[siegler]

I usually avoid politics, but since we now seem to have an administration that's open to suggestions, I'm going to risk making one

If your goal is to persuade as many people as possible, insulting the previous administration and by extension those that voted for Bush is a bad start. I was already opposed to your idea before the second sentence, despite the fact that I'm an advocate of increased legal immigration.

[anatoli]

You seem to have found a lot of implied meaning in that one sentence. You also have an extremely low treshold for what you consider an insult.

[geebee]

I'm always curious when people say they advocate increasing immigration. Right now, the United States takes about 1.2 million immigrants legally into the country every year. Does this seem too low a number to you? If so, do you see a practical need for some kind of limit, or are you in favor of limitless immigration?

[TJensen]

The problem is that the majority of illegal immigrants are at the low end of the tax spectrum, often taking more out than the put in. The people who we'd ideally want in the country are at the other end, and they usually aren't here illegally. That is the group PG is trying to target here, and I'm ALL for making it easier for them to immigrate.

[geebee]

I completely agree, our immigration system needs reform, badly. In fact, I see "low hanging fruit" that could really improve our economy and quality of life.

That said, I didn't really get an answer... you say you're in favor of increasing legal immigration - are you in favor of changing the mix, of do you think that we need to go way above the current level of 1.2+ million a year?

[mhb]

I thought the risk was in opening the floodgates of pure political discussion on HN.

[abossy]

I believe the reference is to all administrations prior to the current one. Transparency has been a hallmark of the current administration since day one.