Yesterday Greg Sargent suggested the House GOP does want a deal.
"The politics of immigration inside the House GOP caucus can seem perplexing and opaque. Fortunately, Paul Ryan just gave an interview to Chuck Todd that pulls back the curtain and reveals how Republicans see the political minefield that lies between them and getting to Yes."
"The politics of immigration inside the House GOP caucus can seem perplexing and opaque. Fortunately, Paul Ryan just gave an interview to Chuck Todd that pulls back the curtain and reveals how Republicans see the political minefield that lies between them and getting to Yes."
"The good news: Ryan’s interview reveals a real desire to figure out a way to get to a deal. The bad news: Republicans are still far from crossing bridges that will be necessary if compromise is ever going to happen."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/01/29/how-to-understand-the-gop-predicament-on-immigration/
A major bridge is the question of the 11 million undocumented immigrants. Unfortunately, the GOP still feels that these folks must be in some sense punished. Allowing them too easy path to citizenship supposedly somehow robs those who went through the legal channels in getting here. What's never asked is whether the same channels are really open to everyone.
Today the House GOP released a document that shows that they indeed to realize they need to make a deal. However, while they are willing to allow undocumented immigrants who came here as children gain citizenship-meeting certain criteria-those who came as adults must not somehow 'benefit from breaking the law.'
"Under the leadership's proposal, undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children will be eligible for eventual citizenship. But those who came as adults won't be promised any such thing, although the proposal does not preclude them from seeking permanent residency and ultimately citizenship through the regular channels."
"Under the leadership's proposal, undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children will be eligible for eventual citizenship. But those who came as adults won't be promised any such thing, although the proposal does not preclude them from seeking permanent residency and ultimately citizenship through the regular channels."
"There will be no special path to citizenship for individuals who broke our nation’s immigration laws -- that would be unfair to those immigrants who have played by the rules and harmful to promoting the rule of law," reads the document. "Rather, these persons could live legally and without fear in the U.S., but only if they were willing to admit their culpability, pass rigorous background checks, pay significant fines and back taxes, develop proficiency in English and American civics, and be able to support themselves and their families (without access to public benefits)."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/house-gop-immigration-plan-legal-status
One thing these 'principles' amount to is that only undocumented workers with pretty good jobs, who don't need any kind of public benefits-presumably this includes things like food stamps, TANF benefits, and UI-and who have lots of money to pay all these fines and back taxes-while many Americans owe plenty of back taxes and aren't targeted. Yet how does an undocumented worker obtain such high paying employment?
It's a start as Chuck Shumer suggests.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chuck-schumer-house-gop-immigration
However, there's still a lot of 'bridges to cross' as Sargent puts it-of course these days bridges make you think of nothing so much as Chris Christie.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2014/01/some-irony-on-new-jersey-ethics.html
Sargent does think the possibility of a compromise is here. Obama suggested in his SOTU speech on Tuesday that he's open to the GOP's 'piecemeal' approach-ie, slow and leisurely while millions suffer-as long as the central issues are tackled-a major one being the 11 million.
"The final important thing Ryan says concerns citizenship. Ryan repeats there will be “no special pathway.” But this does not preclude the undocumented getting citizenshipeventually. Ryan says these folks will simply have to get to the “back of the line” for a green card — leading to citizenship. As the New Democrat Network’s Simon Rosenberg puts it: “The House Republicans are talking about a path to legalization, but this does not contemplate a permanent second class status.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/house-gop-immigration-plan-legal-status
One thing these 'principles' amount to is that only undocumented workers with pretty good jobs, who don't need any kind of public benefits-presumably this includes things like food stamps, TANF benefits, and UI-and who have lots of money to pay all these fines and back taxes-while many Americans owe plenty of back taxes and aren't targeted. Yet how does an undocumented worker obtain such high paying employment?
It's a start as Chuck Shumer suggests.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chuck-schumer-house-gop-immigration
However, there's still a lot of 'bridges to cross' as Sargent puts it-of course these days bridges make you think of nothing so much as Chris Christie.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2014/01/some-irony-on-new-jersey-ethics.html
Sargent does think the possibility of a compromise is here. Obama suggested in his SOTU speech on Tuesday that he's open to the GOP's 'piecemeal' approach-ie, slow and leisurely while millions suffer-as long as the central issues are tackled-a major one being the 11 million.
"The final important thing Ryan says concerns citizenship. Ryan repeats there will be “no special pathway.” But this does not preclude the undocumented getting citizenshipeventually. Ryan says these folks will simply have to get to the “back of the line” for a green card — leading to citizenship. As the New Democrat Network’s Simon Rosenberg puts it: “The House Republicans are talking about a path to legalization, but this does not contemplate a permanent second class status.”
"It is here where the possibility for a deal lies. If you grant legalization to the 11 million, and clear out some of the legal channels to citizenship that now exist, you could see Dems accepting this deal under certain conditions. That would be a big concession by Dems, who want citizenship up front. But it is hard to see Dems accepting it if Republicans also won’t grant legalization up front under reasonable conditions, for the reasons explained above. We just don’t know if they will get to this point. But they are groping towards it."
Again, there's really no reason for this worry about the 11 million somehow 'cutting the line' of legal immigrants. I don't believe these legal immigrants are the real concern but rather the sensibility that somehow the undocumenteds must be punished, they haven't suffered enough already apparently. The reason for it is a punitive desire to punish 'those people.'
If it's the beginning of a deal-great. I think it might be, it's just unfortunate that we have to as always in negotiations with this miserable GOP House have to take the scenic route.
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