Your daily thought (Bush and immigration)

Peter Beinart

The conservative movement's current position is that, when government intrudes on the free market, it makes things worse. Except in the case of immigration, where the United States has a vast market for low-wage labor, and Mexico has a vast supply--and conservatives think the federal government can keep the two apart, if only it would spend more money. It's amazing how people start believing in government's ameliorative capacity when a problem really bothers them. Perhaps after they rid America of illegal immigration, conservatives will let the federal government rid America of poverty.

[I expect George W. Bush will soon sign the nastiest anti-immigration law he can find. This disapoints me. Bush's sloppy efforts to make the GOP a multicultural party is one of the only things about him I found appealing. Bush tried to win votes from blacks and Latinos, when so many of his GOP predecessors (Nixon anyone?) chose instead to win votes by running against them. But look for Bush to crucify even that meager legacy on the cross of mounting conservative preasure. For all his blather about steadfastness, I doubt he has the stregnth or integrity to fight his base on this point.]