Quick history quiz. Who said the following: "This amnesty will give citizenship to only 1.1 to 1.3 million illegal aliens. We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward another amnesty bill like this."?

That was Ted Kennedy on the floor of the US Senate in 1986, pushing for legislation that successfully granted amnesty to several million illegal aliens that year.

There you have a good example of why the word "amnesty" is such a hot-button with politicians and the American public. Because the only thing that bill did successfully was grant amnesty.

Ted Kennedy's promises of "securing the border" notwithstanding, we've since had another twelve to twenty million illegals sneak into our country. So here comes the amnesty crowd once again, claiming that without it our country will suffer plagues of uncut grass and unpicked cabbage.

The reason there's such controversy over the use of the word amnesty is because its meaning is clear, and the American people oppose it in overwhelming numbers. As a result, the politicians duck and dive in trying to avoid using the word, or create a lawyer-like linguistic fog to confuse everyone within the sound of their voice.

Invariably in any conversation with proponents of the proposed amnesty scheme, they inevitably whip out the tired old bromide that the illegals "do the jobs Americans won't do". But are they sure? Or is it just that they do jobs Americans won't do for a few bucks an hour cash-under-the-table and with no FICA payments?

If we're going to have an open and honest debate about one of the most important issues of our time, let's all be honest and not try to confuse people. Be grown up enough to admit what you're selling.

And speaking of selling, who's going to pay for this bill? It has been well documented that low-skilled immigrants receive far more in government benefits and services than they pay in taxes. A recent Heritage Foundation study puts the number at a net cost of approximately twenty-thousand dollars per year per immigrant, which totals up to between 2.3 and 2.5 TRILLION dollars over the next two decades. But what's a few trillion dollars between friends.

I propose that no such legislation be passed until Congress can verify just how much it will cost and where the money will come from. What happened to that "pay-as-you-go" budgeting we heard so much about and that the Democrats demand be applied anytime someone suggests a tax cut? "Where will the money come from?" they cry. Well, where's the money coming from to pay for amnesty?

What federal programs are going to be cut in order to offset the massive extra costs to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, subsidized housing and other social welfare programs? Surely not the newly legalized aliens themselves, since we're told they're here to do low paying jobs we won't do. It's hard to pay enough in taxes to cover your own weight on the social safety hammock when you're at or below the poverty level.

So who's going to cover the costs? The Senators and Congressmen who give us this bill? In a just world, yes, but sadly no. The correct answer is taxpayers. You know, those people who already give up about half of their gross income in federal, state and local taxes every year. The same taxpayers that will soon be hit up to cover the cost of the big I.O.U in the Social Security trust fund once the full force of the boomer generation hits their golden years.

Before Congress passes such a bill and ads several trillion dollars to our tax burden, let's see some comparative analysis on how much we'd save if consumers had to absorb the increased costs to fruits, vegetables and landscaping if these jobs paid wages that wouldn't require cheap immigrant labor.

The long and the short of this bill is that those who have broken our laws get preferential treatment in being able to stay and taxpayers get the bill. It's not just amnesty, it's amnesty plus a massive transfer of wealth.

There's a tax-revolt on the horizon in this country, and any political party that is on the wrong side when the time comes (or is seen as being part of the problem) will pay dearly at the ballot box.

Don't' want to pony up your share of a few extra trillion dollars in the coming years? Then call your US Senators and Representatives. Now.