It has been the fashion in the "New" Democratic party to look down their collective noses at blue collar people. Clinton won Pennsylvania by suggesting that Obama is some kind of elite liberal who couldn't possibly understand the working class. Blue collar workers abandoned the Democratic Party in droves to vote for Reagan. Then they voted for Clinton. I'm not sure that it has made much of a difference for them in the long run.
The media repeatedly fails to make a distinction between legal and illegal immigration. If someone speaks out against illegal immigration, they are anti-immigrant or even racist.
I was raised in Northeast Philadelphia in the 50's and 60's. This was the new part of the city at the time, and post WWII brought thousands of young veterans like my Dad to get a house with a little bit of grass in the front and a little yard in the back. Philadelphia was still an area of rigid neighborhoods: South Philly was Italian, Northwest Philly was Jewish, other neighborhoods were Polish, Ukrainian, and Irish. The "Great Northeast" as it was called then was a little bit of everything. I didn't know people with last names that weren't Italian, Irish,Polish or Jewish until I went to college. Our fathers were, for the most part, blue collar with a sprinkling of low end management and government workers. Most of our mothers didn't work outside the home.
The turmoil of the Democratic Party in the 60's and early 70's caused a lot of our fathers to desert the party and vote first for Nixon and then for Reagan. For their pains, they learned the hard fact about the Republican Party: it is and always has been the party of the Rich. They have embraced the right wing Christians who admittedly vote against their own self-interest so they can end abortion and gay rights. Notice that neither has taken place yet the faithful just keep on hoping.
When Clinton embraced NAFTA, I was concerned, but trust that he would not allow workers' rights to be gutted. Clinton was so anxious to show he wasn't one of those "Old Democrats," that he failed to insist on workers' rights and on trade agreements that are fair to both sides. Needless to say, our current President is delighted to be able to screw working people as much as possible. I still remember the woman who said she worked three jobs. He was so impressed! Of course, since he's never had to work for a living, he can't even begin to imagine how exhausted that woman must be at the end of the day.
Thousands of people enter this country illegally every day. I don't know of any other country in the world that would shrug that kind of statistic off. It is fashionable for liberals to embrace illegal aliens as just beng a different kind of immigrant. However, look around you. When you buy a new home, the construction jobs that used to be a way for young people to get ahead are now being taken by illegal immigrants who happily work for pennies on the dollar. The meat processing plants let their American workers go and hired illegals for half the price. Even the jobs that young people used to be able to get after school are being taken by illegals.
Unlike Pat Buchanan, I'm not particularly worried about cultural changes. His Irish ancestors and my Italian ancestors did a lot to enrich the culture. Without African-Americans, I would probably be listening to country music instead of the Jazz, R&B and Doo-Wop that I love so much. I'm starting to really enjoy Mariachi music and my birthday is May 5. I'm ready to celebrate with a Mexican feast.
However, I believe that illegal immigration needs to be curtailed. Now. Many school systems are reeling as they try to deal with hundreds of kids who can't speak English. I don't have a problem with anyone of any culture living next door to me. However, when they stuff three times as many people in the house as it was meant to hold and all the available parking is taken up, I'm not going to be a happy person. Real estate is reeling as it is right now. Look at the African-American community. Unemployment at 50% in some city neighborhoods right now.
Yes, I agree that corporations and businesses need to be better regulated, but let's face it: they are going to hire the cheapest help they can get. Raising the minimum wage would go a long way, but it would have to be a lot higher than it is now. Liberals refuse to face the facts: illegal immigration is a huge problem in this country. Companies are complaining about the crack downs. "Immigration" groups complain about the same thing.
I'm all for immigration. I want the best and the brightest. I want hard workers. I also want them to be LEGAL and I want a fair playing ground for the people we have now. Liberals are on the wrong side of the immigration debate. In fact, it's not a debate about immigration at all. It's a debate about how we control our borders. Liberals are on the wrong side of that debate. They need to get on the side of the working men and women of this country. Now.