09.27.07
Can You Tell, Is Sen. Cornyn For Or Against A Border Fence/Wall?
Did you know there was such a thing as the Border Trade Alliance (BTA)? Looks like a cozy group of corporations and local entities, you can join for $150 investment. Don’t worry, EOW didn’t know about it either. Nonetheless, Sen. Cornyn spoke to them this week in a live video feed, via The Chronic, Cornyn Takes Wimpy Stance on Border. Wimpy? Sure. But EOW thinks it was more “weasely” than anything else. It looks like Cornyn’s trying to have it both ways. See what you think is he for or against a wall or a fence?
Cornyn, no doubt knowing he’ll be pulling more votes from, say, the Dallas-Fort Worth area than the Rio Grande Valley, sticks by the border wall – at least a partial one – although he says it’s only one aspect of stemming illegal immigration. “I believe that the primary solution with border security has to be more Border Patrol agents, because right now we only have about 10,000 Border Patrol agents. New York City, by way of comparison, has about 40,000 police officers. So we clearly need more human capital, more boots on the ground. And then, I believe that technology remains the primary answer beyond the human component … Now fencing, which I do believe is one component of the solution, has to be done in a cost-effective and an intelligent and reasonable sort of way. I have long said that I do not support a fence, or as some said, a wall, between the United States and Mexico. That’s irrational and just doesn’t make sense, because we know that people can come over fences or walls; they can go under them; they can go through them, given sufficient opportunity. And so that’s why it’s so important to have the three legs of the stool: more boots on the ground, more and better technology, and in some hard to control places, we need to have – Border Patrol needs to have some sort of responsible solution to the fencing issue.†Cornyn also said he supports a management program to control Carrizo cane, an invasive, tall plant that hinders border agents; eradicating it, he said, could minimize the need for fencing.
Is he for or against the fences? It’s a component of the solution, but in the next sentence he says he doesn’t not support a fence, or a wall and ends with the need for a responsible solution to the fencing issue. Alright, what would that be Senator?
More here from the Rio Grande Guardian, Cornyn: U.S.-Mexico relations are at their lowest ebb.
WilcoVoter said,
September 27, 2007 at 11:04 pm
I do not know what he is thinking. In fact, what most of the 535 in Washington are thinking, I do not know.
What I do know is that OPEC has invited Mexico to join its organization. So what?, many people might ask.
This is what: http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
Do you see who is number 2 on these lists? And #4? Certain people of the US are constantly belittleing the two nations. What in hell are we going to do should they decide to sell elsewhere? We go out of our collective mind when the price of gasoline goes to $3 per gallon. Yet, all some of us can think about, it seems, is building more fences and walls with the former and laughing at the latter’s president.s
Imagine what it will go to should half of the countries on the lists go elsewhere [China?] with their product. Have we forgotten what happened in 1973? The long lines? The crying? The moaning and groaning?
Do we not remember the promises made by the 535 in those days, which amounted to zero in terms of actual follow thru? We need to wake up re our sources of crude oil and petroleum, or a lot of us are going to get mighty cold during winter when heating oil skyrockets, and many more of us are going to go literally mad when gasoline hits $8 or higher per gallon.
We do not need to construct a fence or a wall. We need to talk, decide, and act to resolve the problems. Yes, security is important, but damn, are we going to cur off our nose to spite our face?