Center for American Progress Keeps Beating A Straw-man

Marshall Fitz with the Center for American Progress can't resist beating on a strawman when discussing birthright citizenship. In a US News opinion piece, Fitz refers to efforts to end birthright citizenship as "repealing the 14th Amendment" - a statement Fitz clearly knows is wrong since the legislative action favored by FAIR and other immigration reformers would only clarify the citizenship clause of the 14th amendment. But, eager to demagogue, Fitz says, "Repeal of the citizenship clause would return us to the dark days of Dred Scott by denying citizenship to a new class of children and stigmatizing them at birth." Perhaps the most interesting position Fitz takes is the condescension he has for the very rational belief of illegal aliens that if they have a citizen child they will hit the lottery, and be entitled to social programs and welfare. Just as in the debate over welfare reform, opponents of changing the status quo refuse to examine the incentives driving people's behavior because it is more important to score ideological points than to be right.