Posted on 06/10/2007 10:19:16 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
Washington - As a murder mystery, the death of immigration reform is a tale with many suspects. There were Republicans who wanted it killed because they thought it gave amnesty to illegal immigrants. Some Democrats didn't like it much because it threatened to push down workers' wages. In the end, the compromise immigration reform bill that tried to please everyone might not have been capable of surviving.
"It was an ambitious attempt but it was vulnerable from both extremes," said former Gov. Dick Lamm, a vocal supporter of tougher border enforcement. "Both extremes have their hand on the dagger that killed it."
There are still people who could resuscitate immigration-reform legislation. President Bush plans to meet with Republican senators Tuesday at their weekly lunch. Both Colorado Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard said they are optimistic the legislation will resurface this year.
Groups opposed to legal status for illegal immigrants rallied supporters to call and e-mail senators. One such group, grassfire.org., said Friday that it "sent over 700,000 petitions, faxes and thousands of phone calls to Senate offices." ... The legislation's demise essentially came last week when amendments were passed that severely rankled both sides.
The first, from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, eliminated a provision that promised illegal immigrants their undocumented status wouldn't be turned over to local police if they applied to stay in the country. Cornyn's amendment said that in some cases, the Department of Homeland Security could release that information. It passed 57-39, with 11 Democrats voting in favor. Some Democrats had considered that provision vital, saying illegal immigrants wouldn't come forward if they feared arrest. Then the Senate voted 49-48 to end after five years the guest-worker program that Republicans considered vital to business interests. The death watch started...
(Excerpt) Read more at test.denverpost.com ...
I Like Ike.
Take the Pledge: "I pledge to never, ever vote for anyone, for any office, who votes in favor of the Mexican Invasion Surrender Bill."
Pres. Bush has stated this weekend he wants it back ASAP!
Let me rephrase that:
I like the letter posted in reply better than the article.
Why should we care WHO shot this very bad bill down?
Sometimes, even for the wrong reason, our national legislature still ends up doing the right thing.
www.spp.gov
Yep. lol
It’s not coming back. The Senators would rather sacrifice their first born than go through the firestorm from their constituents again. They had no idea how fast and with what magnitude the opposition to this trash would materialize.
It won’t come back before elections.
These reporters have no clue about what happened. According to them, everything was hunky dory until the two “bad” amendments passed. Brief reference to citizen advocacy, including Feinstein’s moronic remarks. But the reporters missed the point that it was grass roots outrage that brought it down, amendments notwithstanding. I am keeping a list, in a separate file on my computer, of the scoff-laws who voted against the Cornyn amendment. And I am going to deploy it at each election from now til doomsday.
I guess that the "New Tone" doesn't apply to the people who voted you in for two terms.
Not according to the Secty of commerce this morning. He said Bush wants this done now and they will do it....
I hope you’re right, but listening to the talking heads this morning, I get the feeling that it will rear its ugly head again one or more times.
With only 23% support, they have a long way to go. All but six Republicans voted against it. Bush has his work cut out for him on Tuesday.
You can always rely on the DP to push the liberal line and this article’s got it all — opponents of this bill are “haters,” “extremists,” and even “racists” — at least, accordingly to Feinstein and Lamm. Predictably, the Post avoided equally vituperant quotes from the anti-”reform” side. No comment mentioned from Tancredo or Hunter. God forbid we should uphold our existing immigration and labor law and maintain the integrity of our national border. Sounds like Bush is not going to take this defeat sitting down, though — he’ll keep trying to complete America’s slide into a lawless, third-world hell-hole. I just can’t believe I voted for this back-stabber twice.
Yes, worth a read.
“You can always rely on the DP to push the liberal line...” Ain’t that the truth. Case in point: that poor, addled, ignorant Cindy Rodriguez, a columnist who has not had a coherent thought in the past decade.
Ditto!
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