Far be it from me to engage in any form of bating when it comes to the immigration issue. But a copy of the newly released analysis of Census Data should give even the most pro-immigration supporters pause to reflect.

Immigrants in the United States, 2007:A Profile of America's Foreign-Born Population was compiled by Steven A. Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington and he was kind enough to send me a draft copy of the report that will be released today at their website, www.cis.org.

Among the report's highlights:

• Immigrant population in 2007: 37.9 million, legal and illegal

• One in Eight US residents are foreign born, the highest level in 80 years

• One in three immigrants are illegal. That means by government figures, over 12.6 million illegal immigrants in this nation today.

• Half of Mexican and Central American immigrants are illegal

• One-third of South American immigrants are illegal

• Since 2000, 10.6 million immigrants have arrived, the highest seven year period in history. More than half are estimated to be illegal - 5.6 million

• 31% of adult immigrants have not completed high school, compared to 8% of US natives. That's a 14% increase since 2000

• One third of immigrant households have a member participating in a major welfare program.

• 34% of immigrant households have no health insurance, nearly three times the rate of US Natives.

According to the analysis, Nevada ranks 16th in immigrant population, with 25% of the population being immigrants. Immigrant population in our state grew 37% in the last seven years, higher than the 24% national average.

Further, immigrants in Nevada account for 32% of those living in poverty and 37% of those without health insurance.

I'm certain that in the coming weeks Pat Choate will have a more thoughtful analysis of this study. For now, all I can say is WOW! If this data is extrapolated from the official government figures, imagine what the real figures might be.

I'm also quite impressed with the very reasonable and logical conclusion that most of the lack of success with the immigrants is directly tied to a lack of education. A good education can generally overcome most any problem. The fact that the educational level of immigrants as a group is so much lower than US natives speaks volumes. Of course, many of our ancestors didn't have the level of education that we have today.

Party of the elite

An interesting story popped up last week during the Thanksgiving weekend. According to a study released by the Heritage Foundation, a majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional jurisdictions were represented by Democrats. And more than half of the wealthiest households were concentrated in the 18 states where Democrats hold both Senate seats.

Michael Franc, vice president of Government Relations for Heritage, says he found the study interesting. They view wealthy districts as having a high number of single filer taxpayers earning more than $100k a year and married couples filing jointly with more than $200k a year in annual income.

In a preview of the study on November 5th, he told the Financial Times of London that "The demographic reality is that the Democratic Party is the new party of the rich."

But, where does that leave you, the Middle American.

The Democrats continue to try to make the poor and disenfranchised believe that they represent them, all the while representing wealthy America. The Republicans, meanwhile, make no bones about their global aspirations and desires to continue down the Neo-conservative path that has led to the near-destruction of the American middle class.

Who is out there to represent you, the working American? Not much of anyone. The only candidate with a glimmer of hope is Ron Paul, and the machine is already trying to do a number on him. The so-called "top tier" candidates are winding up to destroy anyone ready to mount a challenge.

If the Global Elite have their way, your choices will be TweedleDum and TweedleDumber....

None of the Above is still a better choice....

Oh, I love the flap between Fred Thompson and FOX News. FOX is upset that Thompson's doing as well as he is against the "neo-con machine" candidates, and Thompson is upset that FOX is totally poo-pooing his candidacy.

It's a shame when a candidate with a real platform, real money, and real backing is dismissed by a "fair and balanced" news organization...

Wyatt Cox knows that nothing in life is fair, nor is he balanced...politically or otherwise. Reach him at wyattcox.net.