Your other points are well taken, but the economy isn't booming EVERYWHERE, there are areas where it sucks. fwiw
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2007/mar/wk1/art02.htm
Posted on 04/12/2007 9:42:14 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The terms of the immigration debate have turned less friendly for illegal immigrants as lawmakers and the Bush administration struggle to reach a deal in the next few weeks.
The landscape for an immigration overhaul has turned upside down in only a year, with a different party in control of Congress and new political realities for President Bush and the chief congressional negotiators.
Bush — in search of a domestic legacy — has morphed from cheerleader on the sidelines to broker in the fray, dispatching Cabinet members for lengthy daily meetings with senators on Capitol Hill.
Last year's GOP point man, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) — whose moderate stance on immigration defined last year's approach — is hanging back, wary of angering conservatives while he struggles to keep his presidential run going.
And while Republican divisions were highlighted last year, this time it's Democrats — eager to show they can lead — whose fissures are on display.
In an ironic twist, the outlines of a potential deal have moved to the right — toward a more difficult road to citizenship for the nation's roughly 12 million illegal immigrants — even as the power in Congress has shifted to Democrats, who overwhelmingly favor a more permissive approach.
The White House has floated a proposal that would require illegal immigrants to pay fines as high as $10,000, face long waits and return to their home countries in order to be eligible for citizenship — far tougher conditions than in a bipartisan measure passed by the Senate last year and backed by Bush. The immigrants also would be denied a right to bring family members to the United States.
A bipartisan House measure introduced earlier this year would add a new mandate that undocumented immigrants go home before gaining legal status — a requirement that many Democrats and pro-immigrant groups have decried as "report to deport."
The changes reflect a new political calculus for Republicans, who fear that any plan passed by the centrist Senate will become more permissive toward immigrants in the more liberal House and during final Democratic-dominated negotiations.
Democrats, in turn, recognize that any immigration plan must have substantial GOP support in order to have a chance of being signed into law, so they are considering tougher measures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., has told Bush he must deliver 70 Republican votes before she will attempt to pass any immigration bill.
The White House said the proposal floated recently was part of an effort to find an immigration plan the president's party could agree on.
"Those were discussion points on which consensus was beginning to build among Republican senators," said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman.
As Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., his party's point man on the issue, huddles with Republicans and Bush's team in search of a deal, other Democrats are impatient to pitch their own, more immigrant-friendly plan. Many advocates of an overhaul, including immigrant advocacy groups, business interests and organized labor, are adamantly opposed to the framework under discussion.
"This is the kind of gut-wrenching moment that happens before a deal is about to be cut and before legislation is about to start moving," said Angela Kelley, the deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, a private group pushing for an overhaul.
Bush and Democrats regard the tricky issue as one of their few areas of potential compromise during a year dominated by partisan clashes on the Iraq war. Strategists in both parties say the 2006 elections — which punished many vocally anti-immigration candidates — showed that voters support action on the issue.
But the clock is ticking on attempts to compromise, with the Senate set to debate immigration next month and most insiders seeing August as a deadline for action by both chambers.
"There are plenty of Democrats who would rather just walk away and say the Republicans are racist, and the Hispanics will vote for us, and then we'll do something" after the 2008 elections, said Tamar Jacoby, an immigration expert at the conservative Hudson Institute who has consulted with the White House and Republicans on the issue.
Last year's effort collapsed as House Republicans revolted against the Senate-passed measure, calling it amnesty. They rejected Bush's call for a "comprehensive" deal that included both a temporary guest worker program for new arrivals and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here. Many conservative Republicans, particularly in the House, still are adamantly opposed to any such measure.
Now GOP leaders have tapped Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona, one of those who hung back from the comprehensive approach amid a tough re-election fight, to lead negotiations on a compromise.
McCain's office, meanwhile,denies that he has scaled back his once-prominent role.
"The more members that are involved the better, but he is thoroughly engaged and totally committed to finding a solution," said Eileen McMenamin, McCain's spokeswoman.
Privately, senators in both parties and strategists on the issue say he has faded from the forefront of immigration negotiations — leaving his staff to track them and a confidant, Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina, to mediate — while he waits for the right moment to weigh in.
"He'll be there if they emerge with a bipartisan bill — he'll be there standing with everyone else — but it didn't pay for him to be the lonely guy," Jacoby said.
Your other points are well taken, but the economy isn't booming EVERYWHERE, there are areas where it sucks. fwiw
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2007/mar/wk1/art02.htm
I have thought the same thing and think it would send a message. They don't have the space to arrest everyone doesn't pay their taxes and money or lack of it, TALKS!
You would have to be blind not to see it.
Yours is a very true assessment.
Actually, it reads like a travelogue for much of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
This is the essence of "communidad" in Latin America.
Vibrant, colorful, yet dangerous, filthy and dead end.
How would we expect droves to come to the US and NOT maintain these social community characteristics.
They have imported the system, their values and culture lock, stock and barrel to the United States.
It will only grow and proliferate if nothing is done.
And the tax burden on Americans who are left to fit the bill, will become almost infathomable, I predict--a trickle at first-but more and more decent Americans who have seen that they have lost their country, will first uproot to other parts of the USA, and finally, will emigrate abroad if it is within their capacity.
A lot of us won’t have the financial means to leave. :(
“Bush takes a stronger stance AFTER the losing the house and senate? Nice game plan.”
****
I’ll take a chance by offending the Bush Bots here....but Bush and cronies have always been BUSINESSMEN first and patriots when it suits them. They will continue in those roles AFTER they leave the White House and D.C. area.
It disappoints me to say this, but I see nothing in the evidence before us to suggest that Bush et al. actually care about our country’s “border/language/culture”, as Michael Savage so states.
I think Government is ignoring the illegal immigrant problem because they hope they will eventually fund the out of control Social Security commitments. That, and big campaign contributors like cheap labor.
I agree with you 100%.
“Exactly. But, we are not one of the Democrats dependent minority group, and since we don’t ask for handouts, the Repubs have nothing to use to keep us in line. They can’t even effectively bribe us, since they don’t GIVE us anything but empty promises.”
What are you one of those independent minded voters? Who needs you and your ilk anyway!! :)
You should step in line and be a party hack like the rest of the “win at any cost” crowd ;)
(I do hope you know this is sarcasm lol)
Of course the plan will not work unless they are legalized and employers report FICA taxes! Don’t see THAT happening anytime soon.
Thanks for the great pics on post # 91
It will become ugly, very ugly, I fear.
The law should be changed making any illegal alien child born in this country remain an illegal alien and not a citizen of the United States! Lets keep giving them incentives to cross the border! Another is a bill I believe in Texas giving illegal aliens funding for college education at the expense of the American taxpayer.I don’t know about you but I am paying every cent of my childs college education without the help of the government! So much for being an American with anscestry going back 265 years.
12 million is a nice round number used for the last 10 years. Add 3million to that for the last ten years. that is 30 million plus the 12 million already here. Try maybe 42 million illegal aliens...That is what we are looking at legalizing. Grab your ankles and KISS THIS NATION GOODBYE.
I think so, too, sad to say.
Yeah, I resent that, too. All the more reason to just say no to paying taxes. It seems to be the only way to get the attention of the government.
The stock market is high.
US savings are low.
Govt. tax revenue at all levels are high.
This is a good thing???
The federal budget deficit as a percent of gdp is low.
1. Please factor in state and municipal deficits.
2. We have some really nasty unfunded liabilities coming due soon.
The state and local govts. are mostly in pretty good shape.
Please take a closer look at New York and New Jersey.
The US crime rate is near 20 year lows.
So, we are back to what were national crises at the start of the crack epidemic!
Lets import more members of MS-13.
bump
Oh, this Administration would suddenly find it’s not hard to prosecute 12 million people if we refused to pay our taxes.
It’s only too tough to enforce a law if the law is one you never intended to enforce anyway.
Immigration laws can’t be enforced, you see, they have to be changed. Ted Kennedy says so. George Bush says so. It must be true.
That 30 million estimate includes illegals from everywhere, but you’re right that a significant portion of Mexico’s nationals are living in the USA.
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