Dems Dizzy With Legislative Hyper Activity Dig Deeper Into Immigration Issues

Rarely in the annals of legislative history have so many and diverse legislative proposals been made in such quick succession by a White House with a paper pipeline to Congress. Harry Reid is really dancing to the not so subtle strains of the Administration’s tune talking points in hand  He has learned slick moves like the one where you tell  your Republican partner you are moving in one direction while actually dancing in another.  Here’s how it works. First Lindsey Graham is led to believe that this will be the order of things:

REID: CLIMATE WILL COME FIRST – As the Democratic leadership works out the details of a comprehensive immigration reform bill, the Majority Leader said he will move ahead with climate legislation before addressing immigration. At a press conference today Reid reiterated his commitment to passing immigration overhaul by year’s end but said a climate bill will be voted on first. The news comes after Lindsey Graham threatened to pull his support for his own climate initiative if it were placed behind immigration in the Senate’s calendar. http://bit.ly/b3DUdY  [Huffington Post]

Now while Lindsey, who has demonstrated his ability to bridge differences between Republicans and Democrats, is busy  in other quarters, Reid, confident that he has given Graham essentially what he (Graham) needed to have, moves ahead on a parallel track with Chuck Schumer’s outline for possible immigration legislation:

Senate Democratic leadership beginning to craft a Democrat-only immigration reform proposal. From John Stanton and Kathleen Hunter: “Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (N.J.) floated a summary of the legislation to immigration groups Wednesday. The package would require that a series of new border security benchmarks be met before broader immigration reforms are enacted — including a legalization process for illegal immigrants, according to a copy of the summary obtained by Roll Call.The measure would also include tough new rules governing the hiring of illegal immigrants and on visas for both high-tech and low-skill immigrant workers.” http://bit.ly/bZjXqV  [Huffington Post]

Once again, Democrats have been behind closed doors getting out front while doubling back to throw bones to Republicans.  They are not fooling anyone they really want to work in a bipartisan fashion.  And in this case, they are looking positively brilliant:  Enforcement is the key to everything.  This is news to Democrats.  It is recycled Republican policy from 2005 – the last time the issue was taken up. At that time as now, Republicans supported a “border security first” approach.  The Democrats have gone on to link it to illegal immigrants finding a pathway to U.S. citizenship – a synonym for amnesty in some circles.

The outline, obtained by Fox, was written by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, with Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, number three in leadership, and Cuban-American Bob Menendez, D-NJ, responsible for his party’s 2010 midterm election effort.

+++++++++++++

The outline contains a number of items not previously in reform bills with a heavy focus on border enforcement as a benchmark.

More Border Patrol officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are called for, with biometric identification elements, a controversial issue in previous reform efforts, as a way to detect fraud.

Senator Menendez noted that the proposal calls for more family reunification measures, something the senator fought hard for in 2005 when the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-MA, worked with Sen. John McCain, R-AZ on a broad reform effort.

As for McCain, a lot has changed in five years. The senator endured a rough 2008 presidential campaign as the GOP nominee, with the conservative base highly critical of his efforts with the liberal lion, Kennedy. And with McCain in a heated primary back home against an opponnent known for a tough, singular focus on border security, McCain would only repeat several times to reporters on Wednesday, “We have to get the border secure first.”

“We believe it is a framework for the community and for those of us who want to see immigration reform take place to start the conversation,” Menendez said, noting that much of it contains what Sen Lindsey Graham, R-SC, originally agreed to when he was still part of compromise talks.

++++++++++++++++++++

Meanwhile, Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, the head of his party’s re-election effort this Fall, introduced his own immigration bill Wednesday that focuses solely on border enforcement.In his Southern Border Security Assistance Act, Cornyn is proposing giving state and local police access to $300 million in federal grants that could be used for securing the long stretch of border with Mexico, a country Cornyn said was facing “an existential threat” to its government.

It is noteworthy that the Republican measure separates border security from a consideration of citizenship or even a path to it. Citizenship is a separate process and should not be confused with who is stopped at the border. To focus on border security allows for consideration of the full range of reasons we need a secure border – including crime and terrorism.

And while Congressional Democrats  work hard and and in secret to fulfill the Obama Administration’s every legislative wish, Obama himself, the “good cop,”  is out there the picture of Presidential bipartisan optimism with  promises of something for everyone.

… [He] finally acknowledged that Congress might not have an appetite for immigration reform this year after tackling one controversial issue already, by which of course he meant the unpopular, pitiful clusterfark known as ObamaCare. Quoth the AP, ‘[H]e says there needs to be a lot of work done on immigration and he wants to come up with solutions that can get broad support from the American people.’ [HotAir]

The odds that one political party talking to itself can produce legislation that will achieve broad support are slim to none.  Democrats will have to order up more smoke, mirrors and legislative workarounds to pull off another Congressional coup of any consequence in this venue.

_______________________________

HotAir – Actual AP headline: “Illegal immigrants plan to leave over Ariz. law

VotingFemale Speaks! – Obama makes a total ass out of himself; calls out Riot Squad on Tea Party Grannys singing God Bless America

Frugal Cafe – AZ Gov’s State Approval Jumps 16%, Five States Thinking of Drafting Illegal Immigration Law Like Arizona’s, New Mexico Worried about Rush of Illegals Flooding State (video)

Tagged: Arizona Immigration Law 2010, CONSERVATIVE BLOG NETWORK, Illegal Immigrants, WORDPRESS POLITICAL BLOG

Posted in: CONGRESS, ELECTION CAMPAIGNS FOR AMERICA 2010, IMMIGRATION, LAW, LEADERSHIP