Amnesty Bill II: Daily Roundup For 06/27/2007
First of all, I apologize for not posting updates throughout the afternoon yesterday… With the Senate “stalling” and the job demanding my time, I decided to wait until tonight to roundup more Amnesty Bill information.
Then, just as I got the post done, I accidently deleted it, so I had to start over. Yes, I’m having a great day, and it’s still going…
Fat Teddy has the immigration quote of the day,
“We did the right thing today because we know the American people sent us here to act on our most urgent problems. We know they will not stand for small political factions getting in the way,”
Apparently, he think that 80% of the American people represent a “small political faction”. Maybe there is more to this whole debacle than we all realize?
The clay pigeon has been released. National Review has a PDF version of the 370 page clay pigeon amendment, and The Truth Laid Bear has a nice HTML searchable version.
Stanley Kurtz has an excellent post up at The Corner,
You can’t solve an argument by imposing a “compromise” on parties who don’t actually view it as a compromise. You can’t heal social divisions by forcing your version of a “solution” down the public’s throats. Real healing comes only when two sides reach what they themselves consider a valid compromise, or when one side wins the argument by persuading a clear majority of the validity of its case. Democracy does work, but first the Senate has got to give it a try.
and Mark Steyn has an excellent response,
I think I say somewhere in my book that the first line of the European constitution is: “We the people agree to leave it to you the people who know better than the people.” That suits the US Senate, too. They’ll teach this one as a textbook definition of “bipartisanship”: both parties gang up on the electorate.
My good friend, GM Roper, reminds our lawmakers (and people who might have forgotten) what “We The People” stands for.
We have two days to change five votes, people.
If this bill is passed into law, how much will it cost us anyway? Trillions.
Canada has been using a “merit point” system for years, and look how good it’s working for them.
The point system has helped Canada compete with the United States and other Western powers for highly educated workers, the most coveted immigrants in high-tech and other cutting-edge industries. But in recent years, immigration lawyers and labor market analysts say, the Canadian system has become an immovable beast, with a backlog of more than 800,000 applications and waits of four years or more.
While the Senate sells us out, the House GOP Conference voted 114-23 in favor of Rep. Pete Hoekstra’s (R-MI) resolution to oppose the Senate Amnesty Bill. Speaker Pelosi has said she will not bring the measure to the floor of the House until the President rounds up 70 Republican votes. Not everyone in Washington has lost their mind. Apparently the Republican House members elected to represent the people are actually listening to the people.
Kim Priestap also thinks the House will probably kill the bill anyway.
Captain Ed has posted some special points of interest within the clay pigeon amendment.
POINT 1: Page 21, lines 12-16, apparently reinstated the 24-hour limit on probationary background checks. Remember when they promised to fix that so that no one would get a probationary card without passing the full background check? I guess they broke that promise.
POINT 2: Page 29, lines 12-end: The Z-visa has unlimited 4-year terms. I don’t think this is a change, but shouldn’t the immigrant at some point actually immigrate?
The original bill called for a maximum of 3 two-year terms for Z-visa holders, separated by a one-year “return home” clause. This is a significant change in the Z-visa program. If you don’t have time to read the entire amendment, make sure you read Ed’s entire post.
Remember, the Senate will resume debate on the immigration reform bill at 10:00 AM (EDT). This bill was originally negotiated behind closed doors, never went through committee, and died on the Senate floor. The revised version was also negotiated behind closed doors, is skipping committee, and now, those Senators who are part of the “compromise” are conspiring behind closed doors to stifle debate on the bill. Does this sound right? Is this the way our government is supposed to work? Call your senators today. Right now. Don’t wait a moment longer. Visit NumbersUSA and send a fax, immediately.
Unless your senators hear from you, they won’t know how you feel about the Amnesty Bill. Please, take a moment right now and contact your senators or send them a fax. Urge them to oppose this measure and support enforcing our current immigration laws. When you’re done calling them, call the National Republican Senatorial Committee at (202) 675-6000 and let them know you won’t support the reelection of any senator who votes for this bill. Then call the Republican National Committee at (202) 863-8500 (option 1) and tell them the same thing. You should also contact the White House and tell the President that you are not stupid, you are not misinformed and you do, in fact, know what’s right for America.
[...] I’m here, I tip every hat in my house to Slobokan. His daily roundups have been tremendous resources in keeping up on this important [...]