The Abominabill: Immigration and the Blogosphere

 
Is it really that hard for these simpletons in Congress to comprehend? Seal the border, then we'll talk. I've summarized the message from some of the blogosphere's luminaries. The message should be crystal clear even to the so-called Republicans who appear to be kowtowing to Ted Kennedy.

Ace of Spades: A Disaster for the Economy...

Dr. Robert Rector, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, talks with Mark Levin about the costs of amnesty: Take-away: Every low-income citizen added to the population collects, on average, $30,000 per year from the government in services -- schooling, hospitals, Social Security (including supplemental SS for low income people who haven't paid much into the system), Medicaid, etc. Each low-income citizen pays about $10,000 per year in taxes, total. Net: Each new low-income citizen added to the population costs the nation around $18,000 per year, to be borne by other taxpayers. At retirement, it gets worse. Total cost: $2.5 trillion (with a t) flowing out of Social Security and Medicaid at just about the time the system's already going bankrupt due to the end of the huge wave of Boomer retiring and collecting from the smaller post-Boomer age cohorts.

Macsmind: Slowing down the stampede to Immigration Reform...

As you know I’ve been saying we need to wait and see before prejudging the proposed immigration bill. Now that I’ve reviewed many of the main points of reference I have one thing to say. Wait a minute! ...The fact that McCain is losing it when asked the simplest question about it, and that there seems to this mad rush to passing it, I say - wait. In reading some of the tenants of the proposal I had far too many “What the??” moments to count. Far too many to simply “slide it through” for expediency. Time for a prolonged debate.

John Hawkins: Project Payback: Google-Bombing Pro-Amnesty, Republican Senators Up For Election In 2008...

Since 2005, conservatives have been loudly saying, secure the border, build the fence, crack down on the people hiring illegal aliens, and no amnesty. Because those conservatives have put the interests of the American people above those of illegal aliens, they've been ignored, insulted, and talked down to -- not just by the Democrats, which is to be expected, but by Republican senators. The latest amnesty bill, which was pushed through by Ted Kennedy without going through normal channels in the Senate, is as wildly unpopular as any bill in recent memory with conservatives. For example, on Friday I put up a poll here at Right Wing News that read, "What do you think of the illegal immigration bill the Senate is poised to pass?" 1552 people voted in that poll by the time this post was written and here are the results: It sounds like a good bill. I support it. (4%) It sounds like a bad bill. I oppose it. (96%) ...

Captain's Quarters: Cloture Means You Never Have To Say You're Sorry...

This bill has many complexities that have to be researched and analyzed before anyone can think about limiting debate. So far, I have not even heard that the legislation has been entered into the record -- so no one even has an official copy of the bill. That means that advocates want to press for approval before anyone reads it and has a chance to offer improvements. What exactly does that say about this legislation? And what exactly is the rush? This proposal purports to solve a number of problems -- border security, the status of 12 million people illegally residing in our country, labor management for low-skilled jobs, and the creation of a vast bureaucracy to handle all of these projects. All address problems that have existed for 21 years. Can't we take a couple of weeks, at least, to peruse the bill to make sure it does it effectively? And if not, why not? This Congress has kept troops in combat waiting over 100 days for funding and supplies like the AMRAP armor that could save their lives. That's something that should have been completed in a week. It's beyond ridiculous to insist that Congress immediately pass something of this complexity with the barest of analysis, and it underscores the impression that we're being sold a bill of goods.

Hugh Hewitt: Necessary Amendments And An Argument For Discretion...

... Construction of at least half of the double-fencing prior to the issuance of a single probationary visa, and completion of all 800+ miles of the double fencing prior to the issuance of any 4 year Z visa or any Y visa. ... Acceleration of the six-year build-up in the authorized level of Border Patrol agents so that its number of agents reaches 25,000 within 3 years with the funding for their hiring in place. This should be another hard trigger. ... A detailed statement of how and by whom the millions of background checks and interviews called for by the act are to be done, with funding authorized and allocated to support such obligations. This should also be a trigger.

LGF: Immigration Bill Online...

N.Z. Bear has put the entire proposed Immigration Bill online in HTML form (all 326 pages), and also posted some notes on using it. And now that we’ve had a few days worth of pundits, talk shows, and blogs sounding off on it, here’s another silly internet poll to see if LGF readers’ views have changed from the overwhelmingly negative response in the last one...

Powerline: "F*** you": The inside story...

Senator McCain has been largely missing from the Senate since late March, when it became apparent his fundraising operation was seriously lagging. Senator McCain hasn’t made a Senate vote in the past five weeks. But he wanted to be front and center when the immigration bargain was announced, and Kennedy and Specter did everything they could to accommodate him. They reserved the Senate press gallery room for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, just in time for Senator McCain to attend before heading out to New York for more fundraising. A minor problem arose. Bush administration negotiators and a bipartisan Senate group had been meeting several days a week since February, often with glacial progress. (McCain rarely attended, though his staff was there.) As of Thursday morning, however, agreement hadn’t been reached. A final meeting started at 10 a.m. in hopes of finishing the deal. With a dozen Senators, two Cabinet members (Chertoff and Gutierrez) and perhaps 15 staffers in the room discussing an unpublished documents exceeding 300 pages in length, it was slow going. Senator Cornyn, tacitly supported by Sen. Jon Kyl, pushed hard to streamline legal procedures to allow prompt deportation of illegals. Senator Kennedy resisted. As the clock moved closer to 1:30 p.m., Senator McCain suddenly lost it. "This is chickenshit," he told Senator Cornyn. "I think it would expedite things if you would just leave the room, Senator, so we can get along with finishing this up." Senator Cornyn responded: "Wait a minute. We’ve been meeting for three months on this in good faith, and now you parachute in here this morning and tell me to leave? I think you’re out of line." Senator McCain responded: "F*** you! I know what is going on here. I know more about immigration than anybody in this room!” Other Senators moved in to calm things down, and the talks went on. Senator Cornyn’s provision was not included. At 1:30 p.m. sharp, the conferees (not including Senators Cornyn or Menendez and a few other negotiators) were in the press gallery, congratulating each other. Senator Kennedy recognized Senator McCain early to make his televised comments, then Senator McCain departed before the press conference was over for a flight to New York City. Later that afternoon, he missed yet another Senate vote -– this one on the Democrats' $2.9 trillion budget plan, an outline for the largest tax increase in U.S. history...

Detecting a trend yet?

A Texas-sized hat tip to Larwyn