Certainly, for Mr. Shurtleff, there is some contact, communication and coordination for at least the meeting described below.
In Paul Mero's case - at the very least, an adoring fascination and fixation with the group surfaces. He may see in them an ally to help fulfill his desire to take his amnesty and cheap labor options nationwide in the immigration debate.
However, since they are all singing from the same page, so to speak, it is reasonable to ask whether or not they are much better friends than it appears from the brief news coverage of billionaire Bloomberg's pro-immigration group in our local media. I will leave it an open question, but the nature and goals of billionaire Bloomberg's group, The Partnership for a New American Economy, should be examined more closely.
We need to take seriously the goals of this group as they have deep, deep, deep pockets.
If they so choose, they can throw a lot of money around.
Their clout can also certainly open doors to elected officials' offices and to media access.
But whose interest is this group really serving?
That is the question that has to be considered before public officials run like a herd to follow the money-powers' lead.
Indeed...a lead that will be coded in the most noble principles and framed in an elegant campaign to convince us that immigration is one of the greatest things we could possibly do for the economy!
The current stage of the story begins back in May 2011.
Paul Mero, of the Sutherland Institute, wrote an article which appeared in the Deseret News on 5/5/11 ("Taking the compact to Washington").
In his article, Mr. Mero lets the cat out of the bag when he tells us that Utah has the right to pursue its own solutions to immigration issues: "...in the face of federal inaction regarding comprehensive immigration policy."
It seems, from this admission, that the goal of HB116 and the "Utah Solution" was meant to be "comprehensive" in the sense that it creates, among other things, an amnesty for those who are in the United States illegally and living in Utah.
Mr. Mero and the amnesty-gang, furthermore, are not trying to get the federal government to actually enforce current laws in any meaningful way.
That would not be "comprehensive."
But it would be effective!
So, I gather that they are not interested in effective enforcement.
If not enforcement, then what is their motivation?
Are they merely humanitarians seeking to create an open-door to ever increasing numbers of workers in America from foreign lands because they want what is best for those in other nations? (I gather that American workers can just fend for themselves).
Indeed, Mr. Mero states that the Utah bills will have the effect of:
"...ensuring that our businesses have all of the employees they need for future growth."
And how many of those employees will be Americans, Mr. Mero?
In the same article, Mero talks about the great sounding "Partnership for a New American Economy" and how they have taken notice of the Utah Compact:
"The original signers of the Compact, among others and led by Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, soon will be calling on all states to embrace a proposed America's Compact. And national groups, such as the Partnership for a New American Economy, are taking notice."
Imagine that...amnesty and cheap labor flows into the U.S. - now to be a national project being pushed by our own attorney general.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff had this to say at the meeting Mr. Mero writes about:
"Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and an adviser to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked mayors Wednesday to help refocus the debate and show how fixing immigration could boost the economy and create jobs." (Salt Lake Tribune, 5/4/11, "SLC-area mayors urged to make immigration an economic issue")
By "refocus the debate," Mr. Shurtleff seems to be saying that a repackaging is needed to sell the amnesty and cheap labor laws. In other words, the old shade of lipstick on the pig wasn't getting the job done.
But who is this Bloomberg waterboy fellow?
Jeremy Robbins (no relation) is "the Bloomberg adviser who manages the Partnership for a New American Economy."
And who are those guys?
Their website is: http://www.renewoureconomy.
Their members are presented to us at:
http://www.renewoureconomy.
There are a lot of names and companies associated with the individuals listed as well as of mayors of certain American cities.
If I had to guess, I would say that the mayor-focus is an angle to help sell their plans, which sound a lot like HB116, to the American public.
The bring-the-mayors-into-the-campaign is a nice touch as mayors can always get into the news. Get a few mayors all singing the same tune and it looks like some type of public consensus - never mind that the consensus is being pushed by some of the biggest money-players in the game.
Some local mayors are on the list, such as Salt Lake City Mayor Becker.
Lane Beattie of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is also a member.
The group must be quite impressive as our own local mayor of Park City, for example, liked the group so much that he signed their statement of principles even before the city council had voted on it:
"The mayor also apologized for signing the organization's statement of principles prior to the City Council voting for municipal involvement in the group. A document outlining the principles, already signed by Williams, was presented to the City Council before the vote." (http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_
Why would the Park City mayor want to work with this group?
According to the Park Record:
"Park City attracted a significant community of immigrants, many from Mexico, starting in the 1990s, as the area's economy started to hum during an era of fast growth. They were drawn by the plentiful construction, resort and hospitality jobs available in the Park City area in the years before the onset of the recession."
When the Park Record says "immigrants" above, do they actually mean it in a way that obscures the fact that many of these same workers were probably "illegal aliens?"
But notice the jobs the "immigrants" were working: "construction, resort and hospitality jobs."
These must be the types of jobs I keep hearing about that Americans just won't do!
No one was making money from cheap "immigrant" labor in Park City, were they?
Another interesting element derived from the article is this: the "immigrants" seemed to be flowing toward the jobs during the "era of fast growth" in Park City and were not the source of the fast growth itself.
In other words, the opposite of what the billionaire Bloomberg's "immigration" group is now selling.
What are they selling then?
Amnesty and cheap labor.
Sources for this blog entry:
Deseret News (5/5/11)(Salt Lake City, UT)
"Taking the compact to Washington"
http://www.deseretnews.com/
ParkRecord.com (7/1/11)(Park City, UT)
"Immigration reform: City Hall enters the discussion"
http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_
Salt Lake Tribune (5/4/11)(Salt Lake City, UT)
"SLC-area mayors urged to make immigration an economic issue"
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/
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