The hardliners(including you) have tried to frame the immigration issue as GOP versus GOP and will never understand what is happening in the real world of GOP versus Dems.
We can see specific concessions that were made to the unions to get them support the compromise.
Already mentioned is applying Davis-Bacon wage scale to the guest workers. Also, the United Farm Workers were given the right to go into the fields to organize. Also, the hot debate on the floor of the Senate in 2006 on the issue of prevailing wages versus adverse wages.
Because dems took control of Congress, the unions tried to assert themselves in 2007. In the first vote on the Dorgan amendment, Kennedy forced Acaca to change his vote and Dorgan was defeated by one vote. Kennedy admitted that the guest worker program in the bill was not the guest worker program the he would write, but he was supporting it because it was part of the compromise.
In the the second vote on the Dorgan amendment, those handful of GOP senators changed their vote to pass Dorgan. They all admitted that they supported the guest worker program and voted for Dorgan only because they were trying to kill the bill over the amnesty portion of the bill. That was a major victory for the unions.
Concessions have been made to the unions. If we look forward to 2009, what additional concessions will have to be made to the unions to get them to support the guest worker program?
Allow me to speculate: If Bill Gates wants his 200,000 H1B Visas, he will have to sit down at the table with the Communication Workers of America and the AFL-CIO to work out a compromise that allows the unions access to the H1B workers.
>>I’m not confused about US VISIT. It’s just not an issue in Congress or for the dems in the negotiations on immigration reform.<<
Not an issue? Have you suppressed the Vitter amendment 1339 from your memory, which failed 48-49 with Dorgan voting FOR, and some of your favorite RINOs voting against it:
Collins (R-ME)
Domenici (R-NM)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
Specter (R-PA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
I am not claiming that the only immigration dynamic is Republican vs. Republican. I am not claiming that unions do not, on certain issues, demand outrageous and unfair laws. Making wage scales for guest workers that give them an advantage over US citizens is despicable.
You are usually thoughtful in commenting on complex political issues, but you are oversimplifying with statements like “...will never understand what is happening in the real world of GOP versus Dems.” You may have misunderstood our reaction to what we view as betrayal by Republicans who call themselves “conservatives.” I despise Dems who sell us out in a different way from hypocritical Republicans who sell us out.
>>Allow me to speculate: If Bill Gates wants his 200,000 H1B Visas, he will have to sit down at the table with the Communication Workers of America and the AFL-CIO to work out a compromise that allows the unions access to the H1B workers.<<
Are you suggesting Gates, who wants unlimited visas for himself, is the good guy?
If you push US workers too far (including engineers), you may see the seething anger of the peasants strengthen unions, and if conservatives form an alliance with them, the WSJ/Chamber of Commerce wing may realize it has killed its golden goose. Temp workers are necessary, but there must be limits, and on immigration the WSJ types do not necessarily hold the good of their nation nor its citizens as the highest priority.