Well, lookee here… we keep hearing (although not all that much) about lesser-known Republicans running against Lindsey Graham on account of their being ticked at him over immigration. That’s old news.
But now I read that a Democrat — Michael Cone, a Charleston lawyer — is also interested. Here’s a story that was brought to my attention this morning. More to the point, here’s his Web site. And here’s a philosophical interlude from that site:
… Thomas Jefferson wrote that there are only two real political divisions between people: people are either Aristocrats or Populists, no matter the label they might hang upon themselves.
Essentially, an Aristocrat is someone who believes that the people of the United States should be represented in government by an elite group of privileged few who know what is best for the people. A Populist believes that the people themselves know what is best for them and that their representatives in government should represent the will of the people to the largest extent possible. Equal opportunity for everyone is not favorable for Aristocrats as they would lose power if they were not lifted above the people. Therefore, it is imperative for the Aristocrats to create artificial divisions among the people so that the people cannot come together to create equal opportunity for everyone.
I am a Populist….
Had you all in suspense there, didn’t I? You thought he was going to say he was an Aristocrat, I’ll bet. Or maybe not.
Anyway, not being that big a fan of Jefferson, I see the world in less simplistic terms, more as his protege Madison did. In other words, I believe in the republic that our Constitution established, which provides that regular folks get elected to Congress, go there and study the issues as most of us are unable to do, and become smarter about those issues before voting on them. I want government that’s a lot smarter than an opinion poll. But that’s just me; I’m weird.
Anyway, no word yet on whether he’s upset about immigration, too. Looks like he’s for the "FairTax," though.
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Immigration is not the problem. We have an invasion of illegal aliens, not immigrants.
We have big corporations falsifying applications of need for cheap H1-B workers, and the government winking at what they know is not any shortage of talent among US workers. The corporations just use the cheap foreign labor to depress salaries of engineers and software developers.
A flat single rate of income tax is the only moral and Constitutional tax. Every person should pay the same rate of tax, in order to receive equal treatment under the law.
Unbelievable, but I am agreeing with one of Lee Muller’s points.
The cap on the number of H-1B visas does not need to be increased when there are plenty of qualified, high-tech Americans looking for employment in technology. Bill Gates says there are not enough qualified workers in the US and Microsoft needs more foreign workers.
Employers have been gaming the H-1B lottery system, submitting the same applicant multiple times. In the future, Immigration Services will reject and keep the filing fee of the multiple applications of the same person.
Cohen & Grigsby law firm held a seminar for HR professionals on how to skirt around the requirements of seeking qualified Americans before filing for an H-1B visa.
PERM Fake Job Ads defraud Americans to secure green cards for H-1B Visas
Link:
There is a fixed four year cycle of the number of graduates with Computer Science degrees. Frank Hayes, senior news columnist for Computerworld, shows the consistency of the four year pattern in the article, “Frankly Speaking: See the future” at http://blogs.computerworld.com/frankly_speaking_see_the_future
With companies using H-1B workers and offshoring projects, it is discouraging to those thinking about higher education in technology; seeing companies import high-tech employees for jobs in America when there are skilled Americans that can do the job.
I have a message for Bill Gates and other CEOs bemoaning about not enough H-1B Visas: Instead of complaining about the lack of skilled workers, how about fix the problem? The long term solution is to focus on higher education and promote high-tech jobs in America. Hiring lower wage employees from overseas is a short term solution.
Students aren’t dumb. They see the non-future of a degree in Computer Science in this political climate. Enrollments in CS have dropped 40% at many very good colleges, as Microsoft, GE, and others create a future shortage of American talent.
I don’t care whether Cone is a democrat or not, if he runs against Gramnesty he is my man. In fact, I don’t care what his stand is on taxes. I don’t care if he advocates the legalization of drugs, promises to abolish gun ownership or says he supports gay marriage. I will still vote for him in order to vote against snake-in-the-grass Lindsey Graham.
I would much rather have an honest person representing me whose views I know…even if I vehemently disagree with those views…than have a person representing me whom I know in my heart I cannot trust, And I know I cannot trust Lindsey Graham.
Mr. Cone, you sir have my vote. David
Let’s hope Mr. Cone will defeat Lindsey Grahamnesty, who then could retire to Arizona to be Juan McCain’s fulltime lapdog.
Well this Republican knows who he’ll be voting for in November… Cone. But then I’d vote for just about anybody over Graham.
I suppose you fellas are unaware that there are other Republicans running… I mean, if you’re determined to fail to see that Lindsey Graham is the best senator we’ve had in many a day.
Mr. Cone, you will have another Republican’s vote: mine. Mr. Cone got it right about aristocracy vs. populism. Miss Lindsey is an elitist and a traitor to the American people.
Your saying it does not make it so Brad.
I know that particular sentiment doesn’t play well inside the hallowed halls on Shop Road, but it is true.
Jim DeMint is the best senator we’ve had in many years. Gramnesty is an embarassment and a huge disappointment. The overpowering emotion about what he has done however, is anger.
I think there are many who agree with me that he has got to go. This November. With dispatch. David
In any case where I was going ~ before I got sidetracked thinking about my visceral dislike for Gramnesty ~ was that Cone has my vote for now.
If a republican candidate comes along who seems more conservative, I’ll cast a vote for him/her. Bottom line is I will cast a vote this fall for ANYone but Gramnesty. David
And … Just so Victor. Just so. David
Hey…who was that Foghorn Leghorn fat cat democrat senator we had for about 100 years? I think DeMint won his seat…you know the guy. He was the SC governor in the sixties who put the Confederate flag atop the statehouse.
I tell you, if that old Dixiecrat segregationist bag of bones was the only man running against Gramnesty this fall I’d volunteer to be his campaign manager if it took that to get Gramnesty a one way ticket to Inman or Punkin Head or Spartanburg or wherever the hell he’s from. David
…i hope the democrat can beat her in the fall…i mean him…oops forgot…don’t ask don’t tell!…
…deminted…twenty year old aluminum tubes are not WMD’s…no matter how many times sean hannitty tells deminted what to say…ask demint to give up his government healthcare for his family…he sure does not want poor kids and middle class kids to have the same coverage as his family that you and i pay for…s-chip, you know that’s hillary care never mind orrin hatch sponsoring the legislation…demint is a joke…
650,000 tons of nerve gas, poison gas, and 5,000-lb bombs are WMD, and that is what has been captured so far, inventoried and destroyed or shipped to the US for destruction. There are currently $40,000,000 of GSA contracts in place for incineration of nerve poisons from Iraq, so the WMD are real.
“No WMD found” is just a rotten, anti-American, pro-terrorist lie.
…no wmd’s …for once i will believe the pentagon and not some right wing 5th grade level writing and spelling herr muller..why do right wing nuts hate america?…why do you hate america herr muller?
The Pentagon currently has contracts in place for the decommissioning and destruction of the 650,000 tons of nerve gas, biological weapons, and high explosives (such as 5,000-lb bombs – Iraq didn’t have an airplane to carry them, but they would fit into a shipping container or commercial cargo plane.)
Anyone still denying the WMD in Iraq and their role in helping the 9/11 hijackers is lying to themselves.
Iraq WMD programs at time of US invasion 2002
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/Iraq_Oct_2002.htm