Congressman Steve King of Iowa has his say...The Blame Game...Immigration Reform in 2006...

In an article appearing on The Monitor online edition, Congressman Steve King of Iowa puts his two cents into the immigration debate by stating, "Anybody that votes for an amnesty bill deserves to be branded with a scarlet letter 'A'". 'A' for amnesty. Cute. What's not so cute are the actual reasons why he'd like to pass around the branding iron. His rhetoric revolves around his stance on how illegal immigrants are cutting into middle class America's rightful piece of the pie. King, when talking about America's upper crust which he deems as the "new ruling class", is quoted as saying, "this new ruling class of America is expanding a servant class in America at the expense of the middle class of America, the blue collar of America that used to be able to punch a time clock, buy a modest house and raise their families...These young people are cut out of the process". Well, Mr. King, for people who like to stick their foot in their mouth, you rank right up there don't ya. First off, if we're going to play the blame game, let's be a little more specific, shall we? If his claim that the "new ruling class" is responsible for the growth of illegal immigration, then we must assume that the "new ruling class", not the illegal immigrant, is responsible for passing the tax, medical, and educational burden onto the middle class and lower class as well. After all, it isn't so much a question as to how the illegal immigrant takes low paying jobs, as much as why they're able to. The illegal immigrant is looking for a means to provide for his family, whether that family is in the United States or not. Say for instance, your car broke down. You've got mechanic 'B' and mechanic 'C'. Mechanic 'B' has made a good name for himself and was recommended by a close, personal friend of yours. You can trust that mechanic 'B' will do a good job. The only problem is price. Mechanic 'B' will charge you for parts, labor, etc., and they add up to a pretty steep bill. He's not taking you to the cleaners, mind you, but he is in business to stay in business. Now before you take your car to mechanic 'B's shop, along comes mechanic 'C' who is going door to door soliciting his services as a mechanic. You've seen this guy around the neighborhood doing odd jobs for people, including fixing your neighbor Frank's car last month, to which Frank has given nothing but praise to mechanic 'C's ability to do the job right, and cheap. Frank's not your friend, in fact he blares the music too loud on weekends, and he never ties up his dog that thinks your lawn is a permanent "dump" site. But you're strapped for cash, it's the end of the month, so you're not too particular about spending a whole lot of money. So you take a chance, perhaps out of curiosity more than anything, but you ask mechanic 'C' how much he would charge to fix your car. Mechanic 'C' will do it for the price of labor. He will forgo the price of a new part that is way too expensive because the car model requires it to be, but that's another story. Which one would you pick? And who should mechanic 'B' be pissed off at? The guy he doesn't know from Adam, who just wants to earn some money to be able to provide for his family, or you who decided it was best to go with the cheaper alternative? This example is a little far fetched, I know, because it doesn't take into consideration whether the mechanic's are citizen's of this country or not, or is there anything "illegal" about the situation period. But it does take into consideration the issue of money, which is why this "new ruling class" hires illegal immigrants in the first place. Congressman King's claim that the new ruling class obtains "cheap servants to manicure their nails and their lawns, for example", only feeds into the minds of angry American citizens that it is the fault of the immigrant and not the "new ruling class" itself that's wholly responsible. So my answer to his claims is this. Instead of continuing to pass the inevitable blame to a segment of the population, legal or not, that you've chosen to define as "cheap servants", concentrate on passing legislation to punish the corporations in charge of hiring a workforce that holds no rancor or anomisity towards the citizens of this country who are getting the short end of the stick. And in case you forgot, Congressman, there are those of us in the lower bracket you chose not to address in your vicious comments, who still find the time to cut our own nails, and mow our own lawns.