchet job on an unpopular President that history will surely be kinder to than people today. That’s it! That’s all!

The country didn't suddenly wake up and decide it was a good thing for us to have the wealth generated and accumulated by societies most productive members spread around and shared with its least productive members, out of a sense of fairness...they didn't wake up and decide that somehow a U.S. Senator who is owned lock stock and barrel by the same people that picked him for us, sold him to us and got him elected, would miraculously break the chains that have him hopelessly shackled to the purse strings owned by the same industry killing big labor people who have single handedly taken the Big 3 to their knees causing a potential ripple effect through our national economy that could see millions of people lose their jobs as a result of their parasitic influence;n bleeding them dry for so many years.

This election featured a very charismatic, very liberal democrat that was selected for us all by the media two years ago. The same media who has spent those two years tirelessly selling him to us the entire time. If you would have beamed down here from another planet during this time you would have sworn there was only one candidate running for President. In fact, the role that the media played in this election is not only unprecedented and shameful but also embarrassing in the way they pandered to the left and acted as an extension of Mr. Obama's campaign. Surely there is no one left in the world who can say with a straight face that the media in America is not decidedly liberal and no longer even tries to pretend they aren't.

If you need proof of the unacceptable left wing construct of the media you need to look no further than our own Oregonian. Take for instance this last weekend’s Sunday edition. Right on the front page we are force fed the plight of poor Ms. Calderon who has to actually take public transportation to make the best use of the money she is given by us to feed her family she had but can’t support, as though we ought to also be picking up the tab for her cab fare or having the store deliver the groceries right to her door. Ms. Calderon doesn’t have a job…riding on tri met for a couple of hours to pick up over $600.00 in free food is not a hardship that I feel the need to feel bad about or that bears mentioning, turn the page and you get a whole side bar of anti republican slams turn it again and you get your daily dose of socialist thought from Comrade Sarasohn and the coup de grace on pg 5 we have liberal columnist Leonard Pitts trying to give life to the absurd notion that being gay is the same as being black. As notable as what you do see what you don’t see I equally telling. Where is the article on Prop 8 that represents the views of the 60 % of Americans who are disgusted with the nonstop assault on marriage? Where is the outrage over the will of the people of liberal California being usurped by activist judges as the No on 8 campaign starts to go forum shopping to overturn the will of the people of California? Where is the article denouncing the Pelosi congress who has been in charge of things in Washington for the last two years and has given us all the worst economy in this nation’s history but has still failed to deliver on even one of the promises that swept them into power?, Where is the story telling the truth about who is really to blame for the Fannie and Freddie melt downs? Or the Story explaining that if we were willing to enforce our immigration laws we would also at the same time solve our Meth problem? Where is the truth about any of these things? Just because the Oregonian won’t print them that doesn’t mean they don’t really exist?

This referendum on President Bush has created a window of opportunity for the "party of no" to step up and show that they have the ability to lead. For the first time in 32 years, Democrats got more than 50 percent of the country to vote for their candidate in a national election. My advice would be to remind you all that constitutional amendments banning gay marriage passed in every state they were on the ballot -- Florida, Arizona, even in liberal California. How about this idea? We will all get behind the new President and see if he has really been saving it all up for the last 47 years (between writing two autobiographies) and he is finally ready to make his move and do something, and the almost 50% of the US that thinks Obama will be 4 years and out like Carter was will agree to accept the results of the presidential election, if the gay marriage anti-Proposition 8 die-hards in Oregon and California accept the results of that vote. "Earth to protestors: Most Americans oppose gay marriage. On this, even blacks and Mormons are agreed"

Take your victory lap and enjoy 2 more years of being in the majority in congress but the eyes of the nation and the world are upon you and the days of simply being against things other people try to do are over and it is your turn to show that you really do have a better plan than the ones you said you had but didn’t for the last 2 years. Recognize the real statement this election made and the truth behind what this election really was. We now have a president with a thin resume of self promotion who was selected and elected by an adoring liberal press. Nothing else has really changed except that democrats still need to run to the center in order to be elected and republicans who don’t run as conservatives and mean it can’t get elected. There will be no more Bush to hang the blame for every natural disaster, and hiccup in the economy on …you have the ball and it’s time to run with it in the right direction this time. Do that and you may get the converts you all think you picked up in this election (but really didn’t) fail like you have so many times in the past and prepare yourselves for another 30+ years of conservative leadership. This election was the perfect storm for the left to showcase t the world that they can lead and have some ideas beyond taxing the rich so the poor don’t have to work or god forbid …ride tri met to cash in their food stamps.

The pro-more-immigration crowd argues that today's immigrants are just like immigrants of a century ago: poor people looking for a better life who are expected to advance in our land of opportunity. While today's immigrants may be like earlier ones, the America they come to is so very different that our previous experience with immigrants is practically irrelevant. The reason? As Milton Friedman once said. "It's just obvious that you can't have free immigration and a welfare state." The term "welfare state" does not just mean handouts to the nonworking. Our welfare state encompasses dozens of social programs that provide benefits to the "working poor," i.e., people working for wages low enough that they pay little or no income taxes. Immigrants of the previous generation were expected to earn their own living, pay taxes like everybody else, learn our language, love America and assimilate into our culture. Today's immigrants likewise come here for jobs not welfare. During those prior major waves of immigration, the United States didn't have a welfare state. Native-born Americans survived the Great Depression of the 1930s without a welfare state. Most agencies that redistribute cash and costly benefits from taxpayers to non-taxpayers started with Lyndon Johnson's Great Society in the late 1960s. Today's low-wage immigrants and lower-wage illegals can't earn what it costs to live in modern America, so they supplement with means-tested taxpayer benefits. And many immigrants don't learn our language or assimilate into American culture because of the multicultural diversity taught in our schools and encouraged in our society. Today's immigrants fit the profile of the people who benefit from our welfare state: the working poor with large families. Consider these dismal figures. About 30 percent of all immigrants in the U.S. work force in 2005 lacked a high school education, which is four times the rate for native-born Americans. Among the largest group of working-age immigrants, the Mexicans, 62 percent have less than a high-school education, which means they work low-wage jobs. Nearly half of immigrant households, 45 percent, are in or near poverty compared with 29 percent of native-headed households. Among Mexicans living in the United States, nearly two-thirds live in or near the government's definition of poverty. Costly social benefits provided to the working poor include Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (now called TANF, formerly AFDC), food stamps, school lunches, Medicaid, WIC (nutrition for Women, Infants and Children), public housing and Supplemental Security Income.

The Earned Income Tax Credit is one of the most expensive parts of income redistribution. Twice as many immigrant households (30 percent) qualify for this cash handout as native-headed households (15 percent). Health care is another huge cost. Nearly half of immigrants are either uninsured or on Medicaid, which is nearly double the rate for native-born families. Federal law requires hospitals to treat all comers to emergency rooms, even if uninsured and unable to pay. Hospitals try to shift the costs onto their paying patients, and when the hospitals exhaust their ability to do this, they close their doors. In Los Angeles, 60 hospitals have closed their emergency rooms over the past decade, mostly due to the wave of non-paying illegals which imposes another kind of cost. Immigration accounts for nearly all the growth in elementary and secondary school enrollment over the past generation. The children of immigrants now comprise 19 percent of the school-age population and 21 percent of the preschool population. The Heritage Foundation estimated that in order to reduce government payments to the average low-skill household to a level equal to the taxes it pays, "it would be necessary to eliminate Social Security and Medicare, all means-tested welfare, and to cut expenditures on public education roughly in half." Obviously, that is not going to happen. Attempts to limit welfare eligibility for illegal aliens by provisions added to the 1996 welfare reform law, SSI, food stamps, Medicaid and TANF all failed. Walling immigrants off from government benefits once we've let them in is a fantasy As Americans are pinched between falling real estate values and the inflation of necessities such as gasoline, they are entitled to know how their tax dollars are being spent. The big bite that social benefits to immigrants (two-thirds of whom are illegal) takes out of taxpayers' paychecks should be factored into any debate about immigration or amnesty policy. In short they are not here legally, they are bankrupting our ability to care for our own people and the national security of our country is at risk by having such porous borders…only 7 out of 10 people who walk across the border from Mexico are Latinos …the other 30% are from all over the world. How can you be pro ill gals and pro America at the same time?? We have rules that were put in place for a reason …this isn’t a democrat vs Republican issue if there was ever one issue we should all agree on it’s that people who violate our immigration laws are not welcome …it’s not a matter of being pro immigrant or anti immigrant …you can be pro legal immigration and we should all be against illegal immigration