Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The Emperor visits
Emperor Vicente is visiting Washington and Oregon today, in an attempt to keep the local Governors-General firmly in line.
Good coverage here.
One line from that story catches the basic elite misunderstanding of the problem:
"Some say all the talk of immigration reform misses the biggest point: without economic reform in Mexico, any attempts at a border crackdown could be futile."
Some may say that, but it's precisely backwards. The best reason for tightening the border is that the current setup gives Mexico no reason to reform. With tighter borders to the north, Mexico will have to rely more on its own resources, which are potentially tremendous.
One basic rule works equally for individual humans or countries: You won't get better behavior until you remove welfare. This applies to a ghetto gangster relying on his harem's monthly checks; it applies to Arab countries where oil money is so abundant that nobody actually needs to work; and it applies to Mexico where remittances from Norteamericano employment keep a corrupt system afloat.
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One official who won't receive a visit from the Emperor is the sheriff of Umatilla County in Oregon, who has sent a $300K invoice to the Emperor for the costs of imprisoning illegal immigrants.
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Update:
Emperor Vicente and Wash Gov Christine Gregoire had a little speechy lovefest event in an orchard in Yakima. Gregoire sounds exactly like Viceroy Jorge ... not surprising since they're both liberals ... but with one exception. Gregoire, to her credit, asked the Emperor for a favor: relief from a Mexican import tariff on apples, since almost everyone involved in producing the apples is Mexican anyway. (Funny, I thought NAFTA was supposed to eliminate tariffs. I guess it only eliminates tariffs that benefit the colony, not those that favor the motherland.)
The Emperor refused to grant the favor, saying instead that the Mexican orchardists in Washington should talk with the Mexican orchardists in Mexico. ¶ 8:45 AM
Good coverage here.
One line from that story catches the basic elite misunderstanding of the problem:
"Some say all the talk of immigration reform misses the biggest point: without economic reform in Mexico, any attempts at a border crackdown could be futile."
Some may say that, but it's precisely backwards. The best reason for tightening the border is that the current setup gives Mexico no reason to reform. With tighter borders to the north, Mexico will have to rely more on its own resources, which are potentially tremendous.
One basic rule works equally for individual humans or countries: You won't get better behavior until you remove welfare. This applies to a ghetto gangster relying on his harem's monthly checks; it applies to Arab countries where oil money is so abundant that nobody actually needs to work; and it applies to Mexico where remittances from Norteamericano employment keep a corrupt system afloat.
-----
One official who won't receive a visit from the Emperor is the sheriff of Umatilla County in Oregon, who has sent a $300K invoice to the Emperor for the costs of imprisoning illegal immigrants.
-----
Update:
Emperor Vicente and Wash Gov Christine Gregoire had a little speechy lovefest event in an orchard in Yakima. Gregoire sounds exactly like Viceroy Jorge ... not surprising since they're both liberals ... but with one exception. Gregoire, to her credit, asked the Emperor for a favor: relief from a Mexican import tariff on apples, since almost everyone involved in producing the apples is Mexican anyway. (Funny, I thought NAFTA was supposed to eliminate tariffs. I guess it only eliminates tariffs that benefit the colony, not those that favor the motherland.)
The Emperor refused to grant the favor, saying instead that the Mexican orchardists in Washington should talk with the Mexican orchardists in Mexico. ¶ 8:45 AM
