by Chris Dungan (chrisdungan.com--but please pass it on and adapt it as needed)

Since the people have asked for bipartisan cooperation, I'd like to reach out to those who don't always see eye-to-eye with me. As we stand steadfast against an immigration bill that its proponents admit no one will like, we realize the desperation many feel for some kind of solution and their sense that a compromise will be necessary. But our history shows that this is not the way. Compromise is why half our states had slaves before the Civil War, the kind of compromise that people point to as one of the most shameful aspects of our past, the kind of compromise that's being exploited to create a new class of dependent people. While politicians who won't guard the border against drugs urge you to tell your children to "just say no," they want to get you hooked on cheap labor and make you think there's no hidden cost. They even misappropriate the epithets of the past, calling it racist to question the wisdom of vastly expanding our population, as if the questioner would really be thrilled if only the strain on our schools and hospitals involved people who looked like he or she did.

There is great reassurance to be found in inner knowing. You may not know this immigration proposal [May 17, 2007] would cost Social Security and Medicare $2.5 TRILLION, but you do know that there are costs to a society when you send a message that ignoring the rules will get you ahead. Is that how you want corporate polluters to regard our law enforcement, or children, or co-workers, or bureaucrats? Some of my colleagues who claim fervent concern about greenhouse gases want millions more people to contribute to inefficient and slow stop-and-go driving on our city streets, resulting in poorer mileage for you to pay for at the pump while causing greater emissions and dependence on foreign oil. It also means higher-density housing, less open space, and more crowded recreational areas. The bottom line is this: if we're going to help others live better lives, we can help them do so amidst their own treasured culture and extended families, or we can all cram into one place and let governments take the rest.

You know we can't have effective reform by compromising with racial supremacists while citizens are kept in the dark. You know we need to enforce current laws before expecting anything from new laws. And maybe you know the resolution of immigration shouldn't be driven by those who are too desperate--or too insulated--to understand such intangibles as quality of life; and maybe you know not to wait until something is gone before appreciating it.

Given the price we've paid in Iraq, I can understand why it's hard for some of you to see any reason to stand by the Commander-in-Chief as part of the big picture. Well, President Bush has been AWOL on defending us from the standpoint of border security, so there is nothing to stand with there; I stand with you--and unlike some, I won't declare defeat. Critics of our strategy in Iraq say Americans weren't asked to sacrifice enough--yet some of these same people ask you to sacrifice education and medical care and safety. Those of us who know the folly of bringing the whole world here, who have no vested interest in expanding the underclass as it brings an epidemic of tuberculosis, only ask you to sacrifice old habits--habits of letting special interests pass judgment on your compassion, of fearing what other people will think for not giving your business to the lowest bidder. Money has a psychological cost as well, and when the social form is one of paying a bit more out of pride and pulling together so as not to pay more for dependency later, the emotional cost of the extra spending will cease to be painful as well. Thank you, and may God continue to bless the America that blesses itself.