Lou Dobbs is a Know-Nothing

In this piece by Lou Dobbs http://www.rinf.com/columnists/news/dobbs-bush-speech-satisfies-nobody a couple of things stood out.

“If it is necessary to send 20,000 to 30,000 National Guard troops to the border with Mexico to preserve our national sovereignty and protect the American people from rampant drug trafficking, illegal immigration and the threat of terrorists, then I cannot imagine why this president and this Congress would hesitate to do so.”

I reckon that this says more about how unimaginative Lou Dobbs is than about immigration policy. I can imagine a lot of reasons not to do this. First off, that’s a lot of troops from an already overused National Guard. And if we take 30,000 workers from their productive jobs and set them on the border, will we need 30,000 Mexicans to substitute for them while they are on duty? Secondly, such a response is way out of proportion to the “problem”. Although Dobbs sees these as crises, the costs of his solution are greater than the costs, if any, imposed by immigrants and drugs. I don’t know what to make of the threat of terrorists coming over the Rio Grande.

Dobbs also wrote:

“The president also said we need to hold employers who hire illegal aliens accountable — but he failed to say how. What should be the penalties for these illegal employers? How large a fine should they receive? How many years in jail for the executives of such companies?”

I don’t think it’s the Fortune 500 that hires the illegal aliens so much as it is small businessmen in landscaping, construction, maintenance, food service and what have you. You’re not going to nab any fat cat, cigar chomping, spats wearing tycoons when you crack down on employers. It’s going to be your lawn guy. Jail time?! You’d think hiring a willing worker was like raping someone. Who’s the victim? What danger is posed by someone who hires an undocumented worker? The worst anyone should ever get is a citation for such a violation.

That Dobbs really hates him some Mexicans. As far as he’s concerned, they’re all carrying backpacks full of drugs and hiding terrorists under their grannies’ skirts.