Some Thoughts on the Probable Nomination of Senator McCain

The recent ascendancy of Senator John McCain to the position of being the clear GOP front runner has caused me considerable dismay and angst because his nomination would preclude the issue of illegal immigration from being a part of the debate in next fall’s general election. Senator McCain has essentially the same position on the so-called “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” as Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

To wit, all three support what is in effect a defacto amnesty in addition to a guest worker program. Never mind that “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” results in the bottom 10% of our citizens becoming even poorer. Never mind that “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” is tantamount to being a government subsidy to corporate America to the tune of at least $20 billion a year for the next 20 to 30 years.

I could go on but sometimes one must face the reality that you’re just beating a dead horse. No matter what you do, the horse will still be dead.

Over the past couple of weeks I have read, watched, and listened to the GOP rebellion against a McCain candidacy. The rebellion pits big media and the Washington Republican establishment (read media elites and corporate America) against the grass roots and the party activists in talk radio and the religious right.

Rush Limbaugh has said that a McCain candidacy will destroy the party. Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham have both endorsed Governor Mitt Romney and said that a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain. Meanwhile on the religious right, Dr. Dobson of Focus on the Family has said that he will never support a McCain candidacy.

Even more astounding is the position of Ann Coulter, the conservative pundit who specializes in making outrageous statements that offend virtually everyone. She has said on more than one occasion that she will actively campaign for Hillary if McCain wins the nomination.

Meanwhile, both Senators Clinton and Obama are basking in the good fortune that this turn of events brings for their election prospects. Judging by some of their comments, I don’t believe that I would be wrong in saying that they are watching this internecine destruction with a measure of amused amazement.

It was against this backdrop that I came across Pat Buchanan’s article “The Great Betrayal.” Before I read this article, I was in a quandary as to who I would support in the general election if Senator McCain was the Republican nominee.

I happen to agree with Pat Buchanan’s assessment of Senator McCain: “… McCain is running on a platform that says your jobs are not coming back, the illegals are not going home, but we are going to have more wars. If you don’t like it, vote for Hillary.”

I have decided that I’ll take Pat’s advice. I’ll take Hillary before I’ll take McCain.

Dennis

Education USA: A Broken System

The education system in this country is essentially broken. Indeed, it is almost nonfunctional since the national high school graduation rate has been estimated to only be around 74 percent. Worse yet, the same study estimates that 45 percent of African-American and Latino students fail to graduate from high school. [High School Graduation Rates in the United States, Jay P. Greene, Ph. D., Senior Fellow, The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_baeo.htm]

Given these statistics, then the anecdotal evidence that Ms. Scarborough cites in the “Stop throwing tax dollars at well-funded colleges”
is certainly not surprising. Even more alarming however is the apparent absence of any discussion of this country’s broken educational system in today’s political discourse. In fact, I cannot recall a single instance where any of the presidential candidates of either party made mention of this national problem.

Finally, I cannot help but believe that this broken educational system is a self-perpetuating, enervating cycle. Specifically:
· Employers keep raising the educational requirements for jobs that don’t really require a college degree,
· Government responds by increasing funding to education, and
· Colleges continue to grow and provide more remedial education.


Dennis