February 3, 2009 9:10 AM
Bringing back a classic argument
Remember 2006? Crocs were sweeping the nation. A relative unknown named Bill Ritter was running for Colorado governor. And fighting illegal immigration was all the rage.
During that turbulent summer, the legislature passed a number of bills in a special session that were supposed to take care of the problem. Since then, the majority of members of the General Assembly have chosen to believe the debate is over.
But not Sen. Dave Schultheis.
Schultheis has been the strongest proponent for increased immigration enforcement by the state, and he is running a bill for the third year in a row that would require businesses to participate in a federal program to verify the citizenship of prospective workers. And this week he referenced that long-ago time of 2006 in writing to now-Gov. Ritter and seeking his support.
Schultheis noted in a letter sent to Ritter late Monday that as a gubernatorial candidate, he committed to "work with federal and state authorities to enact and enforce policies" to deal with illegal immigrants. Specifically, the governor said in his Colorado Promise that he wanted to "help businesses to verify citizenship status of job applicants and employees," Schultheis noted.
The bill is scheduled to be heard in a Senate committee Wednesday. Ritter hasn't given word yet on whether he will testify for it, though Schultheis isn't holding his breath.
February 3, 2009
12:37 PM
BillM writes:
It's relevant to this topic that Sen. Schultheis has engaged in acts of anti-Hispanic bigotry cloaked as being a "strong proponent for increased immigration enforcement by the state." Please ensure that your news coverage of his activities on this issue reflect these historic facts.
February 4, 2009
4:00 PM
NightWatchman writes:
BillM, exactly how is that germane to the issue?
First a correction: the legal status is ILLEGAL ALIEN. I.e. someone who is not here legally, nor is a citizen.
Now the facts:
1) Gove Ritter campaigned strongly on enforcing employment standards and reducing illegal aliens.
2) As the polls indicate, the people of Colorado support such action to prevent illegal aliens from obtaining employment in Colorado.
3) Schultheis has called Ritter on his promise by making the use of eVerify part of state law in Colorado.
BillM, how about you ensure that a) you post some provable facts or else retract up your libelous statements accusations about Schultheis, and b) prove some sort of connection to policy other than typical leftist fallacious propaganda technique of ad hominem demagoguery to which you resorted.
Stick to the issue: e-Verify should be the law of Colorado, to prevent employment of illegal aliens, and Gov Ritter should be true to what he campaigned upon.
Give there is a recession and people are losing their jobs left and right, we the citizens have a right to demand that our jobs not be filled by non-citizens who are breaking the law by being here.
February 4, 2009
4:01 PM
NightWatchman writes:
BillM, thats slander, care to print real evidence?