As the Republican presidential candidates compete to see who can bash immigrants the hardest, Citigroup has just appointed Vikram Pandit, a super-smart financier born in India, to be its CEO. As this New York Times article notes, he joins thirteen other CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies who were not born in this country: “The head of the Altria Group was born in Egypt, for example. PepsiCo’s is from India, the Liberty Mutual Group’s is a native of Ireland, and Alcoa’s was born in Morocco.”
Perhaps one of the GOP candidates can cut a TV spot bemoaning lost jobs for American plutocrats and promising that in his administration WASP’s will regain their rightful places atop the corporate hierarchy.
Actually, the fact that the top management jobs are no longer the exclusive preserve of the proverbial man in the gray flannel suit is good news. It means that American companies are doing a great job of drawing on talent from all around the world. In the short term, of course, that can be disorienting and aggravating for the clubby golfing types who had come to look on top-level corporate jobs as theirs almost by divine right. In the long term, however, it means that American companies will be more competitive than insular rivals in other countries, thereby making this country even more prosperous and vital. Something similar is happening on lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder: the short-term pain of immigration is generally offset by long-term gains.
That’s easy to lose sight of amid all this immigrant bashing. To be sure, Republicans claim to be all in favor legal immigration; it is only illegal immigration they claim to oppose. But the reality is that a lot of undocumented immigrants are also making a positive contribution to this country. In any case, the distinction between legal and illegal quickly gets lost in the debate, when a lot of the leading Republicans sound like they’re simply aggravated by too many foreigners coming here.
Keep it up, guys, if you want to lose the votes of Latinos—and those of our newest CEO’s.
Is it fair to expect Barbour to clean up the wreckage of two Bush presidencies?
“The culture of corruption is spreading. You have to look deep into the article to find out she’s a Democrat, but the Baltimore mayor who indeed is a Democrat has been indicted on multiple counts of bribery and theft.”
). Besides – -maybe its becoming a subtle admission — corruption is synonymous with Democrat.
Well — I don’t think there is a big city in a Blue state with a Republican mayor (and I don’t count Bloomberg as a Republican
That’s a pretty crazy definition of error or miscalculation if it doomed shamnesty. If the attempt as Soc. Sec. reform sunk immigration reform/amnesty then it’s one of the very few things that Bush did that turned out well.
Ms. Rubin:
President Bush correctly surmises that it was an error to try social security reform right after the 2004 election, a political miscalculation that doomed chances for immigration reform.
Ah, the sliver lining! Wait’ll I tell Mr. Krikorian and Roy Beck. They may, however, be disappointed to learn that the fax and phone blitz to Congressmen and a public being decidedly against shamnesty had nothing to do with its defeat. Let’s see, what can be done to SB 9, the 111th Congress’ “reform” bill? Propose a bailout of newspapers?
Barbour was a great RNC Chairman and has also been a very effective governor and would not only do many great things as RNC Chair but could very well be a credible if not, indeed, excellent, presidential candidate. Unfortunately, he is an echt southern good ‘ol boy . While that may constitute a big part of his charm for many (this commentor included) it does not represent the ideal image the Republican Party wants to present at this time. It is not merely unfortunate but appaling to hold this against people but that is the current reality.
Picking up on #5 post — It is certainly fascinating to watch the love/hate relationship between South and Non-South unfold in this country. And it is certainly undeniable that if Barbour were named RNC Chair right now, the MSM would overwhelmingly portray his Chairmanship as a dual-act of GOP sycophancy (or worse) towards Southern whites, and indifference (or worse) towards everyone else. I can understand why the RNC would not want to swim against that particular tide right now, and indeed, I would not advise them to.
Regarding The Nation and Katha Pollitt’s piece on Caroline Kennedy, yes, Pollitt is by far the best writer at that magazine, and the only one who has any integrity.
She demonstrates that you can be a determined lefty and a raging feminist, and still speak responsibly and with common sense. Worth reading is her piece: Bill Ayers Whitewashes History, Again