The Gang of Eight are wasting no time in fighting back a plan to defeat their legislation on the Right. The broadsides from the Right fulminating against it as "outrageous amnesty" are already beginning. Steve King for instance:
"The Gang of Eight's bill is aggressive and outrageous amnesty," King said in a statement. "It is instant legalization of all illegal immigrants in the United States, with very few exceptions. It contains only promises: the promise of a plan for border security, of a backup plan for the border security, and of workplace enforcement in the form of making E-Verify mandatory. What makes anyone think President Obama would enforce any future immigration laws when he has violated his own oath of office to take care that the laws be 'faithfully executed'?"
"One of the great challenges with legislation on an issue as complex as immigration is that it usually lends itself to myths, misinformation or outright lies about what’s actually in the bill," Rubio said. "We saw with ObamaCare what happens when a bill is passed before it is read and openly debated, and we want to hear from the American people as we continue this debate. Our immigration debate should not be shaped by misinformation and myths, and we will do our part to inform people on why the proposed conservative immigration reform is good for our security, our sovereignty and our economy."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/talk-radio-amnesty-marco-rubio-immigration-reform-90250.html#ixzz2QpxlSsRz
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/gang-of-eight-conservative-immigration-attacks-90247.html#ixzz2QpzxPMEk
This fight may be protracted, however, it does seem to have the wind at its back. The Wall Street Journal editorial page-as close to the paper of record for Republican Congressmen as you'll find endorsed the basic outline yesterday.
"The Gang of Eight's bill is aggressive and outrageous amnesty," King said in a statement. "It is instant legalization of all illegal immigrants in the United States, with very few exceptions. It contains only promises: the promise of a plan for border security, of a backup plan for the border security, and of workplace enforcement in the form of making E-Verify mandatory. What makes anyone think President Obama would enforce any future immigration laws when he has violated his own oath of office to take care that the laws be 'faithfully executed'?"
He continued: "I expected this from Democrats who have long understood their brand of more taxes, more borrowing, and more government giveaways, and know how to sell it. It is the Republicans who should know better. Republicans who support this bill have effectively said to Americans, 'we are prepared to sacrifice the Rule of Law on the altar of misguided and erroneous political expediency'."
To be sure King is a firebrand. He already tried to tie the Boston bombing to immigration reform:
"King is one of the most aggressive border hawks in the House, so this isn't particularly surprising, but he had shown some signs early this year that he might keep his objections a litle quieter. Clearly, that's not going to be the case. His latest statement comes two days after he tried to tie the Boston marathon bombing to immigration reform, prompting a brushback from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). "
Rubio coming from the Right as he does understands all too well the coming fight. He's already started a website to debunk lies and myths made up by people like King:
"In a statement, Rubio describes the site as a "one-stop shop for helping the public separate fact from fiction as this debate continues" as well as a venue for constituents to send their own ideas about improving the bill to his office.
"One of the great challenges with legislation on an issue as complex as immigration is that it usually lends itself to myths, misinformation or outright lies about what’s actually in the bill," Rubio said. "We saw with ObamaCare what happens when a bill is passed before it is read and openly debated, and we want to hear from the American people as we continue this debate. Our immigration debate should not be shaped by misinformation and myths, and we will do our part to inform people on why the proposed conservative immigration reform is good for our security, our sovereignty and our economy."
Rubio and other Republicans also will make a pitch for it on Right wing radio. Most Right wing radio is opposed to anything smacking of amnesty.
"I’ve never seen anything good come from a ‘gang,’” nationally syndicated talk show host Phil Valentine told POLITICO on Wednesday, the first day of FAIR’s gathering.
“Rubio says it’s not amnesty because it doesn’t forgive anything, but that’s like saying if you rob a bank and you bring back a third of it, they’re gonna forgive you,” Valentine said at the Phoenix Park Hotel. “To me, anything short of E-Verify and cutting off the magnets doesn’t work. And that’s what we’ve been preaching, demagnetize America. There are two magnets that bring any illegal alien here: jobs and benefits from the government. So you cut those off. … They’ll deport themselves. They’ll go where the jobs are. And if the jobs aren’t here, they’ll go back home.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/talk-radio-amnesty-marco-rubio-immigration-reform-90250.html#ixzz2QpxlSsRz
There are a few hosts who have softened their line since the bad defeats of November 6-notably both Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly.
In any case, reform supporting Republicans intend to be very proactive here. Which is good. Who better then they know about the mechanics of obstruction?
The Senate’s Gang of Eight is mounting an aggressive lobbying campaign with one major goal: weaken the conservative opposition to a sweeping immigration overhaul.
Hours after the bill was unveiled after 2 a.m. Wednesday, Republicans began to make their pitch for it on conservative talk radio and by urging their colleagues to hold their fire until they’ve had a chance to analyze it. Their hope is to define the measure as a workable compromise on a highly complex issue, one that will help broaden the GOP’s reach to Latino and moderate voters.
The logic is that they want a bill to pass the Senate with strong GOP support making it tougher for the House to oppose it.
"The push is part of a broader strategy to smooth passage for the complex legislation in the Senate, where the idea is to lure more than just a handful of Republican senators. If a broadly backed bill passed the Senate, House Republicans would be hard pressed to reject it, proponents believe."
"Defining the bill quickly is good,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the gang, in an interview. “We’re going to be aggressive in marketing the bill. We’re going to be open minded about making it better. But this is an all-hands-on-deck approach.”
"On Wednesday, Graham and Sen. Marco Rubio made the rounds on conservative talk radio, with the Florida Republican planning for more appearances on Thursday. The initial reaction on the right was far less intense than they anticipated, proponents said. Rubio’s offices in Washington and Florida received fewer than 500 calls on immigration Wednesday, with more than 150 of those in favor of his bill, according to a source in his office."
It seems that some hard liners in the Senate are already at least saying they're going to take an open mind.
"And some GOP senators were circumspect, saying they would wait and see the details of the bill before making their minds up whether to pick it apart."
“I’ll take another look at it,” said Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), who voted to block the 2007 bill.
“Is that enough for me? I don’t want to say yet. But it was a lot better than I thought it was,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, about the border security measures.
This fight may be protracted, however, it does seem to have the wind at its back. The Wall Street Journal editorial page-as close to the paper of record for Republican Congressmen as you'll find endorsed the basic outline yesterday.
I made a comment about this in your "shame" article. But this is *almost* sad to see what the xeonophobes will do to their OWN PARTY for self serving short term gain. Almost... but not quite. It couldn't happen to a more deserving political party... they've turned it into a party that serves the needs of the plutocrats and satisfies the blood lust of the right-wing media entertainment complex. Ratings are up for the conmen that benefit, but the party will suffer.
ReplyDelete