Rep. Mark Kirk The Moron (R-Of Course)

Republicans never cease to simultaneously amuse and scare me with their ridiculous antics. Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois is the example for the moment. This shows the ignorance of said Congressman and how that lack of knowledge breeds outright stupidity. When talking about Mexico and the undocumented immigrants coming to the United States, it also makes him look like a xenophobic idiot.

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressman is pushing a not-so-quick fix in the debate over illegal immigrants from Mexico: free contraceptives.

"A slower rate of growth of Mexico's population would improve the economy of Mexico. It would also reduce the environmental pressure on Mexico's ecosystem. But a slower rate of growth would also reduce the long-term illegal immigration pressure on America's borders," reasoned Rep. Mark Kirk, who also supports stronger border security in the short-term.

In reality, fertility rates have plunged in Mexico since 1980, when an average couple would have five or more children. Now, the country's fertility rate has dropped to 2.5 children, compared to 2.1 for the United States, according to United Nations data.

So much for this London School of Economics grad (are you kidding me???) analyzing all the data before offering his 'wisdom'. Offering contraceptives to people is a good thing anywhere, but when the motive is to cut down on 'illegal immigration' the proposal smacks of racist xenophobia.

Thankfully Reuters includes a slice of reality for its readers in the third paragraph. If Kirk could take those massive blinders off his face he might be able to see that the flow of people into the United States has nothing to do with population and everything to do with economics. If there is more opportunity in Country A and you live in Country B where corruption and poverty is rampant, Country A might be a little more appealing.

Oh, not to let Reuters off the hook, but at the bottom of the little article they try to spin the story for Kirk. Their logic is that with his LSE degree, the proposal might be better accepted because its more fiscally prudent to ship condoms than build a big fence in the desert. Way to go Reuters, what would we do without that silver lining in the story.

They Hate Us For Our Miss America

Giuliani likes to echo President Bush's talking points about why so many people and terrorists hate America these days. The two of them (and a whole host of pundits and elected officials) say that they hate us for our freedoms. Well the newest right-wing talking point is going to be that they hate us for Miss America. The evidence? The audience at the Miss Universe competition, where the crowd booed Miss America Rachel Smith. The Young Turks talk about it (skip ahead to the 2:30 min mark to catch the relevant material).

Looking To Mexico To Solve NYC Poverty Problems

You wouldn't think off the bat that problems in Mexico can be solved by similar solutions here in New York. Yet that is exactly what Mayor Bloomberg is trying to do. Mexico instituted a program that pays mothers with children varying amounts depending on a host of factors that revolve around being 'good mothers'. The program has been touted as successful and replicated by other countries and endorsed by the World Bank. But could it work here in the five burroughs?

From The New York Times:

On Monday in Tepoztlán (pronounced teh-pos-LAHN), they watched as about 800 women waited for three hours or more in the auditorium to go up to get their money. If the women and their children have kept all their medical appointments, and if their children have stayed in school, the money is theirs to use as they wish. The awards range from 360 to 3,710 pesos (about $36 to $370), enough to buy food or shoes or other necessities. The size of the award depends on how many children they have and what level of school the children are in.

The program is 10 years old, has a budget of more than $3 billion a year and covers almost a quarter of all Mexicans.

It may seem strange that one of the world’s financial capitals should look to a small mountain town for answers to its own urban ills. But since this program got its start in rural Mexico in 1997, it has been heralded by the World Bank and others as a powerful model for fighting chronic poverty.

Outside evaluations have found that the program, called Oportunidades, has been successful in raising school attendance and nutrition levels. The percentage of Mexicans living in extreme poverty has fallen by 17 percentage points since 1996, when it reached 37 percent.

That sounds great for impoverished countries, but what does that have to do with New York, a city flush with cash but with a few that have next to nothing. Most candidates of the Oportunidades program live on less than $2 a day, even the homeless can get more than that begging on the streets.

Handing out money is a quick fix solution that won't serve a long-term problem. The programs that teach people how to get out of poverty is more in line with what I believe can help. Yet bribing people to attend them is another matter. I am glad that this is working in other countries, but we need something that is more tailored to the problems of impoverished New Yorkers. Perhaps Bloomberg can see something down there that can work but a carbon-copy certainly wouldn't. We already have programs that help the welfare of the poor on a day to day basis, which should be kept running smoothly, efficiently and kept well-funded.