Does George W. Bush Work for Vicente Fox?
David Frum:
Today, almost one-fifth of all living Mexican-born people now make their homes in the United States. You have to go back to the Irish potato famine to find a parallel. But Mexico is not suffering famine: It is suffering from a comprehensive failure of political and economic leadership.Mexico’s problems are also America’s problems, no getting around that. But an American president cannot agree that Mexico’s problems should be made only America’s problems.
In the context of an immigration reform in the American interest - meaning a restrictive immigration reform - the US should of course help Mexico find substitutes for any reductions in remittance income. One good place to start would be the energy industry, which could contribute much more to Mexican wealth if Mexico abandoned its 75-year-old protectionist policies. Of course, Mexicans will say that such changes are politically impossible for them. Then they turn around and ask George Bush to lay waste to Republican political prospects to save them from a fate from which they will not save themselves.
It’s frustrating. It’s even frightening. But in the end, an American president must remember who he is ultimately working for.
— PoliPundit