The Border

You can usually determine a politician's enthusiasm for solving a problem by using one infallible meter; the amount of money and power he will receive for solving the problem. If, by solving the problem, he is assured of gaining influence over his peers, increasing his financial holdings, or insuring his re-election, you can bet that he will attack said problem with the zeal of the recently saved. However, if solving that problem offers none of the above, it is trivialized, ridiculed, or ignored.

A perfect example is that of the situation on our Southern border. Thousands of illegals stream into this country looking for a better life. When they arrive, they discover that they can tap into the welfare system and receive free money. If they have a child, that child is, by birthright, an American citizen. Considering that what they receive in a welfare check is the equivalent of a month's wages in some of the Third World countries they left, it's no mystery why we have such a huge illegal population.

Now,we have the added indignity of Mexican drug gangs entering our country to kidnap people, Mexican soldiers coming across the border, and Mexican military aircraft violating our airspace. The complete lack of response on the part of the Federal Government is infuriating to those of us that see these as overt acts of war.

Where the mystery lies is in why we still allow this to happen. When a bunch of Muslim zealots flew airliners into the World Trade Center, and it was discovered that several of them had expired student visas, it seemed like an obvious course of action to close the borders, round up, and deport everyone who was here illegally, regardless of why. Further, when Mexican drug gangs and military cross into the US and attack or kill people on this side of the border, it seems obvious that the solution is to step up our presence on our border. When Pancho Villa attacked the people of Columbus, New Mexico, Woodrow Wilson mobilized the US Army to go after him. Now, we have similar incursions into the US and Obama goes on vacation.

The GOP. usually the shrill opponents of Democratic indolence, remain lukewarm on this subject and even distance themselves from those in their party that attempt to bring the crisis to light. Why? the only way to find that out is to ask "cui bono?" Latin for "To whose benefit?" My guess is the answer will lead to the doorsteps of politicians on both sides of the aisle, and not necessarily on the right side of the law.