A Travesty Of A Mockery Of A Sham(nesty) - John McCain decreed yesterday that his immigration bill would be the law and that there would be no dissent
Updates throughout the day
"An amnesty is an amnesty, no matter how it is packaged and spun. The guest worker program will surely enrich employers, but will exacerbate the downward trajectory in the economic status of poorer workers . . . The bill neatly summarizes the intellectual flimsiness of the Bush administration --- a flimsiness that has cost us dearly in so many other areas. Perhaps they can convince themselves otherwise; that legalizing the status of illegal immigrants is not an amnesty; that the laws of supply and demand can be repealed when it comes to immigration; that we will trust them to secure our borders in the next two years when they haven’t done so in the previous six. But we all know that, in the end, their promises are a sham, a travesty, and a mockery of what immigration policy should be about," says Prof. George Borjas of Harvard of the Senate amnesty bill.
More reactions:
Mitt Romney
"I strongly oppose today's bill going through the Senate. It is the wrong approach. Any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, as the new 'Z-Visa' does, is a form of amnesty. That is unfair to the millions of people who have applied to legally immigrate to the U.S."
"I strongly oppose today's bill going through the Senate. It is the wrong approach. Any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, as the new 'Z-Visa' does, is a form of amnesty. That is unfair to the millions of people who have applied to legally immigrate to the U.S."
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Bill West, former INS official.
"In short order, the system will be overwhelmed. Whatever minimal fraud detection and prevention safeguards might be erected won’t last long in the face of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of applications and petitions to be adjudicated."
"In short order, the system will be overwhelmed. Whatever minimal fraud detection and prevention safeguards might be erected won’t last long in the face of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of applications and petitions to be adjudicated."
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Rush Limbaugh
"We're doing everything else in this bill that's cockamamie and out of the world, so let's just excuse the fraud that exists here. We're already excusing the illegal status. It's like I said yesterday, the thing about this that just doesn't make any sense is that we're treating the illegals as though we are doing something wrong, as though we've been bad and we're guilty of something. We want them to forgive us! "
"We're doing everything else in this bill that's cockamamie and out of the world, so let's just excuse the fraud that exists here. We're already excusing the illegal status. It's like I said yesterday, the thing about this that just doesn't make any sense is that we're treating the illegals as though we are doing something wrong, as though we've been bad and we're guilty of something. We want them to forgive us! "
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Heather MacDonald, Manhattan Institute
"Don’t be fooled. Prerequisites to citizenship or permanent residency status are irrelevant to whether this bill rewards law-breaking or will encourage more in the future. Its key feature is rather that illegal aliens, according to press reports, can immediately have their illegal status wiped away with a temporary-residency permit, available virtually upon demand. That’s it. The rest is noise."
"Don’t be fooled. Prerequisites to citizenship or permanent residency status are irrelevant to whether this bill rewards law-breaking or will encourage more in the future. Its key feature is rather that illegal aliens, according to press reports, can immediately have their illegal status wiped away with a temporary-residency permit, available virtually upon demand. That’s it. The rest is noise."
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"According to Bloomberg, Democrats expressed doubts over provisions to create a temporary-worker program and to reduce the emphasis on uniting families when deciding which legal immigrants are admitted to the U.S."
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"The reaction to the immigration announcement was swift. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and perhaps future presidential candidate, denounced it on Sean Hannity's radio show as 'a sellout of every conservative principle.' The Heritage Foundation agreed. Congressman Mike Pence issued a statement calling the bill an amnesty."
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Sen. Fred Thompson
"We should scrap this 'comprehensive' immigration bill and the whole debate until the government can show the American people that we have secured the borders — or at least made great headway. That would give proponents of the bill a chance to explain why putting illegals in a more favorable position than those who play by the rules is not really amnesty."
"We should scrap this 'comprehensive' immigration bill and the whole debate until the government can show the American people that we have secured the borders — or at least made great headway. That would give proponents of the bill a chance to explain why putting illegals in a more favorable position than those who play by the rules is not really amnesty."
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National Review roundup of conservative reaction.
"That conservatives would be upset with the immigration deal was predictable. But the degree of the indignation has been remarkable. Even before there was any deal announced, Slate’s Mickey Kaus was calling the immigration debacle 'Bush’s domestic version of Iraq.'"
"That conservatives would be upset with the immigration deal was predictable. But the degree of the indignation has been remarkable. Even before there was any deal announced, Slate’s Mickey Kaus was calling the immigration debacle 'Bush’s domestic version of Iraq.'"
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Hugh Hewitt
John McCain decreed yesterday that his immigration bill would be the law and that there would be no dissent. My new Townhall.com column, 'Damning The Jam-Down,' deals with the extraordinary repulsiveness of such a stance, but in practical terms, the only way to respond is by contributing to a serious opponent of McCain, either Mayor Giuliani or Governor Romney. Or both. If you don't like being treated like a political serf, fund the opponent of the candidate who embodies contempt for the Republican base . . . Simply put, Senator McCain's contempt for you is complete. React accordingly. The Senate's GOP leadership has not yet followed Senator McCain over the cliff. I hope they wake up in time to realize the party-splitting peril they are in with the proposed jam down on the table."
John McCain decreed yesterday that his immigration bill would be the law and that there would be no dissent. My new Townhall.com column, 'Damning The Jam-Down,' deals with the extraordinary repulsiveness of such a stance, but in practical terms, the only way to respond is by contributing to a serious opponent of McCain, either Mayor Giuliani or Governor Romney. Or both. If you don't like being treated like a political serf, fund the opponent of the candidate who embodies contempt for the Republican base . . . Simply put, Senator McCain's contempt for you is complete. React accordingly. The Senate's GOP leadership has not yet followed Senator McCain over the cliff. I hope they wake up in time to realize the party-splitting peril they are in with the proposed jam down on the table."
posted by jillosophy at 5/18/2007 01:51:00 PM
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