AIC Goes to Bat for Oldsmar

An AIC supporter called us recently, and told us that we need to take a look at what was happening in Oldsmar, Florida. As reported by the St. Petersburg Times, the Nielsen Company in Oldsmar received "at least $3.1 million in state and local subsidies mainly to create jobs in Oldsmar." In April, the company announced plans to eliminate 110 positions at their plant in the city. Nielsen also announced that it would outsource to the India-based Tata Consultancy Services. Tata, the Times noted, "has brought in its own workers from India."

Said city council member Suzanne Vale, "To think they have the gall to take taxpayers' money and then lay people off." Council member Janice Miller agreed saying, "It's just incomprehensible to me."

What has happened in Oldsmar may be just one more example of a growing national trend, an unjustified corporate preference for foreign workers at the expense of Americans. In many cases, the companies make use of legal loopholes to avoid the spirit and intent of hiring laws.

AIC sent a reporter Oldsmar to cover the story. He interviewed Janice Miller. He asked Neilsen for its side, but the company would not return his calls. We are attracting major media interest to this story. We will continue our efforts to shed more light on unfairness to American workers, our fellow citizens. Source: www.tampabay.com 4/15/08

McCain Pushing Amnesty First Again

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), now running as the GOP contender for president, said it was a failure by the federal government and his own personal failure that "comprehensive immigration reform" legislation did not pass Congress last year. The legislation, strongly promoted by McCain and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), would have given amnesty (legal status) to 10 million or more illegal aliens.

The Associated Press noted last year that this advocacy "hurt [McCain] politically . . . [as] the Arizona senator saw his numbers in some early primary states slip and his fundraising wane." Taking a different tack when the campaigns began, McCain indicated to voters that he would not push "comprehensive reform" [amnesty] without first taking steps to stop illegal immigration.

Said McCain during the South Carolina primary, which proved pivotal to the resurgence of his campaign, "I will secure the border first. That's what Americans want. They don't want a repeat of 1986 when we said we'd secure the border, gave amnesty to two million people, and we ended up with insecure borders and more illegal people here."

He also stated during that primary, "I got the message. We will secure the borders."

Recently, however, now that he has all but secured the GOP nomination, McCain is singing a different tune. As reported by The New York Times Politics Blog, McCain told a round table of business leaders in California that "[We] have to have secure borders . . . . But we must enact comprehensive immigration reform [amnesty]. We must make it a top agenda item if we don't do it before, and we probably won't, a little straight talk, as of January 2009." Sources: The New York Times Politics Blog 5/22/08; Associated Press, 11/3/07

Comment: So now McCain is saying that, if elected, he will promote amnesty as soon as he steps into the White House. Forget that "secure the border first" stuff. McCain really didn't "get the message" at all. But by pretending to do so and using the phrase "comprehensive reform" to describe amnesty, the candidate misled a lot of people. A poll conducted during the primaries by Pulse Opinion Research found that only 34 percent of McCain voters knew that he favored large-scale amnesty for illegals, thus providing them a pathway to citizenship.

McCain's emphasis on securing the border as the key to stopping illegal immigration may also reflect insincerity. At best it shows ignorance of the problem. From 40 percent to half of illegal aliens in the U.S. did not cross the border illegally. They came on legal visas, and then illegally overstayed those visas. Obviously, better internal enforcement is necessary to deal with this problem. McCain doesn't seem to know or care. If he does know, it doesn't matter, because by his own words, he will push amnesty first. The "straight talker" speaks with forked tongue.

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