Russell Pearce and his crusade against illegal immigration at the expense of the local businesses and the free market is the cover story of the October issue of Reason magazine that arrived at my home on Thursday.
The magazine trends libertarian in philosophy and is sub-titled “Free Minds and Free Markets.”
It devotes eight pages to an article on Mesa’s Pearce entitled “The one-man wall. How a single Arizona Legislator’s obsession has changed immigration policy for the worse.”
The article contends that Pearce’s efforts to harness businesses as a way to stop illegal immigration will do long-term harm to Arizona’s economy.
The article also portrays Pearce as politician who wants to turn back the growth tide that has fed the state’s economy.
“For decades he has watched, horrified, as his native city spread like syrup over the pancake-colored desert,” author Kerry Hawley writes.
The article illustrates ever so clearly the divide between social conservatives and constitutional conservatives.
Pearce may say he is for limited government but he in fact is making government more powerful and using it as a bludgeon for social control and at the expense of personal freedom.
That’s a far cry from conservatives who want to limit government’s restraint of free markets and personal liberty.
The magazine had not yet posted the article on its Web site, but it will. Reason’s url is reason.com.
Yeah, let’s let businesses hire whoever they want so the greed goes on….sacrifice our country for the greed. Illegal immigration does NOT run our economy!!
“…at the expense of the local businesses and the free market…”
“…wants to turn back the growth tide that has fed the state’s economy…”
This quote says it all about the Tribune. In other words, Pearce is getting in the way of those who want to profit by maintaining a permanent underclass. The open borders people should be ashamed of what they are doing. In other times, this was referred to as slavery…it’s no different now.
Pearce, Sheriff Joe, and Andrew Thomas are continually vilified and attacked by this paper because they are attempting to uphold the law (change the law if you don’t like it!) and prevent the exploitation of these people. You ignore the way that they are in-humanely smuggled here, and the squalor they are caged-up in (drop houses). This only happens because the greedy open-borders crowd gives them jobs!!! If there were no jobs for them, they would not be smuggled here - what don’t you understand about that???
“Pearce may say he is for limited government but he in fact is making government more powerful and using it as a bludgeon for social control and at the expense of personal freedom.”
You want burgeoning? Try the burgeoning Federal and State deficit as limited social spending dollars are thrown away feeding, housing, clothing and educating other countries citizens and their children who’ve snuck into this country illegally. This is all at the expense of my personal freedom not to get ripped off by cheapskate business owners who employ the illegals so they don’t have to pay them a decent wage or give them benefits.
TwoKens and Husker,
Take a deep breath and consider reading the article before you rip it and me. I realize that’s a bit radical, but it’s been done before.
Jim
Reason’s upcoming article on Mesa’s Pearce entitled “The one-man wall. How a single Arizona Legislator’s obsession has changed immigration policy for the worse.”
Interesting, since the Los Angeles Reason Mag for September is titled: “Is McCain Gulling the Immigration Hawks?” Concerning whether you’re a full immigration restrictionist or just a zealot about illegals, the relief at having a stricter platform may still be outweighed by the man at the top of the ticket.
Why are Americans so angry about illegal immigration? Illegal immigrants are foreign-born residents who came here illegally by law, and who have not been naturalized, are still citizens of another foreign country. We breathed a sigh of relief the day the Senate defeated the amnesty bill, but the U.S.A. is still being invaded by illegal immigrants!
Over the years, despite that there are thousands of U.S. farms, assembly manufactures, and aerospace products companies that have moved to Mexico to hire workers at lower pay, more illegal immigrants come across the border into the U.S. illegally each day. This system is continually taking jobs from the working people in America.
Now, Arizona immigration crusader Russell Pearce won the Republican nomination for an open Arizona Legislature Senate seat in a race that saw opposition from business interests for his stance on the immigration issue as farmers and others poured money into the race.
“Social Conservatism?” What a nice way to say Liberalism, using the power of government to dictate our society. Conservatism is traditional values, what does it say about this question?
“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.” Declaration of Independence
Russell Pearce is a representative of the very thing Americans fought to gain independence. How in the world can you call direct opposition to a keystone American value “Conservative” in any way, shape or form?
Don’t care what you say I stand by Mr. Pearce, and anyone who will help get the Illegal Alien off our streets and out of our state.
Pay a living wage, so Americans can do the jobs..Let’s start being fair to the American worker..For too long just the FEW are getting way TOO rich….
while the wages of the middle class has gone Down..
“Free Minds and Free Markets.” BULL S***! ! !
Hire Americans and pay a living wage..
Hire Americans and pay a living wage..
The labels are so twisted, one no longer knows who they are! The self-righteous have made the laws and set policy — intolerant — except when they make a mistake and then they switch the game plan. Pearce does not represent the America I raised my family in, but one that takes us back decades to a backwater era that is unacceptable. Labels that come to mind - McCarthy era, Nazi era — how tragic they are allowed to trample over the people and our rights.
Who cares? The retirees that post on these forums will be dead by the time we see the full effect of these foolish policies. Russell Pearce doesn’t care about anyone. He is after power. He found the way to move people (fear). He’s gonna ride this wave for as long as he can.
Its like Sheriff Joe. Do you think he actually believes that his “creative” law enforcement works? Of course he know that it doesn’t. But everyone knows his name.
Russell Pearce, Sheriff Joe and Andrew Thomas are showing some American common sense! They are actually doing their jobs!
If big business must have “slave ” labor, let them move to Mexico or any other third world hell hole and pay the price! Americans believe in sensible growth, that can sustain our standard of living.
Get all illegal aliens out of America if you want a better economy!
RR…whose traditional values? Yours? Mine? Anglos? Christians? Hispanics? John Wayne’s? Brigham Young’s?
Those who post here regularly are convinced that illegal immigration is the most important, and only, reason that Arizona suffers economically. I submit that it is not. A lack of any industrial, manufacturing, or technological base plays a much larger role, as does a 30% high school drop out rate.
Mr. Pearce was made enormously popular merely because of Mr. Gibbons and Mr. Sproul’s brutal campaign to discredit him during the Republican primary. Ultimately, however, he is a buffoon who knows little other than that he hates foreigners and wants to drive them as far from his lily-white neighborhood as possible. He will do little to enhance Arizona’s future.
Reason magazine and the Libertarian party provoke conservative thought and provide an alternative view to the firmly entrenched, brain-washing of the two major parties.
I’m calling it “Russell’s Recession” in Arizona. Since he has never earned a day’s pay that wasn’t taxpayer subsidized he has no ideas or vision for Arizona that includes progress. He’s a true knuckle-dragger.
Dave Stanton,
You may be right that AZ has a 30% high school drop out rate, but have you looked into how many of those high school drop outs were actually born within the U.S.?
Hamilton High School in Chandler is loaded with spanish-speaking students, many of them illegals that we are currently forced to teach, knowing full well that the vast majority won’t finish one year here, let alone four.
Perhaps our AZ drop out rate would be thousands less if we forced incoming students (every year) to prove their citizenship and their “right” to a free taxpayer paid education ! No Valid ID, No Free Education.