Great Mysteries of Our Time

Why oh why does the GOP have problem courting nonwhite voters? No one will ever know:

I see the Heritage Foundation continues to be a shining conservative beacon of light to all discredited little hacks who are no longer welcome in more polite society (yes, yes, Mr. DeMint, we see you waving at us). It seems one of the authors of the immigration "study" that had even other conservative think tankers up in arms has a bit of a past; Dylan Matthews at WaPo notes that one of his past hits is a doctoral dissertation recommending America alter its immigration policies to better reflect the obvious differences in intelligence between the "white native population" and the pesky non-white newcomers. Or, as he put it:

"The statistical construct known as IQ can reliably estimate general mental ability, or intelligence. The average IQ of immigrants in the United States is substantially lower than that of the white native population, and the difference is likely to persist over several generations. The consequences are a lack of socioeconomic assimilation among low-IQ immigrant groups, more underclass behavior, less social trust, and an increase in the proportion of unskilled workers in the American labor market. Selecting high-IQ immigrants would ameliorate these problems in the U.S., while at the same time benefiting smart potential immigrants who lack educational access in their home countries."

And:

"No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against."