Real Estate Investor · Aurora, CO · Member since 2010 · 175 posts · 92 votes
16y
For some perspective, live outside the country for awhile. I can remember our plane sitting on the tarmac at the Italian airport outside of Milan surrounded by soldiers with machine guns. This was in 1987. They took terrorism very seriously and there was no jetway, you had to walk into the terminal.
To get a visa into France, interrogation was the norm.
Driving around Italy, we'd get pulled over by the police at least once a week and have to show our papers that allowed us to be in the country. My blonde hair probably contributed to our racial profiling and most people thought we were Swiss.
Sure, it was slightly annoying to be pulled over all the time, (at least it wasn't for speeding) but it's their country and they make the rules. You wanna live there, you abide by them.
Immigration becomes a security threat when citizens are outnumbered in their own community by people that have no vested interest in keeping the standard of living that Americans enjoy. It's supposed to be the UNITED States of America.
Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
16y
@Vikram
I am disappointed in that response buddy and you know I respect your opinions. You are missing the point I think. Homicide rates, suicide rates (from Rich's post...not sure where that came from), etc. are NOT the point. The point is that open borders equal non-security...period! If we or any other sovereign state leave our borders porous people CAN bring in weapons to kill us.
Again...I am all for a revised immigration policy and LEGAL immigration. What I am not for is this wink wink model where we let people cross and reside here without following THE LAW. This is a heated topic so people tend to lose site of the fact that people are breaking the law and it has serious national security implications. I am a staunch conservative on many issues and I generally dislike the government interfering with my life. NATIONAL SECURITY is one area where the government SHOULD interfere though. That is the government's JOB...to protect us from foreign threats to our safety.
Real Estate Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
Rich, where did the suicide thing come from? I have no problem in people killing themselves but I was not talking about it at all.
Bryan, I am hardly a "heated" proponent of either a policy that favors or is against immigration. In fact, I don't care one way or the other what the immigration policy is because, frankly, I do not have much faith in any government policy being very effective for its intended purpose.
I actually think the emotional people who get involved in heated discussions are the nut-cases on the extreme left and the extreme right. I'd rather form policies based on hard data and evidence and careful analysis.
The immigration as a national security threat thing is simply not one that is well-supported by the evidence. Sure, it is possible for terrorists to walk across a border and come into the U.S. They can also fly in on a plane as some have so far or be home grown, as some have so far. They can also come in by boat. Once they get here, they could fill a car or pickup truck or van with explosives. They could do a variety of other dangerous things as well. We can't stop everything from happening because it has a potential for a security breach.
I think government and business decisions are best when they are made with a clearly analysis of the problem and targeted to deal with that problem in an economically practical manner.
The real national security threat that we have is that everyone wants the government to do stupid things and blow money for their pet obsessions. The Left will blow money the old-fashioned way on giving it to various people. The Right will blow it on prisons, police, the military, etc. based on an exaggerated or poorly thought impression of various things that could harm the country.
There are very few real conservatives out there who truly want a limited government that is careful in spending money and does it in a way that gives taxpayers the best bang for the buck. That is our real national security problem and the reason I am pessimistic about the medium term.
Good luck to you all. I need to go spend some time on my tax planning so that I can protect myself from the real national security threat out there - the voters.
Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
16y
Okay...fair enough. You know I agree with you about the REAL national security threat.
I still think that spending money on keeping our borders safe is money well spent. 90% of the rest of the crap we spend it on is pretty wasteful absent military spending IMO. A strong national defense is a prerequisite for business policies to be effective. There are plenty of people that want to kill us so 10X our nearest competitor on military spending is fine with me. There are plenty of other places to cut money and balance the budget without touching the bulk of military spending.
I am also fine with fighting people smuggling things in via boat, planes, alien spaceships, or whatever form they take. That is the government's role!
Homeowner · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2010 · 123 posts · 66 votes
16y
Originally posted by Tom Cullen:
And another reason why we need to take back our educational system. Take it away from the PC niks, and race baiters.
Go to youtube and key word "Michael Savage". There are tons of mpegs like the above. This guy is hilarious and will shoot right between the eyes with his NYC "in your face with a can of mace" wit. You just have to toughen your skin and get past his obnoxiousness.
TC
Tom,
What's a PC nik, race baiter? What exactly would you do with the educational system? I hope not indoctrinate them with all this nonsense that you seem to drool over. I listened to some young conservatives speak recently and I am so glad the future generation of conservatives are moving away from the thinking of your generation.
Real Estate Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
That definition on wikipedia was quite poorly written but I think I get the point. Essentially, it says that race-baiting is speech that causes a race of people to do things that are harmful to themselves.
By this definition, I suspect all politicians engage in this practice from time to time. I also have little sympathy for someone who is dumb enough to get incited by a politician to harm himself or any demographic group to which he thinks he belongs.
Portharcourt, 0 · Member since 2010 · 24 posts · 3 votes
16y
Immigration, Economy et al is not as threatening as TERRORISM. Terrorism is to a large extent the major threat facing the US national security, considering the chaos and damage it can possibly cause.