Posted on 06/16/2007 8:02:53 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
We can all understand the push by big business to keep their steady flow of illegal laborers coming in, strengthening their bargaining position against blue-collar working class Americans. Then again, they already have that today in droves. Why the sudden balls-to-the-wall push to get it all "kosher" right now? Mickey Kaus forwards a theory:
Chertoff and Kyl both seem to have answered that question recently, Kyl in his Wall Street Journal interview and Chertoff on Fox News yesterday: because businesses are starting to worry about efforts to enforce immigration laws at the local level. One state in the vanguard of that effort is Kyl's (and McCain's) home state of Arizona, where the legislature has passed numerous laws (usually vetoed) on the issue, and where the public voted for Prop 200 back in 2004.
To me that says something far more ominous than that Congress is being disingenuous or naïve on the matter. Far from simple being empty promises, this amnesty bill is actually a blatant attempt to head off any attempts at enforcement at all.
I think this is probably right. I think big business realizes that voters are going to extract some very explicit and unequivocal promises from their candidates next year. I think they realize at this point that a number of their champions on this bill are not coming back to Washington after the next election.
Big agriculture and big construction realize that they'll be faced with a new Commander-in-Chief, Democrat or Republican, who will likely have made a list of unequivocal promises to the voters during the campaign. Given the opportunity to build up public goodwill with a series of big, high-profile immigration busts in her first six months of office, does anyone think that President Hillary would pass it up? If she's anywhere near as calculating as her reputation suggests, there's not a chance she'll pass up that opportunity.
A Republican President would feel less need for high-profile token efforts, but may bring in a Justice Department that actually cares about national security. (How crazy would that be?) If you're an employer who's been skirting the law for years with a wink and a nod, this change in the winds has to be keeping you up at night--with good reason. Some CEOs looking at public opinion polls and knowing their employment rolls haven't been even close to right with God, have to be dealing with some serious heartburn at the thought of angry villagers at the corporate gates demanding massive fines and/or a few years in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.
If the employers can just get across the line on this, they've significantly reduced their exposure. This Amnesty Bill represents a sort of "get out of jail free" card for these executives. Whether it'll actually work out that way is another matter. They see the writing on the wall, and they're pulling out the stops to protect their own hides, even if they have to wreck their own country to do it. Of course, jamming this piece of sh*** down our throats only adds to the long list of reasons we're already pissed as hell at the employers and their elected cronies.
This may be your time, fellas. You may have the upper hand now. The men in power are your boys, and you may get them to vote how you like, even against the clear will of the people who sent them there. Enjoy it while it lasts, but don't forget it for a second: our time is coming. You have the cash, but we have the numbers. A whole lot of us have damn long memories. We're gonna remember every bit of this sordid ordeal. And payback, as they say, is a bitch.
-—I also don’t believe the congress critters believe their future is doomed; rather I think they’ve convinced themselves that 2006 proved conservatism is dying, and that centrism, as exemplified by both Clinton and GW Bush, is the bright new promised land to which these privileged few have been ordained to lead us all.-—
Exactly! A future where the parties are tweedledum and tweedledee. Where there is little political division or rancor and even less political interest on the part of the public.
Also note that not controlling the border makes the WOD a joke also.
From NRO The Corner...
Immigration Update [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
From a knowledgeable Senate source:
Here is what we expect to happen next week, though it is far from clear yet. In short, we expect it to come up this week, and if Senators (as we expect) object to unanimous consent agreements, it will take the better part of 6-8 days to get this done. They will not get it done this week (but Reid threatens to stay in next weekend).
1. We expect Reid, in conjunction with support from McConnell, Lott and Grand Bargainers Kyl, Martinez, Graham and McCain, to introduce a brand new piece of legislation - and use Rule 14 to put the bill immediately on the Senate calendar without going thru committee - which of course, the first bill did not do as well.
* It is possible that Reid will choose a different procedural path - but we expect the effect to be the same.
2. We expect that the new bill’s drafters (White House, Kennedy, Kyl, Graham, et. al.) will use close to the same language as the original substitute amendment (the first immigration bill) as amended by the 14 Democrat and 13 Republican amendments adopted the the first go round.
3. A new Rule 14 bill takes 1-2 days to ripen, and then we expect Reid to file cloture on the motion to proceed (a step he will need to take because numerous Senators are objecting to any unanimous consent agreements). The cloture motion takes time to ripen, so that adds a full day and change before the vote (60). Then, there is 30 hours of “post cloture debate” that a number of Senators will refuse to allow to be shortened.
4. When the 30 hours expire, Reid will have the vote on the motion to proceed to the bill (majority).
4. Once on the bill, Reid will again file cloture (to shut off debate - again, a number of Senators will continue to object to unanimous consent agreements) - this time on the bill itself.
5. The guessing begins at this point - but we expect Reid - with the help and support of certain Republican leadership and the Grand Bargainers - to do something that we believe has never been done in the history of the Senate... he will use an arcane Senate procedure that allows a single amendment to be divisible into many - in this case, into the 20-odd amendments the Grand Bargainers are trying to cobble together to keep 60 votes in support of the bill. Traditionally, that amendment has been used to protect minority rights - but in this case, it will be used to PREVENT the minority from getting additional amendments called up and from being able to fully debate the amendments in question. It is, to our knowledge, unprecedented.
6. Once the cloture motion ripens (again, another day and change), the cloture vote can occur (60 votes) and then, again, there is 30 hours of “post cloture debate” during which Reid will run, in order, through the panoply of amendments offered by way of the division.
7. Finally, there will be a vote on final passage.
If Reid does this, with the help of certain Republican leadership and the Grand Bargainers, they will shut off the ability of Senators with concerns of the bill to offer additional amendments and to debate the amendments in question.
In the end, this means that if they have 60 lined up to support it - there is little that can be done procedurally - so it has become far more important than ever for Senators to hear from their constituents.
Consumers can be anywhere. There’s no need to import them and no particular advantage to having them inside the boundaries of the US. Businesses, especially large ones, can attract customers from all over the globe, which is how teenagers in Asia know all about fashion and music trends in the US, and why, Lord help us, we’re eating food and taking vitamins whose ingredients come from China. Recent large global consumption increases are being driven as much by the rise of middle classes in Asia satisfying pent-up consumer demand as by consumption in the US.
Outside of contruction, which is in a slump, there’s little economic incentive for businesses to import consumers, and a whole lot of incentive for businesses to import below-market-wage labor.
Maybe the most effective opposition to this is to stop saying NO and start saying - LATER (maybe) like our parents used to do when we were little. String enough laters together and you have a NO. Strategically, “Later” sounds so reasonable and can’t be characterized as fringe, kooky, stupid, racist. We just say that we want time to intelligently and calmly deliberate such an important matter as this and not, as they say, “rush to judgement”.
LOL, Several days ago I posted the link to the 20 loopholes and not one person responded!!
Better to post the whole written out text!!
bttt
Always, always! People here read (well, most times they do). : )
What’s with all the pictures of buildings burning and rubble and such? Did something happen?
"Question: What kind of political instinct would identify the one spot on the media spectrum controlled by his constituents as a “problem” that needs to be dealt with? Answer: The same kind of political instinct that believes this bill is going to guarantee his party millions of Hispanic votes for decades to come."
I agree with you. I like Mexican people. For the most part, the are hardworking, honest people desperate for work. BUT—paying illegals a lower wage puts 15 or 20 of them in a three bedroom house! Do we want to put a third world standard of living in our middle class neighborhoods?
I don’t blame them, they are just trying to make it. TAKE AWAY THE WORK, and they will stop coming. Both parties are in the pocket of big business on this one, just like big pharma on the drug bill. 95% of our legislation is written by lobbyists. Since when is it conservative to let big corporations own the government? Deregulation is one thing, but sheesh. This is getting out of hand.
bttt
a must read post
The Hispanic workers I have run into, in similar situations to the ones you describe, mostly seem like extremely pleasant people to deal with. Of course, if one is in a country illegally, it probably doesn’t pay to draw additional attention to oneself by being a complete jerk.
..but what else is going on behind our backs while we're being distracted by this.
I don't trust them....I don't trust them ....I don't trust them!
I think this is a wider shell game than we are imagining.
truthie.....how do we stop it?
..It is the worst horror movie I can imagine....
Your post is well written....you are not alone.
truthie, if this passes, are we entering a time of lawlessness?
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