Via the AP: GOP leaders: No immigration bill this year
In a defeat for President Bush, Republican congressional leaders said Tuesday that broad immigration legislation is all but doomed for the year, a victim of election-year concerns in the House and conservatives’ implacable opposition to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.
As as I speculated in the past would be the case, it is all but certain that there will be no immigration bill coming out of the Congress this session. Despite the fact that various factions within this debate think that the public is overwhelmingly on their side, I remain of the opinion that there is no deep public sentiment on this issue once one gets beyond the in platitudes that have been the hallmark of the “debate” on this topic.
Yes, practically everyone is for “securing the borders” but then again practically everyone is for education, but both cases the devil is in the details and if one unemotionally examines the numerous public opinion polls on this topic one will find a genuine lack of consensus on those details.
As such, as I stated in a column a few weeks back, the most democratic outcome here is likely what will get: no bill whatsoever.
And while I think this will be an issue in the November elections, I have to wonder as to the degree it will be the issue.
Some other reactions:
- McQ at QandO thinks the lack of a bill will harm GOP chances of retaining seats.
- John at Powerline think that the situation is the result of courage from House Leadership in the face of what he sees as bad policy in the Senate version.
- Captain Ed rightly notes “One fact is certain: this issue isn’t dead, even if immigration reform is on life support.”
On balance I would expect that there will be much crowing about how the House Leadership helped increase border security by defeating the dastardly Senate “amnesty” program, however since the lack of legislation simply means maintenance of the status quo, I am not sure what the “border security” faction has won.
As someone who was somewhat in favor of the Bush/Senate versions of immigration reform, I have to say that I’m not really upset at what appears to be the failure of that proposal.
As politics, this seems to mean that the issue will be debated at a later date. When, by all indications, there will be more Democrats in Congress than there are now. I’m ok with that.
As policy, I expect that if a compromise solution had been found (or if one eventually is found) it would have been such a mess that it would have done more harm than good.
If I were in Congress I would propose a simple two-step solution:
1. Provide a path to legalization. Include fines for having broken the law. English literacy required. Welfare denied. Felons need not apply.
That takes care of current illegals.
2. Increase the quotas for legal immigration from Central America and Mexico.
That takes care of future illegals.
Then I would probably be voted out of office in a landslide.
Comment by LaurenceB — Wednesday, June 21, 2024 @ 9:16 am
[…] ues of interest to the public at large? I disagree with much of PoliBlogs take on this but he nails it here: On balance I would expect that there will be much crowing about House Leade […]
Pingback by The Real Ugly American.com » Blog Archive » GOP Idiots — Wednesday, June 21, 2024 @ 10:28 am
[…] ost with your highlighted post. The Honest Propagandist has some random thoughts for you. Steven Taylor is reporting that the Immigration Bill is Dead. SJ has a display of Wicked Awsome Album Covers. […]
Pingback by Politics In Alabama » Blog Archive » Alabama Bloggers Roundup — Wednesday, June 21, 2024 @ 2:14 pm
I’m just glad folks weren’t stampeded into the horrible “DO SOMETHING” mode that often takes in cases like this. Often action is seen as a cure no matter what direction the action takes. On an issue like this thought and concensus is what are needed, not action.
Comment by Buckland — Wednesday, June 21, 2024 @ 5:11 pm
Just in time for the 4th of July, Jones American Comedy Network has created a hilarious sequel to our popular web animation “Mexican Tourism Ad” — it’s the “Immigrant National Anthem,” aka the Star Spangled Banner refried!
We invite you to spread the joy by posting a link to the animation at your site. Here’s the URL:
Ihttp://americancomedynetwork.com/FLASH/ImmigrantAnthem.htm
And here’s a link to the banner if you want to post that too:
http://www.americancomedynetwork.com/IMAGES/ImmigrantAnthem_WEBBANNER.gif
Have fun with it!
Best,
Kurt Luchs
***************************************
VP/General Manager
Jones American Comedy Network
URL: AmericanComedyNetwork.com
Comment by Kurt Luchs — Thursday, June 22, 2024 @ 10:17 am