Thread: A sampling of editorial opinion around Texas:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/new ... 106689.htm


Posted on Mon, Jul. 11, 2005

State editorial roundup

The Associated Press

Associated Press

A sampling of editorial opinion around Texas:

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July 10

The Dallas Morning News on ghost voting:

Ghost voting noun. 1) A practice used in the Texas Legislature in which a lawmaker in the House uses the electronic voting machine to register a vote for an absent member.

During a razor-thin vote on a tax-swap bill last week, this term was the only explanation for the votes of two members who were obviously missing from the House floor.

One was in Madrid, Spain, to celebrate a wedding anniversary. The second was flying to Boston for a speech.

Yet each was officially a "nay" vote in the dramatic defeat of a Republican tax plan. That bogus tally stood only as long as it took leaders to figure out that AWOL members helped beat them. A quick "verification" vote reversed the outcome.

Ironically, this same House leadership has fought reforms of voting practices in the Capitol. In this year's regular legislative session, the Senate passed a bill requiring an on-the-record vote for all nonceremonial measures, but it died in the House.

It's further irony that the House member vacationing in Spain, Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio, has supported mandatory record votes.

The episode involving his votes is not a reflection on Mr. Martinez Fischer. It's a reflection on loose voting practices tolerated in the Capitol. And it's a reflection on the person whose finger pressed his voting button. And let us count the times.

At opening roll call, Mr. Martinez Fischer was registered as "present." He then "voted" during a requested on-the-record vote on a school-tax amendment, a tally officially registered as "Record Vote 25" in the 5-day-old special session.

Mr. Martinez Fischer went on to "vote" in Record Votes 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35.

The ruse was discovered on Record Vote 36. At that point, the House officially excused Mr. Martinez Fischer "for the remainder of the day because of illness."

It's a far harder thing to excuse the House's stubbornness in clinging to tainted voting practices.

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July 11

Houston Chronicle on illegal immigration:

If the Minutemen, the group that wants to halt illegal immigration at the border, intends to videotape undocumented workers as they negotiate on the streets of Houston with prospective employers, they had better come armed with crates of cassettes.

As anyone who drives North Shepherd or dozens of other streetside job fairs knows, the practice of hiring illegal immigrants as day laborers is widespread, conducted in broad daylight and tolerated by local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration agents.

Exactly what the amateur filmmakers hope to accomplish, beyond getting news coverage, is difficult to fathom. In their well-publicized actions along the U.S.-Mexican border, the Minutemen had the support of local landowners angry over disruptive groups of immigrants invading their property. Their reception here likely will be very different.

The cheap labor provided by undocumented workers in Houston and other cities is a fact of life, one embraced by most business interests and an issue few politicians care to tackle. With an estimated population of 400,000 noncitizens illegally residing in Houston and 11 million nationwide, a coordinated effort by authorities to deny them the ability to earn money to feed themselves and their families would provoke a social and health care crisis not seen since the Depression. Uncontrolled immigration cannot be solved on the local or state level.

The place where the Minutemen should focus their efforts is Washington, D.C., where Congress has yet to approve immigration reform legislation. A bill co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., includes a guest worker program similar to one proposed by President Bush last year.

It would allow noncitizens who wish to work in America to apply for U.S. visas after undergoing security checks and medical exams. A database would then match the applicants with prospective employers.

For illegals already here, permanent residency could be earned by demonstrating gainful employment, undergoing security screening, paying a fee and meeting language and civics requirements.

"This bill does not provide a free pass to anyone," Kennedy argues.

These are farsighted measures of a kind that are needed to solve the dilemma of illegal immigration in America.

The Minutemen and the country would be better served if they focused their videocams on lawmakers rather than hapless job seekers and demanded swift action on meaningful immigration reform.

I live in Houston, Texas and the Houston Chronicle article DO NOT
represent the voice of the people. The Houston Chronicle hire as many
illegals as many other companies in this city. For the most part they are
as backwards as the old,wild west. Remember when the president made
a reference to "High noon" refering to a shoot out. Imagine that in todays
world. I was born a Texan and believe the majority of progressive,
marvelous intelligence is not homegrown here in Texas. Do the research.
Money have nothing to do with economics here in Texas.
Perhaps that is true because a lot of illegals have paper routes. They deliver at the time they want and throw the rest of the papers out of the
truck on the street when they finish the route. I have seen it dozens of times. I am suprised they are still in business.