Check this out, pass it on:
Jobs Americans Won’t Do, Part DCCLXIX [Mark Krikorian]
The indefatigable Norm Matloff, a computer science professor at UC Davis, pointed me to this video of an immigration lawyer explaining to clients how to pretend to look for American workers in such a way as to make sure they don’t actually find any (it’s at about 7:55). The law firm may take the video down once it gets some publicity, so here’s the nut graf:
And our goal is clearly not to find a qualified and interested U.S. worker. And you know in a sense that sounds funny, but it’s what we’re trying to do here. We are complying with the law fully, but ah, our objective is to get this person a green card, and get through the labor certification process. So certainly we are not going to try to find a place [at which to advertise the job] where the applicants are the most numerous. We’re going to try to find a place where we can comply with the law, and hoping, and likely, not to find qualified and interested worker applicants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N7l2f_bQ1k
Also, update from K.Lo:
Battle of the GOP Senate Aides [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Senate staffer #1 talks back to leadership:
“your correspondent makes a point about an amendment procedure (often called a “clay pigeon” amendment) under Rule XV (3) of the Senate Rules that needs a bit of clarification. It is rarely used, but it has been used in the Senate as recently as last year. Sen. Coburn used the procedure last April in an attempt to strip pork from an appropriations bill.”
RESPONSE: The reason it is unprecedented in this case is that it has never been used by the Senate power structure, to our knowledge, to RESTRICT the rights of Senators wishing to get their amendments heard. Rather it has been the case (as with Senator Coburn last year) that the rare times it has been used (perhaps, 2 or 3 times in history?) were specifically to ensure that Senators were not blocked from getting those amendments called up. Indeed, some Senators concerned about PROTECTING their rights may well have been in their rights to try to attempt this procedure two weeks ago, but may well have decided that it would have been “too nuclear” of an option at that time. Now, Reid - and anyone working with him to effectuate the plan - is using it to restrict the rights of Senators to offer amendments they believe could improve the bill and to debate the amendments in question...
“Also, Reid won’t need the help or support of any other Senator (leadership, grand bargainers or otherwise) to get this bill on the Senate calendar under Rule XIV. He can get the bill on the calendar under the rule with no help at all. To get it on the floor (under the motion to proceed) will require either unanimous consent (which it won’t get) or a cloture motion. That takes 60 votes.”
RESPONSE: This is technically correct, but misses the point.
Recall that the point we made was “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...” So, yes, it is only Reid who will introduce said legislation (as the Majority Leader). But, the reality is that this process is being conducted in full coordination with the Grand Bargainers and, presumably, with the support of the group above. In other words, Reid isn’t moving forward (and getting the bill on the Senate calendar under Rule XIV kicks that off) without support from the group above as part of an effort “to get to 60” and get the immigration bill across the line.
“The Republican leadership gave Reid no assurances about cloture on the bill; the final makeup of the bill after amendments will determine whether or not cloture is invoked on the bill itself. And, unlike before the last cloture vote, the leadership was successful in getting another dozen or so Republican amendments pending to the bill. There will now be more GOP roll call votes on amendments than on last year’s bill when the GOP was in charge (not counting the committee amendments).”
RESPONSE: As to the first point - it is good to hear that no assurances have been made. But, the plan is still in process - a plan designed with a fair amount of coordination among certain Senate leadership staff, the White House and Democrats - with the goal of attaining 60 votes and getting the bill passed and sent to the House. It is not a secret that certain members, well within their rights, believe this bill is “better than the status quo.” That is their view. It is not the view, we believe, of the majority of the Republican caucus and certainly not the view of a majority of Americans, much less a majority of Republicans throughout the nation.
As to the second point about “successful in getting another dozen... Republican amendments pending” and “there will now be more GOP roll call votes on amendments than on last year’s bill.” The response, respectfully, is so what? Even discounting the lack of committee process (which the source notes above), the fact remains that the amendments are being cherry-picked to buy-off votes and figure out how to get the bill passed.
The problem here is a continuation of the same broken, closed-off process we have been struggling with from the beginning. The Grand Bargainers, and those supporting their efforts, recognize that further open, public scrutiny and debate of this bill harm the chances of passage.
Final point. Is it not a shame that this is where we are? It didn’t have to be this way. Senator Reid pulled down the immigration bill because he didn’t want to give Republicans (and some of his own Democrats) the ability to fully debate amendments and to continue to expose the significant flaws in this legislation. Republicans could have proceeded forward, together, to produce legislation that reflects the views of the vast majority of Americans and could have used that to show how far out of step with America Democrats truly are. Unfortunately, a small band of Republicans are hell-bent on coordinating legislation with Ted Kennedy that has no chance of working because they fall prey to the worst phrase in Washington: “we have to do something.”
Go here for embed links:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzMzMWYxNjIyODE0ZmZjNGE0M2RiMjhiOTcxMDViMDA=
Ali.....
There has to be something we can do about this abominable AMNESTY Bill...
Because as American citizens we have never had to defend our country to this extent in the past, we are at odds as to the right actions to take now...
We think we are as helpless as kittens...but we are kittens with the might and power of the the Constitution of the United States to back us...
By using the COTUS to the extent to which our forefathers meant it to be used in order to protect us, we the American citizenry, the legal occupiers of this sovreign nation, will prevail and push back the hordes of traitious enemies, both the foreign illegal aliens, and the domestic public servants, the members of the US Senate and the US House...
What is it that we are not doing? What action have we yet to take? There is something that we can do but it has not been identified nor attenpted..
Either we are an independent, sovreign nation with all the legal power in place to defend successfully against any and all attempts to irradicate our legal infrastructure..or we will become and remain for all time second class citizens and slaves in a third-world colony..