Thursday, May 17, 2007

The Fix is In.




Republicans, Democrats strike immigration deal with White House

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Key senators and the White House reached agreement Thursday on an immigration overhaul that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border.

The plan would create a temporary worker program to bring new arrivals to the U.S. A separate program would cover agricultural workers. New high-tech enforcement measures also would be instituted to verify that workers are here legally.

The compromise came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with President Bush's Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said he expects Bush to endorse the agreement.

The accord sets the stage for what promises to be a bruising battle next week in the Senate on one of Bush's top non-war priorities.

The key breakthrough came when negotiators struck a bargain on a so-called "point system" that would for the first time prioritize immigrants' education and skill level over family connections in deciding how to award green cards.

The draft bill "gives a path out of the shadows and toward legal status for those who are currently here" illegally, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

A spokesman for Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., one of his party's key players in the talks, confirmed that the group had reached agreement


34 comments:

  1. A cogent discussion of why we shouldn't be so niggarly with the use of the word nigger

    Article written by a black man heavily referenced by works from leading black intellectuals

    NIGGER WORD USAGE

    Nigger: it is arguably the most consequential social insult in American History, though, at the same time, a word that reminds us of ‘the ironies and dilemmas, tragedies and glories of the American experience’” (Kennedy 1).

    Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy’s book Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is at the center of debate because of its controversy. It addresses questions among a diverse audience of students and scholars of all racial and ethnic backgrounds in its quest to discover how and why the word should or should not be used in modern day America.


    "Kennedy proclaims a similar argument for using the word nigger. He argues that everyone (including whites) can use nigger, as long as the context of its use is clear and appropriate."

    There's more...

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  2. I've always wanted to see the Southern Cross now I've seen it.

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  3. hmmm, a deal on immigration and it is a 'fix'? odd characterization - who pretended to take a fall and for what?

    As I just posted at ITM:

    I just stumbled upon a video on CNN regarding the stoning death of a young girl in Iraq because she fell in love with a Sunni boy ( it is currently linked on the front page at CNN's international edition. They mentioned that honor killings play a large role in Kurdish society. I did a quick google on that and it seems to be true. I was surprised to learn of this practice in what is often considered a 'better' part of Iraq.

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  4. "Better" is a relative word, by definition.

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  5. Although I realize, a people that are actually somewhat pro-American have a strike against them to start.

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  6. In Iran half the population will be able to peddle and never leave the Cabin

    It had to come to this.

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  7. Definitely adding Making War to Keep the Peace to the reading list.

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  8. If the fix is in, there really isn't much more Bush can do to hurt the country. He's nearly exhausted his ability in that regard.

    Newt Gingrich is on Hannity, talking some sense.

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  9. The fix is that they all sign off on another amnesty bill, which is totally understandable for the Democrats, because they pick up 8,000,000 new voters and probably five red states.

    They all hope the dopes who do vote forget by election time. They are probably right.

    Who knows why Bush likes to be on the canvas. Some of the Republican stalwarts will have to explain the inner genius of Bush on this one.

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  10. I heard a feminist make a funny comment on the radio today. To cite from a poor memory what she said:

    'To all those people that are worried about the impure thoughts that arise when a women dresses provocatively well, how about getting all those men in uniform to alter their dress because of the impure thoughts they prompt in women - all those firefighters, policemen, soldiers...'

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  11. Everything is about sex. What did I leave out?

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  12. The real fix is that this bill will be fixed annually because this will be unfair to this group and that will be unfair to another and the fixes will broaden the ten or twelve million already here to include another twenty million relatives who should be re-united with their families because that is the fair and right thing to do. They will all need health care, and education benefits and it would be unfair when they get old not to have social security. It is the only compassionate thing to do.

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  13. A five thousand dollar fine for $100,000 in US taxpayer benefits. There will be billions of dollars in lawsuits to include those excluded. This will be for extensions of benefits which will include child care so the new legals can work. Of course the new legals will no longer want to work for eight dollars an hour. they will demand more. Their cousins and brothers and sisters and neighbors in some slum in Tegoosigalpo will come in to the US to take up the slack. They will work here for seven or eight years and fairness will dictate that they also be included.

    With a little bit of luck and more compassion and fairness, we can get this thing up to another hundred million or so.

    Anyone want to give me a lecture on BDS?

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  14. BDS - Bush defender syndrome - nope you don't have it.

    All those new people mean growth ya? Isn't growth good? can't do without it it seems otherwise we'd have stagnation, stagflation, recession, or, god forbid, deflation/depression.

    More more more, gotta have more. Isn't that the American way? The way of the world for that matter.

    How about globalization? Good thing? Free trade, level playing field? Mobility of captial?

    Mobility of labor??

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  15. Free trade brought us West Nile Virus, Dutch Elm disease, The Chinese Longhorn Beatle, a virus that is killing alot of game fish, a snake head fish that that can crawl out of water and detroy all native game fish, a trade deficit that is now in the trillion dollar range.

    Open borders may see a US population at 500 million within your lifetime.

    Free trade is going to leave the US taxpayer with unfunded pensions in the trillion dollar range. All those costs can be called deferred liabilities, not forgotten liabilities. Free trade is not free.

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  16. were you one of those guys taking part in the anti-globalization protests prior to 911? Somehow you never struck me as the type ;)

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  17. Hewitt says it gives immediate legal status to ALL.
    Health and medical bennies.
    Fence cut in half, if at all.
    No standards to be met before giving bennies.
    Whole family gets to join, then no doubt "extended families."

    McCain is the biggest TRAITOR of my lifetime.
    Should be kicked out and put in jail.

    Gotta go, but guess Hewitt's site is good place to go.
    Human Events better be on it.
    REVOLT NOW, OR FOREVER GIVE UP THIS GREAT COUNTRY.

    DEMAND THE CS RIGHTWING BLOGS TO GET ONBOARD

    Call Kyle and the rest.

    (Hugh says NO REPUBLICANS WILL TALK TO HIM!)

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  18. Bush is a first class LIAR.
    ...just heard his disgusting Texass pile of shit.

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  19. Hewitt will be posting all phone numbers and e-mails.

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  20. “The fight over legalization, or ‘amnesty,’ is all but over,”
    exults the Manhattan Institute’s Tamar Jacoby, and the “yahoos” who oppose it have been routed.

    She is right about who has won, at least as far as the Senate is concerned. The Bush-Kennedy immigration “reform,” which is now expected to win broad bipartisan support in that chamber, provides legal status for an estimated 12 million illegal aliens. In exchange for the massive, unpopular amnesty, Senator Kennedy is willing to engage in a little “border dressing” that purports to beef up enforcement of current laws barring illegal entry and the employment of illegal workers. As in the past, supporters of border and workplace enforcement will get the rhetoric, illegal aliens the prize, and taxpayers the huge tab.

    The 1986 immigration reform, with amnesty provisions that were implemented and enforcement provisions that weren’t, is instructive. But there is no need to hark back 20 years to illustrate the bad faith of “comprehensive” immigration reformers. Before last year’s elections, the Secure Fence Act, providing for the construction of a 700-mile fence at the southern border, handily passed Congress. In this week’s Republican presidential debate, Rep. Duncan Hunter, the fence bill’s House sponsor, angrily noted, “We have $1 billion cash on hand at the Department of Homeland Security right now for building the border fence. . . .
    * They have done two miles. I think they want to drag their feet and hook this up with amnesty.”*
    They do and they now have.

    The Bush administration’s price for its modestly beefed-up border security and workplace enforcement is amnesty for millions and a temporary-worker program for a few hundred thousand more each year. And the proposal’s conservative features vanish upon inspection.
    ---

    Finally, the enormous cost of granting legal status to millions of illegal aliens is being wholly ignored.
    Nearly two-thirds of illegal immigrants are low-skilled workers. Based on a detailed analysis of the net cost of low-skill households...

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  21. Our "Leaders" REFUSE to build a fence and secure our borders.
    Derelection of Duty.

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  22. Duncan Hunter has talked to Bush in the last hour.
    He says only a couple of miles of the 850 miles of fence in his bill have been built.
    Proven to work in San Diego.
    850 miles would cover major smuggling routes.

    Hunter believes (knows) people in the admin are sitting on the fence construction.
    Now they MAY Build 350 Total.
    Hunter got the San Diego Fence built DURING CLINTON.

    Dept of Homeland INSECURITY.

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  23. Doug, I am going to change the post. People do not care. I am not sure why they do not, but they don't.

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  24. People care, but they've given up. A high percent of the people in the polls always is against this shit, but we can't er done. It stinks.

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  25. You should live here.

    May as well go south, as the south is coming north. Welcomed with open arms.

    It's all America, they teach elsewhere, in the Americas.

    Brasil, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico Arizona, California, Florida, Kannsas, New York, British Columbia, all part of America.

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  26. Organization will set you free.

    Works for CAIR.

    It is working for the undocumented.

    Like I said before: national defense must be considered a broader enterprise: lawyers, NGOS, lawsuits, activists, marches etc are sources of power.

    People are mistaken if they think its only about better propaganda for Enduring Freedom.

    The other Battlefields we have forfeited include the court rooms. Was Hamdan Pearl Harbor or Midway?

    Lord knows there aren't pro American NGOs. The Patriot Guard Riders seemed like a start, but their goals were too narrow.

    We're scattered to the wind and the Cavalry is mopping up.

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  27. "People do not care."

    Go scrolling over at The Corner for a taste.

    I wouldn't be surprised to see "peasants with pitchforks" here shortly.

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  28. Drop dead law abiding citizen. I work for 20 million criminals, and their relatives, and their employers, and not you who voted for me. I don't care what the hell you think. Drugs, squalor, baby making machines, murder, government corruption, police corruptiion, hell I don't care. I'll be dead before I see the full results of this. You go to hell.

    Sincerely,

    Your Senator

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  29. Make more room--deport the Americans to Mejico.

    Fools in the seats where the wise should be.

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  30. Assuming that S.138 is the bill in question, while not anywhere near perfect, it does appear to be a step in the right direction. In briefest abstract, it does recognize the problem of illegal immigration, increases the number of border patrol agents, creates new laws regarding the apprehension and prosecution of illegals, includes specific wording for dealing with street gangs, does impose penalties for illegals already here and forces them to periodically to return to their country of origin before re-entering the US legally, provides for some fencing and other security measures, encourages the hiring of ex-military members for border patrol duty, etc. etc. Perhaps most importantly, it dramatically reduces immigration based on having family members already in the US and places priority for immigration for those with skill sets viewed as desirable for the US, i.e. highly educated, technologically skilled. This would be a big step toward reversing Lyndon Johnson's change in immigration policy from "lets invite people from countries who share our cultural values to "open the borders and let everybody in".

    Read S.138 and then decide if it's something you can live with, or if you want the Democrats to write the next version after their huge landslide wins in the 2008 elections. This may be our last great chance to get anything less than a bill that is complete insanity.

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