Posted on 06/07/2007 1:51:28 AM PDT by Baladas
WASHINGTON - A fragile compromise that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants risks coming unraveled after the Senate voted early Thursday to place a five-year limit on a program meant to provide U.S. employers with 200,000 temporary foreign workers annually.
The reversal dismayed backers of the immigration bill, which is supported by President Bush but loathed by many conservatives. Business interests and their congressional allies were already angry that the temporary worker program had been cut in half from its original 400,000-person-a-year target.
Until the Dorgan vote was tallied, Specter and other leaders of the so-called "grand bargain" on immigration had enjoyed a fairly good day.
And they fended off , , ), D-Ill., that would have ended a new point system for those seeking permanent resident "green cards" after five years rather than 14 years.
The Sen, , ), R-Texas, to bar criminals including those ordered by judges to be deported from gaining legal status. Democrats siphoned support from Cornyns proposal by winning adoption, 66-32, of a rival version that would bar a more limited set of criminals, including certain gang members and sex offenders, from gaining legalization.
Sen, , ), D-N.J., that would have delayed the bills shift in favor of attracting foreign workers with needed skills as opposed to keeping families together. Menendez won 53 votes, seven short of the 60 needed under a Senate procedural rule invoked by his opponents.
Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary R. Clinton, D-N.Y., fell short in her bid to remove limits on visas for the spouses and minor children of immigrants with permanent resident status.
The bill would have barred law enforcement agencies from seeing applications for so-called Z visas, which can lead to citizenship if granted. Cornyn said legal authorities should know if applicants have criminal records that would warrant their deportation.
Oh, you did. ...my mistake...trying to do two things at once. :-)
Doing two things at once— I can relate!
There are three things that really bug me about the move to import so much cheap labor at once, and one of those two things that most interested people don’t know about.
Most of us know but are afraid to publicly speak of the fact that it is much more generally expensive to assimilate foreigners who don’t speak English and have difficulties with our social customs.
Many of us don’t realize the danger of weakening cohesiveness between Americans in wartime. But then most of us don’t expect much of a war in the near future.
Very few of us realize that enlarging the labor pool so much and so suddenly is an alternative to lowering the fed rate as a way to stop inflation. The most recently noticeable way to stop inflation is to lower the fed rate (something that importers and merchants are afraid of). Lowering the fed rate can lower the dollar internationally. The trade imbalance (partially caused by the high dollar with respect to other currencies) between the USA and sometimes hostile, third world nations keeps profits very high for importers and merchants.
Lowering the fed rate during a time like this would likely cause some domestic deflation and lower our currency’s value internationally (which brings the trade imbalances down, lowers import profits, makes freight fuel costs lower, and encourages more domestic production). But flooding the labor pool as a way to fighting inflation might leave the dollar flying a little higher internationally for a short while.
I agree. That way, the illegals that are already here actually pay for the services they use—and just maybe, it eliminates the financial incentive for them to stay.
Not only that, it turns America into the planet’s biggest and most desirable tax haven. Businesses that need highly skilled, disciplined workers will relocate.
I despise mort and fred as much as I do colmes these days.
LLS
Nice job, Mr. Bush. You’ve managed to insult and alienate your entire base, revealing to anyone who was still loyal to you how little you really care about conservative values. And you didn’t even achieve what you set out to do with this bill. Fred Thompson will have to be a genius to win in 2008, after all the damage you’ve done to the party.
People are mighty upset and the people who are voting for this will not be returning to elected office period.
Bush is a puppet. He is doing whatever big business and government want him to do. I hope our next President will not do the same.
Sheila Lee Jackson was on FoxNews last night and claimed illegals will be punished. One of the “punishments” she stated would be requiring illegals to learn English. She thinks requiring people to learn English if they want to live here is a punishment. Unreal.
The sad truth is that this bill will look nothing like it does now after the conferees get through with it. I'm kind of surprised they fought ANY amendments, since they plan to fix it all in conference, and then use the ensuing destruction of the republican party next year to get enough of a majority to repeal all the enforcement and restrictions.
Can I ask why no one is discussing the economics of creating 12 million NEW minimum wage earners?
TURN THE ENEMIES WEAPON AGAINST HIM
Call the Senate Immigration Reform Hotline at 1 800 417 7666
Press 1 for your senior senator, 2 for your junior senator.
This will connect you DIRECTLY to your senator without going through the congressional switchboard.
JAM THE LINES. LET THEM HEAR OUR ANGER AND FURY.
I took names on this one. Some FReeper named the Republican senators who voted with the democrat party on this one, and I printed and kept the names. God should only help them, and somehow I doubt he will.
That would be Fred ReBar-nes.
If your Senator is on the right side, call and give a big Thank You! We have to stand behind those that stand for us.
“Can I ask why no one is discussing the economics of creating 12 million NEW minimum wage earners?”
Because that number will be about 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 over the next 5 years.
The reason? Because big-business Republicans want a cheap labor force to hold down wages. Democrats want a huge underclass with which they can wage class-warfare.
Neither will admit it.
I’ve seen it discusses in some threads here.
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