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2006.06.12 "No Illegal Left Behind" Roundup
See previous: 2006.06.11 "No Illegal Left Behind" Roundup
I'm beginning to be a lot more optimistic than I was that maybe the piece of shit immigration "reform" bill really is dead for good. My read is that Dirty Harry wants it to fail so he can blame the failure on George Bush. I'm pissed enough at Bush for wanting it to pass that that suits the hell out of me. Maybe next year the Republican Party will actually manage to nominate someone with an IQ above room temperature. (I've never doubted for a minute that W's heart is in the right place. It's his head that's up his ass.)
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Did I get my hopes up too soon? On first read this doesn't sound all that bad ... on first read. Senate Republicans Work $4.4 Billion Border Security Amendment
WASHINGTON — GOP negotiators of an immigration reform bill are crafting a large border security amendment with mandatory, immediate funding that they hope will assuage concerns of both Republicans and Democrats, FOX News has learned.
The senators are looking at a way to please conservatives who are skeptical Congress will ever fund the bill's border security provisions, as well as keep Democratic negotiators on board in a last ditch effort to save the comprehensive reform bill. ...
Visa overstays will become a crime under the Graham-Kyl-Martinez amendment, and repeat offenders would face mandatory jail time, deportation, and a ban from ever re-entering the U.S. It is unclear what Democratic negotiators like Sen. Edward Kennedy will do. He has not supported this kind of stiff penalty in the past.
Graham would also forever bar employers from participating in the guest worker program if they have violated immigration laws repeatedly. ...
I won't like it but I could live with an amnesty for the illegals already in the country in return for actually doing something to keep more from coming in. The main problem with the latest idea is that no matter how much money Congress allocates for a border fence and other enforcement enhancements it still falls to the Executive branch to actually spend it. If they could actually pass a bill that allocated money for a fence and requires that the fence actually be in place before they start handing out amnesties I could almost support it. Let's just put it in different terms. If they can sell Jeff Sessions they can sell me, but only if.
Below the fold:
- Bush changes few minds on immigration overhaul
- Kill the Bill, Round 2
- Kill the Bill: Exposing the dirty deal
-- Update- Senators to Bush: Enforce the laws first
- Kill the Bill: What's going on behind closed doors?
- Reid presses Bush over GOP votes
- Bush, Senators to Meet on Immigration
See also:
Bush changes few minds on immigration overhaul
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush changed few minds on a bipartisan immigration overhaul on Tuesday at a rare luncheon meeting with Senate Republicans aimed at reviving the stalled legislation, lawmakers said.
Bush acknowledged the bill that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants ignited passions but said it was the best way to protect U.S. borders, a major concern for conservatives in his party who oppose it. "Some members in there believe that we need to move a comprehensive bill, some don't, I understand that," Bush told reporters following the meeting. ...
Senators said Bush did not twist arms, but also failed to win new support during the luncheon that covered other topics as well. ...
Kill the Bill, Round 2
Michelle Malkin
President Bush heads to Capitol Hill today to try to revive S.1348, the shamnesty bill. He's getting cocky: President Bush, wading deeper into an issue that bitterly divides his party, hopes a personal appeal can help persuade skeptical Republicans to resurrect and pass his immigration bill. Over lunch Tuesday in the Capitol, Bush planned an effort to change enough minds among GOP senators to salvage one of his top domestic priorities. The measure, which legalizes up to 12 million unlawful immigrants and tightens border security, stalled last week in the face of broad Republican opposition.
Bush "will talk about the fact that immigration reform is too important to let this opportunity pass, and this is the best opportunity that we have had in decades to reform the broken immigration system," said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman.
It's the president's latest and most overt attempt to sell Congress on the immigration overhaul, which was shaped by his views and drafted by an unlikely liberal-to-conservative coalition in close consultation with two Cabinet secretaries.
"I'll see you at the bill signing," Bush predicted Monday.
Yes, it is his bill. And your future. He'll be trying to win over Republicans who voted down the cloture motion last Thursday. Get in your two cents early and often. ...
Read the whole thing, then continue on to Kill the Bill: Exposing the dirty deal -- Update- Senators to Bush: Enforce the laws first and Kill the Bill: What's going on behind closed doors?
Reid presses Bush over GOP votes
By Stephen Dinan
The top Senate Democrat said yesterday that President Bush must prove he can deliver more Republican votes before Democrats will put the immigration bill, which collapsed last week, back on the Senate schedule.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told Mr. Bush that the only hope for the bill is if he delivers the votes of more than 20 Republican senators to break a filibuster and pass the measure.
The Nevada Democrat had a frank assessment of the bill's prospects, saying the 51-member Democratic caucus was "about maxed out" at the 38 votes they delivered on a test vote on the bill last week 22 short of breaking a filibuster. They were joined by just seven Republicans one-third of the number Mr. Reid says the president must deliver.
"It's the president's bill," Mr. Reid said, adding that if Democrats are being counted on to supply the additional votes, "it won't happen." ...
Bush, Senators to Meet on Immigration
President Making Rare Trip to Hill to Urge That Stalled Bill Be Revived
By Jonathan Weisman and Michael Abramowitz
For the first time in five years, President Bush will attend the Senate Republicans' weekly policy lunch today as he pushes to revive his moribund overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.
But even before he set foot in the Capitol, several Republican senators issued a terse warning yesterday: Don't expect much.
In the days after the broad compromise on immigration collapsed on Thursday, opposition, if anything, appears to have hardened among some senators who had once been willing to consider the deal. The bill's vociferous critics have also had a long weekend to throw dirt on its grave. ...
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