Mr. Bush, We're not buying!

Dear Mr. Bush,

I respect you greatly, but I am quickly losing faith in your words. I was always taught that as a Christian, I was to be honest before God and before men. You, however, seem bent to make whatever statements you feel will help your poll numbers. Last night's speech was a waste of America's time and a complete insult to the base you intended to appease. Your polished, flowery words only amounted to a continued insufficient answer to an enormous problem. I have numerous issues with your so called 5 point plan to stop illegal immigration, but I will focus on the one that really has me confused.

The issue has to do with your proposal to deal with the illegal aliens who are already here in America sucking off of the system we subsidize with our tax dollars. Some folks are calling for complete amnesty and pardon for Illegal aliens (notice I do not use the term Illegal immigrants); which is a complete joke. Others (myself included) feel that if you have broken the law (coming here illegally) you have to pay for your crime. In this case it would take the form of deportation from this country. You decided that you were not comfortable with either of these “extreme” ideas, and crafted your own fence-riding middle ground. Your statement on this part is as follows:

“There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation. That middle ground recognizes that there are differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently and someone who has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean record. I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law, … to pay their taxes, … to learn English … and to work in a job for a number of years. People who meet these conditions should be able to apply for citizenship but approval would not be automatic, and they will have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law. What I’ve have just described is not amnesty it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen.”

All I can say is wow. I assume as you re-read this you swell up with pride at such a brilliant statement. I personally have no clue how anyone could possibly think there is any merit in this statement. How in the world would this work? Would we hire more INS employees who go door to door with a “tell me a little about your self” questionnaire? What in the world is the cut off point where someone has “worked here for many years”. How do you intend to pull off such a huge undertaking? Is some one going to visit them and test them on English? How do we determine exactly how much back taxes they owe? This is such a joke and a typical country club Republican smoke screen.

I for one am sick of this nonsense. I am writing my senators and representatives as soon as possible and urging them not to vote for a plan that in any way resembles your 5 step program. I am not alone. There is a great group of people who voted for you and had great faith in you. We also had expectations that were based on your campaign speeches that are largely unfulfilled.

I beg you to wake up. I urge you to listen to the words that come out of your mouth and exercise some integrity and care. I will continue to pray for you daily. May God bless you, and may you follow through with honesty as he would want you to.

Again that is my 2 cents and I’d like to keep it. So, please don’t make me give it to an illegal alien.