On Thu, 21 Jun 2012 12:35:26 -0500, Eddie Haskell wrote:
> No wonder democrats want to bus them in and naturalize them to vote in
> droves. They want the US to become like Mexico.
The U.S. Democrat party is remarkably similar to the PRI party that ruled
Mexico for most of the 20th century. Like the Democrat party, the PRI
purported to represent nearly every sector of Mexican society, and
controlled a powerful political machine that co-opted unions so as to
make everyone dependent on it for their jobs.
Since the PRI controlled all branches of government, there was no check
or balance on its power, and public money was stolen by the PRI -- some
of it used to buy elections and the rest laundered into secret Swiss bank
accounts. The PRI's kleptomania and fiscal irresponsibility caused a
spectacular economic collapse in the 1980s, which ironically worked to
its advantage as hyperinflation made Mexicans more dependent on the
subsidies the ruling party doled out.
The PRI lost the presidency in 2000, though it is still a dominating
force in Mexican politics. Its loss was a combination of the threat of
an armed insurrection if they rigged another election, and the difficulty
of rigging the election due to a series of electoral reforms that were
made in the 1990s, one of which was the issuance of tamper-proof voter
identification cards. Another reform was the use of clear plastic ballot
boxes, so voters can see that they are empty when the polls open.