McCain's downfall.

Should illegal immigrants who worked in the United States be allowed to collect the promised tax rebate?

Hmm... I have a concentration in economics from Northwestern (they didn't offer minors, only "concentrations") and to be straight with you, I have my doubts on this whole stimulate-the-economy-by-spending-the-rebates plan. I also took some political science classes, and despite the cultural appeal to the 6os, I don't believe in magic. Those days are gone, not coming back no matter how physically attractive(?) or verbally electrifying the candidate.

I suspect if you hand the tax-filing illegal immigrants well over a thousand dollars per family, much of that "extra" money will be sent home to family in Mexico. Not stimulating the American economy a bit, unless the money is used to guide more family members illegal across our still essentially open borders.

It's just not in the nature of immigrants -- legal or illegal -- to splurge on a wide-screen t.v. or to take the family to Disney with the rebate. Again, I'm not so sure that spending on China-manufactured products is going to help America's economic woes much anyway, and I suspect many have wised up and will use the money not to spend, but to pay bills and keep the wolf from the door so to speak. (Shell's posting record oil profits, and the basic grocery staples are up, up, up thanks to the costs of oil, transporting all goods.)

But tell me this, all those who are calling for an Obama-McCain showdown: Isn't this "extremism" at its finest? One backs Bush's Iraq policy 100%, the other calls for a complete withdrawal. That's the center? That's understanding the current real-world options and the best they can do to navigate the options? Either/Or?

Personally, in the GOP, I still like Romney. He's real-world tested, not a Senate product. McCain overnight is going to morph into a leader, when he had done essentially nothing in his Senate career? (To me, McCain-Feingold was well-meaning, but unconstitutional if you respect First Amendment principles.)

And Obama -- well like I say, I don't believe in turning the clock back to the 60's just to give Caroline Kennedy/Edwin Schlossberg's children and their cohorts "something to believe in" again. Sorry kids, if you've been blessed like that and are still depressed and unhopeful, trust me -- it's you. No special shade of presidential candidate skin with electrifying speeches can get the job done, if you can't find it within yourself to start at the bottom in tackling the job that needs to be done. Talk to the dwindling numbers of middle-class youngsters if you want to see how it works. The 60s truly are gone, and those ex-hippies encouraging such rot should be ashamed.

The "Do you believe in magic?" days should have been put to rest long ago -- hard work, rational compromises, not magic, folks. Read up on your country's past, kids, and don't let them play those silly "change for its own sake" cards once again. The surviving Kennedy's are a bloated, privileged class riding the coattails of dead men. Have been for years. They maybe mean well, but... Look around you and understand the reality-challenged ignorance of many promising a magical turnaround absent hard choices, accepting consequences and denying their own track records (one was confidently spouting Guiliani-Huckabee, before she came clean admitting she'd take McCain over Clinton, if indeed her magical man Obama doesn't get the nod, bringing back that 60s unity and love and magically transforming the economic and political climate. That's not logical; that's extremism considering how different the two are -- policy-wise. Of course, that's the same pundit type who will discuss looks, age, tone of voice... anything but rational policy discussion. Thankfully, they hold no real sway, short of entertainment value. Escapism from their own second-hand lives, talking just to hear themselves speak).

We may not like them personally, but both Romney and Clinton have shown they understand that you don't feed the kids sugar and crap just because they'll like you more if you do. America is facing some hard times ahead, necessary if we hope to pull out of this recession and rebuild our country from the bottom up. Clinton gets that, hence the charges of closet Republicanism on many issues. Romney too. Sure he cut jobs of failing companies in dying industries. Sometimes it worked in saving the patient, sometimes they died despite the efforts. But feeding them sugar and promising magic, that might make the children feel better temporarily, but look at the 60s -- take a close look at that Kennedy presidency, in fact -- sift through the decades of fallout, and tell me: would it have been better to adopt social policies then that felt hard but didn't essentially abandon the public school systems, traditional family and religious values, solid economic theory?

We man not like Hillary or Mitt, might not want them as friends, not on the top of the list as cool people to invite to the weekend party, but you have to admit: they both get it. They understand where we're at -- in America, in Iraq -- and acknowledge that hard choices are ahead. It won't come easy though, never has despite the lingering myths.

To wrap it up, no. No, you don't give tax rebates to illegal immigrants to stimulate the Mexican economy. No, it's not "fair" to say if they filed, they get the rebate. Tell that to those making over $75,000, who are much more likely to splurge on a vacation helping service workers, or on a durable consumer goods-- helping the Best Buy sales guys and the manual installers, if they indeed hire household help (an American citizen) to rewire, haul and install. Plus, odds are that those illegals filing aren't doing so to nobly pay additional taxes, but to receive money back from their deductions, and potential EIC (earned income credit.) So as you begin to study it, the "fairness" angle -- or "if they paid in, they get the rebate" falls flat.

Nothing personal, truly. I like America's princess afterall, even at 50. I'm sure she's a great wife and mother, and she'd probably sell a few books on her own too, without the title bestowed way back when. It's just pure economics, with a basic understanding of human incentives and a wallop of common sense. Immigration -- legal immigration and regulation -- is fine, but America surely cannot continue to absorb low-skilled workers and remain competitive in the global economy. Nothing magical about it.*
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*And yes, I do understand that voicing such substantive concerns might put me in the minority and court unpopularity. That's ok. Better to be respected than to be liked; better to be correct in the long run than to feed the baby sugar and wonder why he finds himself in ill health years down the road. Enough of that, America.

UPDATE:
Here's a cartoon that captures this silly magical mindset perfectly!