But the reason that the Arizona Law exists is BECAUSE no one is addressing the immigration issue in a meaningful way.

The political advantage in Washington is to do nothing.

Whether or not you agree with the Arizona Law, SOMETHING has to be done to move the needle on the debate and get this issue back on the national agenda, and make the parties work toward meaningful reform.

Jodi,

It's my recollection that amnesty and/or a path to citizenship were the main hang-ups that prevented reform going forward.

There was a study in Canada years ago that concluded that landed immigrants who became citizens voted for the party in power at the time they were admitted into Canada for the next eight elections. I don't know if a similar dynamic might exist in the United States, but that should certainly be an added powerful inducement for the majorty party to work on this matter.

Shifting gears slightly, Catholic Mexicans present a very interesting political dynamic. In general, they are economically liberal and socially conservative, and the addition of a few million of these voters to the rolls could have some dramatic consequences.

Mike O'B,

Echoing Jodi's recommendation, I had XM (Sirrus and XM have merged) in my last car for three years and loved, loved, loved it! (Also got them to install an iPod plug before it was fashionable for them to be standard.)

After my car was totaled in a recent parking lot accident -- when someone says to you on a Monday morning four days before Christmas "Hey Matt, there's been an accident in the parking lot and I think your car might have been hit", you're thinking a dent to the bumper and a little chipped paint, not that someone has turned your Honda Accord into a Honda Accordian -- we bought the wife a new car (complete with XM and iPod plug) and I got her hand-me-down (sadly, without XM and iPod plug).

I have been going through XM withdrawal ever since.

Trust me, Mike, after getting Satellite Radio you'll never go back to over-the-air.

As for your immigration ideas - I love them, though the thing that's missing is to adjust the rules that prohibit Mexicans to come in to America at the rates of other immigrants. Add that tweak, and we're off to a good start.

But then we go back to my questions a few pages ago - if Mexicans are coming in legally, it'll put a crimp on our comfortable $1 cheeseburger lifestyles. You anti-immigrant folk ready to say good bye to the cheap trinkets you get at Walmart?

Also, what can we do, as part of the North American Union, to help build up Mexico so that people aren't coming here for labor. It's a win-win for the bigger picture of the American Economy - if they have decently paid labor in Mexico - not this NAFTA $1 a week crap, but real jobs, with real wages, they will have money to burn on our cheap crap, and suddenly we have another nation to export goods to.

So... clearly, it's a big picture problem.

Mike O'B,

If we go big picture, there are host a lot of demand side / supply side issues to be addressed when it comes to the issues confronting the United States and Mexico. We should be able to keep this thread going for months.

Let's deal with one to start: the produce aisle at your local supermarket.

People willingly pay a premium for organic vegetables and fruit, with the expectation that what they are eating will be healthier.

Why not offer consumers a similar premium choice, produce that is certified -- Chavez Approved? -- to have been picked by documented workers paid no less than the allowable minimum wage? That bell pepper might taste the same as the cheaper option, but you'll have peace of mind that you're not participating in the exploitation of other human beings.

The State of California could legislate that all WIC recipients can only buy the Chavez Approved produce, so that's a pool of capital to get the program rolling.

Whew...

In answer to Matt Reed's question: I wouldn't worry about the
economy too much - the rich are taking it to the breaking point, but
they know better than to let it break. There is a ton of money in the
world - if it gets to the point where a few have all of it and the rest of
us have none of it, if we're eating human meat to survive, history
tells us that, at least since the French were wise enough to figure it
out and set the example for the rest of us, if it gets to that, the poor
will rise up and kill and eat the rich.

We're ok. The rich knows what happens if they let it go too far.

Yeah, it's an op-ed and yeah it's from the nyt, but... wow.