This is a Plea to the GOP - Together We Can Save America in 2012!

WHO AM I?

My name is Norman E. Adams. I have been a small business owner (an insurance agent) for 45 years. I have been active in the Republican Party for 40+ years. In the last 25 years, due to the abortion issue, I have not missed a precinct caucus. I have been a delegate to every Republican Senatorial Convention and every State Republican Convention. I have been a delegate or an alternate to five National Conventions. I am proud to have served on the Texas Republican Party Platform Committee four times!

WHO ARE YOU?

This is a plea to my fellow conservative Republicans! Did you attend a Tea Party prior to the 2010 election? How many times did you call a so-called “blue dog” Democrat to try to convince him or her to vote against Obamacare? Do you fear the impact “cap and tax” could have on your pocket book? Are you sick of a government that cannot stop spending that seems intent on bankrupting our country, leaving it perpetually in debt? Are you happy our leaders are afraid to acknowledge that we are at war with “radical Islamists” and seem perfectly willing to grant unlawful combatants constitutional protections at the expense of sound intelligence and our safety? What will your reaction be the next time someone says there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats?

WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

Republicans cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. Between 2004 and 2008, Republicans lost the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Presidency. Clearly, Republicans lost the faith of conservatives and the American people on a host of issues. One of the key issues was immigration.

It is no secret that immigration reform fractured the Republican Party. More than any other issue during George W. Bush’s second term, the immigration issue crippled the GOP coalition. Moreover, it reversed the growth of the party’s support in the Hispanic community. Richard Nadler extensively chronicled this movement from 2004 to 2008. Read his “Edge of the Wedge: Immigration and the Congressional Races of 2008” at www.amermaj.com to see how the Congressional candidates who embraced a hard-line restrictionist approach to immigration reform underperformed their opponents.

Barack Obama and the Socialist Democrats understand this very well. In 2009, they faced a united opposition to their efforts to impose cap and trade and the takeover of health care. On November 2, 2010, they paid a big price for their efforts. But, have no doubt, the Democrats know exactly how to drive a wedge through the heart of the GOP. That wedge is immigration reform. Accordingly, Republicans need to get on the same page on immigration. We need this not simply for an electoral advantage, but because it is the right policy.

We will not support amnesty that does nothing to solve our border security problem. Nor do we embrace mass deportations that will disrupt our economy and destroy millions of households with citizens and non-citizens living under one roof. Moreover, the GOP cannot afford more anti-immigrant rhetoric that splits our coalition and makes it impossible to compete for the growing Latino vote!

I believe Republicans can embrace an approach on immigration that avoids these two policy extremes. We can embrace an immigration policy that upholds our principles and values, but also puts us on a path for future electoral victories. Please hear me out!

A GOP POLICY SOLUTION: “ID ’em and TAX ’em”

Texans for Sensible Immigration Policy is a coalition I helped form to offer a “sensible” solution to our immigration problem. It is not amnesty nor is it deportation. I believe that illegal immigration is a problem. We are right to be concerned that individuals are coming into this country illegally, without identification and avoiding tax laws.

I believe that a controlled flow of properly identified and properly taxed immigrant workers is a good thing. Having this flow will help us secure our border and manage our labor needs during times of economic growth and recession.

Texans for Sensible Immigration Policy has suggested the following policy basics:

1. Replace our 1936 Social Security card with a 21st century photo ID card that cannot be counterfeited.
2. Require every noncitizen within our borders to submit to a positive ID, including DNA, photo, and criminal background check.
3. Anyonewithaviolentcrimehistoryshouldbedeported.
4. All others, once properly ID’d and deemed eligible, would pay a fine or “permit fee” and be issued a Temporary Worker Permit.
5. These (noncitizen) workers should not be allowed to work as independent contractors. They should only be allowed to work for “good faith” employers (those that withhold and match taxes).
6. The SS and MC taxes on noncitizens should be a minimum 50% higher than Social Security/Medicare for citizens. The employer should match the increased rate as an incentive to hire citizens first.
7. Noncitizens should not be eligible for Social Security or Medicare benefits. Their tax revenue should go to subsidize our Social Security and Medicare funds.
8. NOSHORTCUTSTOCITIZENSHIP,exceptformilitaryservice!

WHY AMERICA NEEDS IMMIGRANT WORKERS

More than a few Republicans have bought into the anti-immigrant rhetoric that flows freely in print, on the web, through email, and on the airwaves. We need to deport all of them. “What part of illegal don’t you understand?” goes the mantra. I agree there is a problem that needs fixing. But let’s use the brains God gave us to find a good solution. We need these immigrant workers! Why?

1. We need their children!

a. The combined fertility rate of American born citizens is barely 2%, considered unsustainable!

b. Every year more American born workers are retiring than are entering the workforce. This is especially true in lower skill trades.

c. To compound the problem, since Roe v. Wade, we have aborted nearly fifty million children in the United States! This represents multiple generations of American-born workers!

d. It is a simple matter of mathematics, we have more lows killed jobs than we have American-born workers “willing” to fill them. It is not that Americans are “unwilling” to do these jobs; there are not enough to fill them, even in these down economic times.

2. The argument that immigrants are driving down the wages of American-born workers is a myth! The Cato Institute has demonstrated that where the percentage of illegal immigrant workers is highest, the wages of American born workers has risen faster than those states with fewer immigrants. Economic activity drives wages and the need for workers higher!

THE GOP CAN WIN THE HISPANIC VOTE

The GOP made in-roads into the Hispanic community in the 2000 and 2004 election cycles. It is not surprising. The GOP’s commitment to economic freedom and opportunity, the protection of the unborn, support for traditional marriage, and even educational choice resonates with the Hispanic community.

The reversal of this trend in 2006 and 2008 was the direct result of extremist policy positions (e.g., support for mass deportations) and inflammatory rhetoric about immigration and specifically immigrants that repelled Hispanics. Republicans do not have to compromise their principles to attract the Hispanic vote. We proved that in 2000, 2004, and now 2010!

Our success in winning back the Hispanic vote in 2010 provides us with a roadmap to follow. Republican Marco Rubio in Florida received 55% of the Hispanic vote. Republican Mark Kirk in Illinois received 48% of the Hispanic vote. Governor Rick Perry won 39% of the Hispanic vote in 2010. All three candidates outperformed the national average of 30%.

Moreover, the Texas GOP added five Hispanic members in the Texas House and a member of the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas GOP and, indeed, the national GOP should look to these races in Texas, New Mexico, Illinois, and Florida as a roadmap to victory. We should look to our newly elected Hispanic Republicans for leadership on retaining our gains among the Hispanic community and making new gains in the future.

2011 TEXAS LEGISLATURE

I am urging the Texas GOP to embrace the issues that won the day for us in 2010: Fiscal restraint, reducing the size of government, reducing the property tax burden on Texans, opposing the federal take-over of our health care, and fighting to defend life and marriage.

On immigration, we are limited in what we can do by the federal government. We SHOULD NOT adopt Arizona-style immigration legislation. Like you, I support Arizona’s right to act where it believes the federal government has failed in its duty to secure the border. I believe Governor Perry and other new GOP leaders like Marco Rubio and Susana Martinez (the Governor-elect of New Mexico) have the right view. The fact that the federal government has failed to fulfill its duty should not force us to impose that duty on local law enforcement. Doing so will only turn the immigration debate “toxic” in our state and waste valuable time in a legislature where other state issues need to take priority! Moreover, the Obama administration has made it clear that it will use the courts to block any Arizona-style immigration laws. But, don’t take my word for it. Talk to your newest Hispanic GOP members. We need to secure the border and have a workable immigration system. Adopting an Arizona-style approach will actually make those things harder to get, not easier.

My fellow Americans! My fellow Republicans! I pray you will be moved to consider what I have said and give it a fair hearing. I believe this is the right approach on principle and politics. We cannot afford to be excluded from the levels of control in Washington or even Austin for even one election cycle. Looking at the polls today, it is clear that Democrats have done themselves great harm by pursuing a radical left-wing agenda. But it will not be enough for Republicans to simply expect voters to come running back to them. The GOP needs to offer clear principles and clear solutions. A sound immigration policy is critical. It cannot be “amnesty,” nor can it be “deportation.” We need an immigration solution that will unite the GOP!

I pray God will move us to do what is necessary to right the wrongs in our great land. Stop the slaughter of the unborn. Defend us from evil, and move us to “do unto others.”