History 1503B
September 14, 2015
Unit 4 IP
I chose to write about Immigration and the Contract with America. I can honestly say that I didn’t know much about immigration and what all it entailed before starting this course and I’m not proclaiming to be an expert but I am more knowledgeable about it and now have an opinion. I read the article, “Don’t Shut the Golden Door”, and I must say that I agree. When I think of the great US this is supposed to be the land of the free and opportunity, and I think we should welcome others within certain parameters. I do believe that we shouldn’t just shut people out of our country but set up specifics across the board for people to follow to become citizens. “America is neither less safe because of immigration nor is it worse off economically. In fact, in the regions where immigrants have settled in the past two decades, crime has gone down, cities have grown, poor urban neighborhoods have been rebuilt, and small towns that were once on life support are springing back. (MacDonald and Sampson, 2012)
As stated in the article, The Contract with America….” the Contract found a particularly receptive audience in the elections in the fall of 1994 because of a combined disenchantment with the existing Congress and the widespread view of a lack of leadership being provided by President Bill Clinton in the White House.” (Gayner, 1995). “First, they made all the laws that applied to the rest of the country apply to Congress itself; this indicated that Congressmen should be treated like other citizens and not remain a privileged elite,” (Gayner, 1995). “The very first item in the Contract with America sought "to restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses."(Gayner, 1995). “Ultimately, the government should cease many of its activities; but what is necessary now is a realistic transitional mechanism to achieve that goal. The...