While you were out

Bush stays busy with election year activity

By CHRISTOPHER J. ORTIZ
The Rocky Mountain Collegian, Colorado State University

You leave for a couple of weeks and look at what happens. President Bush has been pretty busy since we have been out of school. During the break, he has extended his foreign policy to the moon and Mars, he proposed changes to the country's immigration system and today he is giving his State of the Union speech.
On Jan. 7, Bush proposed new changes to the country's immigration system. Under his proposal, illegal workers living in America now can join a temporary labor program. These workers then receive a three-year temporary visa that is renewable one time. This will curb the number of unregistered illegal Mexican migrant workers and give the country realistic immigration laws, the Bush administration hopes. The United States needs an immigration system "that serves the American economy and reflects the American dream," Bush said about his plans.
This was an unexpected policy coming from the Bush administration. Similar plans have been proposed by Democrats in the past. This isn't Bush's most popular plan, but it seems to me that the administration is coming more into grasps with reality.
Like it or not, millions of illegal Mexican immigrants come into this country taking jobs that Americans are apparently unwilling to take. The goal of this plan is to allow these immigrants to work in our country, without the fear of being deported and work toward becoming a citizen and taxpayer.
It can be argued that Bush is doing this to win the needed Hispanic vote in California, but this is what happens when sections of voters become important, whether it be women or Asian Americans or what have you; they benefit from politicians who are trying to be reelected. I personally see the plan as progress to fixing a fundamental problem this country has had for decades.
America has never been able to secure our southern border and as our middle class becomes more and more educated, certain jobs become vacant leaving employers desperate enough to hire illegal immigrants. These immigrants live in our country, working jobs that remain unfilled from Americans, despite a high unemployment rate, and don't pay taxes. Meanwhile, they are vulnerable to exploitation from employers who pay them as little as possible. As long as they are illegal they can never report abuse from employers or any other crimes, but with this program they are protected and they are on the track to become taxpayers.
Where there is water, there is life. And where there is life there is...oil. No, I really don't believe Bush's plan to get America to Mars is a ploy for natural resources, but I couldn't resist ripping off The Daily Show. Bush wants American flags to wave on the moon's surface again by 2020, in hopes for the moon to be a stepping-stone to the red planet. Though I don't mind or argue Bush wanting to put exploration back on NASA's agenda (I mean how many times can we orbit the Earth before we run out of things to discover), but how good does this make Bush look, patting the back of NASA who is experiencing resurged popularity with its Mars rover making headlines and the cover of Time. I can't help but think this has to do with China and its space program. Are we really prepared for another race? Let's hope so.
CNN reports that Bush is going to announce a new work force training program aimed to prepare American workers for today's economy. He is expected to announce $120 million in grants to go to enhancing work force training programs at community colleges. Bush has a lot to prove to voters since being in the oval office. The economy has lost about 2.3 million jobs since he took office in 2001, giving him the worst job-creation record of any president since Herbert Hoover, as reported by CNN. Though the dollar amount isn't enough to fix the problem, it will hopefully help college graduates become employed and reverse the boomerang trend, grown children moving back in with parents, surfacing in America.
Its not surprising that Bush has been so busy, after all this is election year and there are votes to win. I mean you can only catch Saddam so many times.
Chris is the opinion editor of The Collegian. He is a senior majoring in history and technical journalism and doesn't understand this Atkin's diet craze. Double bacon cheeseburgers are healthy as long as you take off the bun?