Many of you may have noticed my tendency to feel very strongly one way or another, generally unwaveringly. This particular bill however has me somewhat stumped. It again has to do with immigration but it is an extremely creative bill to say the least. While most bills against immigration or for cracking down on immigration are to strict, invasive and destructive for my personal views, I do see that there is a problem that needs to be dealt with. According to State Representative Lois Kolkhorst's new bill, lawmen that have an illegal immigrant in custody would be allowed to leave the immigrant at the doorstep of any State Senator or Representative's office doorstep.
Lois Kolkhorst says that she hopes this would get a message along the lines of "we don't know what to do with them. Do you?" to the State Senators and Representatives.
While I don't see this law as being very practical, I do have to commend Representative Kolkhorst for her ability to be creative and to think outside the box, qualities I feel are lacking in many State officials, perhaps especially those of the state of Texas.
My biggest issue with the law is that it would only push for strict and harsh punishment for illegal immigrants and for those who give them jobs. However, another issue is that it is, as I said, "impractical". In more ways than one. First of all, I can not possible imagine this law actually getting passed, I think that if nothing else then self interest will keep lawmakers from passing it. Other than that I have to imagine the actual outcome would be somewhat chaotic. What, in fact, would the offices do with those immigrants? While these kinds of shenanigans work well in movies, I do not see them working out in "real life".
Perhaps it will take a Hollywood-esque hi-jink to get the ball moving though? Who's to say? Either way I would be very curious to see this bill make its way into a law.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Texas is as Predictable as Always
Texas has tried more than once to deny women the right to abortion and as it is still legal today they have failed. Now, however, they are trying their hardest to get as close to denial as possible. They have decided to defund Planned Parenthood because they perform abortions and to shift the funding to other programs.
Again, Tommy on Texas has hit upon a subject which I am very passionate about. And while The Cross-Eyed Bear does not think this is a problem and that Texas is not denying women their rights by doing this because the law still says it is legal and there are other places to go, I disagree with her. See, the cool thing about RIGHTS is that we are born deserving them; we shouldn't have to fight for them and we shouldn't have to pay more than necessary and it shouldn't be hard to gain access to them. However, if Planned Parenthood does in fact stop giving abortions, none of these will apply to a woman's RIGHT to have an abortion. It will become more expensive. It will be harder to find a place to go to. And while I don't want to go straight into the over-dramatic, horror stories of women going to Mexico or trying to do these things at home do come to mind.
We live in Austin and in Austin it might not be so hard to find a secondary source but what about in smaller more close-minded Texas towns? What previously could be done secretively in one day's drive to the nearest big city will now require research, phone calls, and other things that in a small town where word gets around could mean more than just being socially outcast (which even that shouldn't be happening in this day and age).
To sum it all up I think that Texas should stop being so damn predictable and should start trying to modernize itself rather than attempting to regress and cling to beliefs more popular before the 20th century.
Of course, this is only astudent's WOMAN'S perspective
Again, Tommy on Texas has hit upon a subject which I am very passionate about. And while The Cross-Eyed Bear does not think this is a problem and that Texas is not denying women their rights by doing this because the law still says it is legal and there are other places to go, I disagree with her. See, the cool thing about RIGHTS is that we are born deserving them; we shouldn't have to fight for them and we shouldn't have to pay more than necessary and it shouldn't be hard to gain access to them. However, if Planned Parenthood does in fact stop giving abortions, none of these will apply to a woman's RIGHT to have an abortion. It will become more expensive. It will be harder to find a place to go to. And while I don't want to go straight into the over-dramatic, horror stories of women going to Mexico or trying to do these things at home do come to mind.
We live in Austin and in Austin it might not be so hard to find a secondary source but what about in smaller more close-minded Texas towns? What previously could be done secretively in one day's drive to the nearest big city will now require research, phone calls, and other things that in a small town where word gets around could mean more than just being socially outcast (which even that shouldn't be happening in this day and age).
To sum it all up I think that Texas should stop being so damn predictable and should start trying to modernize itself rather than attempting to regress and cling to beliefs more popular before the 20th century.
Of course, this is only a
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