Have the Democrats sold out the

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Have the Democrats sold out the working
people of this country just as the Republicans have?

To the Editor of St. Marys Today:

After the last election, Howard Dean, the new chairman of the Democratic Party, spoke in Phoenix. His speech was inspiring and displayed glimmers of fresh thinking that his party badly needs. When asked why approximately 45% of Hispanics voted for Bush, he said he didn’t know. Maybe he was dodging the question, but is it possible that he really didn’t know?

The activist core of the Democratic Party is a large group who really, really believe in fairness and justice for everyone. It’s not lip service; they truly believe it. They want a fair deal for trees, whales, and baby seals. I know many of these people, and I generally agree with them.

Two years ago, I needed a medical procedure that was only partially covered by insurance; my share was $14,000. Desperately, I considered going to Canada and using their national health plan. But my friends were unanimous and firm in advising me that it would be morally wrong to do that. They were right.

My friends’ strong desire to give everyone a fair chance is what leads them to their general support of people who are in this country illegally. I know this because I once agreed with them.

In 1962, I used my college summer vacation to go on a civil rights freedom ride. The experience had an inspiring effect on my life. However, it once caused me to confuse a situation where people were denied rights that were rightfully theirs, with a situation where people were denied rights that were NOT rightfully theirs.

Why can my friends see that it’s legally and morally wrong for me to cheat Canadian taxpayers but feel that it’s perfectly fine for Mexicans to cheat American taxpayers? Mexico would never provide free health care for people who are in Mexico illegally.

No one is calling for amnesty for burglars who risk their lives in order to make a better life for themselves and their families. There is absolutely no moral basis for differentiating between the crime of breaking into a house and the crime of breaking into a country.

My friends would recognize the theft if they came home and found a poor family living in a few rooms of their house, although their property line is an imaginary line just like the border. But they can’t see the theft when someone else’s seat in school, or space in the emergency room, or job is illegally stolen.

In 2004 Arizona voters passed Proposition 200, which cut some social services for illegal aliens. Voting results revealed that the richer you were the more you opposed Prop. 200 and the poorer you were the more you supported it regardless of ethnicity.   In Hispanic precincts in Tucson about 45% of voters voted for Prop. 200, about the same percentage that voted for Bush.

If you’re rich, an alien probably won’t take your job or your seat at the health clinic. In fact, you may be happy that aliens help to lower wages at your business. But a voter in the barrio, whose son can’t get a construction job, feels the impact every day.

Democratic Party leaders act as if Hispanics are a solid block of voters who support aliens, when this isn’t true. Amazingly, these leaders KNOW it’s not true, because in 2004, get-out-the-vote workers in Tucson’s Hispanic precincts were told not to talk about Prop.200 !

The overwhelming majority of voters wants secure borders, but Democrats have driven a wedge through their own ranks by alienating poor and middle class voters of all ethnicities who used to be solid Democrats. Many of these alienated voters had turned to the Republicans in the hope that they would enforce immigration laws.

Ironically, Republican politicians talk tough on immigration because that’s what their constituents want. But they can’t actually DO anything because the plutocrats who finance Republican campaigns love third world competition with American workers.

With Hispanic voters evenly split, why are Democrats committing suicide for people who can’t vote, and who probably wouldn’t vote strongly Democratic if they could?

What if Howard Dean stands up and says, “We promise to secure our borders and to aggressively prosecute businesses that hire illegal aliens !” What an act of courage, leadership, and seizing the right moment in history. A totally reasonable position that merely restates existing law. Republican leaders would be unable to follow because their financial base won’t allow it.

Finally, a position that millions and millions of disgusted, fed-up voters across the political spectrum could rally around, and alien supporters can’t switch parties over. Talk about an impact that would be felt for generations, not to mention the benefits of restoring income and power to American workers.

Could it possibly happen, or have the Democrats sold out the working people of this country just as the Republicans have?

John Kromko
Tucson, AZ

[John Kromko is a Tucson community activist who is a former chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, former vice-chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, and former 14-year state legislator.]