The Evansville Courier Press has a good editorial on the Republican strategy of grandstanding on immigration. They note that House Republicans have torpedoed the immigration bill supported by the likes of President Bush and Senator McCain and, instead, will spend the summer holding as many hearings as they can on immigration where they can hold forth on what an urgent and unmitigated evil we face.
The Courier Press puts it nicely:
The delay so that House Republicans can spend a month grandstanding on the issue means there’s a real likelihood there will be no bill at all this year, either before the lawmakers knock off to campaign for the November elections or in a lame-duck session afterward.
If that happens, everything goes back to square one in the new Congress.
The Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress. If immigration is truly the urgent national problem that they say it is, failure to even try to deal with it, in the words of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., “would be to me a sign of inability to govern.”
The Republicans have lost their way…
The big business arm of The Republican Party wants to allow the rampant illegal alien problem to grow so they can get cheap labor.
The Democrats have always been lost on illegal immigration; unfortunately for US citizens, both the Dems and Reps look at them as potential voters rather then the criminals they are.
We need to pass a bill that emphazies enforcment of border security first, nothing else is acceptable.
Mike Sylvester
Better no bill than the joke of a bill supported by the President and most democrats except four in the Senate.This bill is a joke!Here`s some of the goodies in it the U.S. must consult with Mexico before any new security fence is built,social security for illegals using fake social security cards(a felony),Davis-Bacon wage protections for illegals on federally funded jobs,counting extended family brought in by this amnesty and guest worker program 60 million people in the next 20 years this was only reduced to this number after Robert Rector and the Heritage Foundation reported on what would have been over 100 million people and last but not least arbitration hearings with government funded lawyer for any guest worker who thought they were terminated unfairly!!Most of us are at will employees but the Senate made a provision to help the guest workers.We are registered democrats who will vote for republican John Hostettler because of his stand on illegal immigration.These editorials by newspapers and national media are no surprise they wont even use the word illegal.I wonder if they would be so quick to support this flood of cheap labor if they could compete for their jobs!!
I haven’t read the bill, but taking it as you suggest — those worker protections, such as Davis Bacon and arbitration hearings sound more like protections for citizen workers than immigrant workers. It reduces the potential for guest workers to undercut citizens on wages and working conditions. But then, perhaps we should attack that issue by strengthening our labor laws and enforcing them — something that will never happen if Hostettler and his buddies remain in control of Congress.
George Will mentioned the Davis-Bacon protections for the guest workers for prevailing wage as being absurd in the Senate bill.I can`t remember who it was on Lou Dobbs it may have been one of the economist they had on or a congressman that stated the arbitration hearings would be for the guest workers only not citizens of the U.S. which seems more likely the case since the government is not going to provide lawyers for these matters for citizens of this country who have been terminated and think it was unjust that would be far too costly!I haven`t read the bill yet either it was 600 and some pages with 100 and some pages of managers amendments bringing the total to I think 714 pages.I notice you did not comment on the social security benefits that would be provided to illegals with this bill or the consulting with Mexico before building any new fence?This was slipped in by Senator Dodd.It doesn`t matter if you read the bill, hell seeing as how the final bill was handed to the Senate 2 hours before the vote I doubt they did either!As for Hostettler we have never voted for the man before but I`ll tell you this we know a lot of democrats that will this time because of this issue.I know of 20 family members for sure that will vote for him and this issue will come up in the 8th district race.We`re tired of illegals carrying Mexican flags and demanding rights of U.S. citizens let them protest their own corupt gov..Here in southwest Indiana there are plenty of people roofing houses and running mowing businesses as a sideline I mention this since these are jobs were all suppose to be too lazy to do!!!This country should not have to be a safety valve for Mexico to export it`s poverty and people too because their gov. is too incompetent and corupt to take of them!Also about the social security thing if no one thinks it is a big deal ask the poor woman from Nevada who had her number stolen by over 200 illegals her account has a balance of 0 now and it still isn`t straightened out!!
I think the best point made above is that the conservative republicans would protect the border, and they would stop illegal immigration,but once the border is secured,they wont do anything for any group legal or not who are working for minimum or sub-minimum wage.We cant have carrots at $10 a piece after all /better the ‘unrighteous’ should suffer. Define the winners and isolate the losers.