I just rolled back into Flagstaff after an immigration seminar. I learned that I am pathetic. I couldn't even name my 3 State Legislators - you know - the guys who go to Washington on my State's behalf and actually VOTE to make changes in our country. I learned that the best publication I could read on a daily basis is the Wall Street Journal. I also learned some very interesting polling statistics about this issue, and how it is only a Top 5 issue when it is presented. What I mean by that is if you ask 100 random people what their concerns are with the candidates for the 2008 election, things like jobs, health care, Iraq etc finish WAY ahead of immigration. However - if you give a polled person a list of 5 things to choose from (including immigration) - immigration ends up being in the top 3.
Net result - I'm spending $99 to subscribe to the WSJ's online service for a year, and I'm sh*tcanning my subscription to Sports Illustrated. That mag has gotten stale for me since I don't watch sports on TV anymore. I'm also determined to write one letter a month to our state reps to let them know what I'm thinking. They may give me a canned response 11 times, but I'll live for that one personal response that I was heard.
For the record, my stance on immigration is this: Let 'em into the country, and fine employers severely if they are not setting up non-citizen labor as legitimate employees - which will assure that they are paying taxes and they paying our social security fund for for US CITIZENS only. In short - no under the table employees. As non-US Citizens they are not entitled to any Social Security benefits, and they cannot vote. They should be allowed to place their US-born children in schools because they are citizens - and these children qualify for any state healthcare/assistance programs. Any non-citizen should not be denied emergency medical treatment - but that's it. The essence is this - immigration is not a problem, it is a migration of people due to socio-economic issues, and this has been going on since the beginning of time. We should embrace this, and also offer those that contribute positively to the US a reasonable path to citizenship - say something like 10 years.
On a better note, I squeezed in 50 miles of road riding in the wee hours of the morning and evening when it was below 110 degrees in Satan's Lair that most people refer to as Phoenix. I'm kinda in a state of flux as I'm losing motivation to train, but I have a hella-hard event coming up on August 4th.
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