Pop civics quiz (we'll start with the easy questions):

Which Party has been completely in control of the government for the bulk of this millenium?

Answer: The Republican Party. We've had a Republican president since 2000, Republican majorities in the House (since 1994) and Senate (off and on since 2000), and a Supreme Court that can be relied upon - for years to come - to back the Republican position on most any issue one can imagine.

How many illegal immigrants are there today in the U.S.?

Answer: Hard to say. Most people put it between 11 and 12 million, but some very shrill conservatives (like Pat Buchanan) have inflated it in their minds to as many as 30 million.

How many illegal aliens were in the U.S. when the Republicans took over in 2000?

Answer: 'Bout seven million, by most informed estimates.

How many illegal aliens were in the U.S. in 1986?

Answer: Essentially, zero. Ronald Reagan signed an amnesty bill into law that year, in effect granting citizenship to millions of immigrants. It was part of his onslaught against labor unions, and it worked out pretty well for the GOP's corporate buddies. So, in the 14 years between 1986 and 2000, we attracted seven million immigrants. In the six years between 2000 and 2006, under Republican rule, that figure nearly doubled (or more than quadrupled, depending on who you believe).

What are they doing here?

Answer: Working. President Bush says they are here to do the jobs that Americans won't do. What he means is that immigrants are earning wages that Americans will not accept, doing the hard and dirty work for the agriculture, construction and hospitality industries (which contribute overwhelmingly to Republican campaigns). They're also being doctored, educated and incarcerated by the taxpayers of this country.

What is the federal government, embodied by the omnipotent Republican Party, doing to stem the tide of illegal immigration?

Answer: Nothing! They're playing three-card-monty, appropriating 700 miles of fencing to secure a 2,000-mile border, deploying National Guardsmen at a rate of one or two warm bodies per linear mile, that sort of thing. It's only done in order to appeal to the xenophobia that dominates the majority of their base in the Southwest.

Will the federal government ever try the laws of supply and demand by going after the employers who profit from illegal labor?

Answer: Hell, no - not so long as conservatives are in charge. In 1999, with Bill Clinton in the White House and Democrats running the Senate, the government slapped fines on 417 companies for illegal hiring practices. In 2004, it issued three (3) such fines. This mirrors, by the way, the Parties' respective approaches to corporate polluters and protection of the environment.

Are the people really so powerless in this situation?

Answer: Yes and no. Rather than making wholesale changes in our representative branches, we come up with ludicrous ballot initiatives aimed at hurting the immigrant population. While crude, these devices will have an impact on Corporate America - which loves, and would miss very much, cheap labor - wherever draconian rule is implemented by an angry electorate. So they'll just raise prices on homes, hotel rooms and produce... And they're doing that anyway.

So what does America have to do to stem the tide of illegal immigration?

Answer: Plain and simple, homework. It starts by taking off the blinders and realizing that we've all been duped, and not just on this issue. If we desire a return to national sanity, we have to flush out the people who have brought us to this point - which takes us back to Question Number One in today's pop quiz.