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MELEE · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:09 pm Post subject:

I've been here since September and I didn't see any Obama campaigning claiming he is "the one". Maybe because I'm in a "red state".
I don't think Obama will do anything about immigration--it will take a lot more than a president to change that mess, I don't even have a good idea about what sort of immigration reforms I would like to see. I would like it if my husband could finally get a tourist visa, it is ridiculous that he could get residency, but he can't come for a visit. But that's another issue.
Mainly what I see on the ground at the moment is celebrating the fact the the US has made it to a time in which a black candidate could get elected. of course the economic crises and republicans in power helped that.

Just one more thing since I have a four year old demanding lunch.

I saw the greatest bumper sticker.

Voting is like driving. You choose R to go backwards and D to go forwards.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

kosherpickle · Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 93

all i have to say is, james hetfield, if that is really you, you should stop sucking.

James Hetfield · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Los Angeles

O MAN you are so right Kosher! I see with crystal clarity now that firing Jason Newsted was my worst decision and ruined my life forever. Embarassed

I mean Trujillo's great but he aint no Newsted.... I deeply deeply regret how horribly horribly wrong my life turned so now I vow to spend the rest of my days teaching English to filthy foreigners in the worst cesspits of the world for peanuts.... O JEEEZ I hope I never see another ESP Black JH-2 Explorer!!! Crying or Very sad

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

interesting political conversation, spiced by the rhetorical rehash from Weatherman days. Having gone through anti-vietnam protests back in the late 60`s and listening to my non-fellow travellers, some of them Diaper Commies including at least one ex girlfriend, it`s a joy to hear the diatribe against the capitalist system as it is so amusing. So let`s get on your bandwagon, by golly, and all those pointy head ESL instructors in Mexico`s major cities need to go to the hamlets in Oaxaca and teach English to the campesinos a la Mao Tse Tungs Cultural Revolution. We will send you off in the first wave.
Probably there will be a move underway to incorporate the secondary agreements to NAFTA into NAFTA per se. This was an issue back in 1993 when Clinton decided not to risk torpedoeing NAFTA by insisting on environmental and labor issues written into the treaty itself but have them as secondary side agreements.
Obama, if I read it correctly, wants to revise NAFTA to include the side agreements into the original body of the agreement. As they are side agreements there are no means for enforcing either environmental safeguards in maquiladores in northern Mexico,(which incidentally are polluting the US border states with their emissions) nor are there any guarantees for truly independent unions in Mexico. For years the Mexican government buys off union organizers by giving them cozy bureaucratic positions at good salaries and an office in MX City that no one goes to. PEMEX and the teachers unions are the only independent unions and they, in contrast to so many other unions, have too much power.
How far Obama`s changes will be depends on the people of the USA. Will Americans embrace hybrid cars? Carter tried to change the habits of Americans back in 1979 but they were short lived when within the next decade American importation of oil skyrocketed. Will the left eventually accept new nuclear power plants? Will the Sierra Nevada crowd accept windmills dotting the landscape? How sustained will the governments efforts in transferring energy from the combustionable engine and petroleum to solar, electric and wind power?
We forget that politicians can only get so far ahead of the people. The people are opposed to putting Bolton, Perle, Rice and especially Rumsfield on trial at the Hague Court. Pelosi and Reid know they would only become politically marginal if they insisted on doing exactly that. In my mind, it`s a no-brainer. they are guilty of war crimes, in violation of the Geneva Convention. But there is no way that the US population would allow such a thing to happen. And despite everything said to the contrary, the people usually rule.

Prof.Gringo · Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 6:33 pm Post subject:

Interesting.

I don't think Obama will do much about immigration. Not much about anything else for that matter. Most of these guys never do. I don't think it's a left or right wing thing. It's just the way it is.

I would like to see some more "socialist" ideas blended in with US free markets. Stuff like national healthcare, free public education though the Uni level, better unemployment bennies and a few more workers rights (ones that get enforced that is).

Funny, I was into Marxism and the whole leftist thing back when I was 16.

Grew outta of it and I haven't looked back at Communism since. Last time I checked it was on it's deathbed. Only two countries that are left that could even be described as close to Communist: N. Korea (Great tourist destination) and Cuba (but with cell phones, microwaves and other 20-30 year old technology pouring in, it's kinda hard to tell how long that will last) Laughing

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Prof, you're a hard one to nail down. On one thread, you support the gunning down of socialist-minded students and here you like the idea of some socialist programs? What gives?

Prof.Gringo · Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:15 pm Post subject:

El Gallo · Joined: 05 Feb 2007 Posts: 318

Canadians calling Americans Marxists - how entertaining!

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

Yeah, immigration probably will take a back burner but now that there are 6-8 new senators and 15-20 new congressmen of the Democratic persuasion, it`s likely if any movement on the issue comes about it will come from Congress, not the White House. As it may, the Dems are about to hit big business with some changes in the rules of the tax game, and it may behoove them to liberalize immigration policies to assuage the pain. Don`t forget, Mexican labor is cheap labor in the manufacturing and service industries, something medium sized businesses always love.
So my prediction is that the McCain-Kennedy bill will be resurrected, possibly rewritten and pushed through sometime late spring, early summer of next year, with no help at all from the White House.
So, no, guys, I disagree with both Gringo and Guy about that one. You will mark my words and eat yours. At the latest, immigration will be mostly dealt with by November of 2009. As for American workers pain, you will see more liberal benefits for unemployment, so that will take care of that constituency on the labor issue.