Can't say as I'm really surprised....
"Senate deal paves way for new immigration bill; Test vote on plan set for Monday" by David Espo and Erica Werner | Associated Press, June 22, 2013
WASHINGTON — Supporters of bipartisan immigration legislation smoothed the way Friday for probable Senate passage of their handiwork, overcoming last-minute disagreements at the bill’s controversial core and tacking on other items certain to build support.
A test vote was scheduled for Monday on the bill, which calls for a military-style surge to increase security at the US-Mexican border. At the same time it sets out a 13-year pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants living in the United States unlawfully.
Yup, that's the agenda-pu$hing media's focus, the amnesty and border security. Never mind the work visas meant to insource cheap, compliant foreign labor. It's racist to say such a thing; it's a fact. What's racist is to set up a debt-enslaving economic syatem that drives people from their homes in search of work.
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska became the 11th Republican to announce her support for the legislation in the Democratic-controlled Senate. More were expected to follow, possibly enough to produce 70 votes or more and easily overwhelm its critics.
Yeah, $omehow this is big biparti$an$hip in an age of poi$oned politics.
As part of late negotiations, the bill makes clear that no immigrant can get credit for payroll taxes paid when they lacked legal status. Credits are used to determine the level of Social Security benefits workers are entitled to in retirement.
Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, joined by several Democrats, secured a $1.5 billion temporary jobs program for low-income youth. The funds will come from a temporary $10 surcharge imposed on visa applications from companies hiring guest workers and international workers who receive green cards.
Bernie got bought off again! First it was health care, then it was the military-industrial complex, and now this. What kind of $ociali$t is he, anyway?
Of course, that's democracy at its finest and the fix for broken politics according to the Globe.
Two provisions designed to aid Alaska seafood processors were backed by the state’s senators, Murkowski and Democrat Mark Begich.
But they can't get a farm bill through.
The first permits companies to hire foreign students visiting the United States on so-called J-1 visas. The effect is to overturn a recent ruling by the departments of State and Labor that banned the practice. The second declares Alaska fish processing as a ‘‘shortage occupation,’’ which would expedite the industry’s ability to recruit seasonal workers outside the United States through a new W visa program set up in the bill.
So we got a hi-tech visa, a low-skill visa, a student visa, a recruitment visa, blah, blah, blah, blah!
See: Sunday Globe Special: H1-B Hijacking
It sure looks that way.
Some Democrats said a heavy show of support at the end of next week could alter the bill’s trajectory in the House....
Yup, incredibly, the American worker needs the Tea Party Republicans to kill the bill. Thus I suspect passage.
The bill’s critics made no claim they could block it in the Senate, but said their position would be vindicated in the long run.
Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama said the measure’s claims of border security were no different than previous assurances.
‘‘Time and again, politicians have promised, promised, promised. But they never delivered, delivered, delivered. And that’s a fact,’’ he said.
Makes you think it was never meant to $ucceed.
With immigration at the top of President Obama’s domestic agenda, White House spokesman Jay Carney labeled the Senate deal a breakthrough.
The day’s developments marked a victory for the Senate’s so-called Gang of Eight, four Democrats and four Republicans who for months worked on the basic framework of immigration legislation. They then warded off unwanted changes in the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, and in recent days, negotiated significant alterations with a group of Republicans who were uncommitted but willing to swing behind the bill if it were changed.
The principal demand was for tougher border security, particularly after the Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would fail to stop a future buildup in the population of illegal immigrants.
Related:
"Not all the forecast was as favorable, though. CBO said average wages would decline through 2025 as a result of the bill, and that unemployment would go up slightly."
Also see: Immigration Bill Busted
It should be, but we are told in will garner wide support.
Republican Senators John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee, who had spent about a week negotiating with members of the Gang of Eight for changes, announced the deal Thursday. A day later, Corker said in the Senate the bill is a chance to deal with ‘‘the issues of security many of our citizens across the country care about, but at the same time allow 11 million people to come out of the shadows and work in the light and be a part of this great, great nation.’’
The result of the talks was a series of costly and detailed steps to guard against future illegal immigration across the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.
Yeah, something like $30 BILLION dollars in this age of social service cutbacks.
--more--"
"GOP senators broker deal on border security; Measure helps immigration bill’s chances" by Ashley Parker | New York Times, June 21, 2013
WASHINGTON — The two Republican senators, Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, have been working behind the scenes over the past few days to come up with a provision that would appease hesitant Republicans and help garner broad bipartisan support for the bill....
“Simply put, we must secure the border first,’’ Hoeven said Thursday, explaining the deal on the Senate floor. “That’s what Americans demand, and that’s what we must do to get comprehensive immigration reform right. That’s what this legislation does, and it does it with objective and verifiable metrics.”
He means biometric$.
Their amendment, Hoeven added, would provide “more manpower, more fencing, more technology.”
The two senators briefed their Republican colleagues at a party lunch, and afterward said they were heartened by the positive response....
The Corker-Hoeven proposal would be an alternative to an amendment introduced by Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.
Cornyn’s plan would create strict goals that would need to be met before more than 11 million undocumented immigrants could start on the path to citizenship and attain legal status, including a 90 percent apprehension rate of illegal crossers at the southern border and a biometric exit system at all airports and seaports.
Democrats consider Cornyn’s plan a “poison pill” that is logistically hard to achieve and could indefinitely delay citizenship for those covered by the measure.
Originally, Corker and Hoeven were considering a provision that would have required a 90 percent effectiveness rate in apprehending or turning back illegal crossers, using a combination of conventional border infrastructure, like fencing and observation towers, and high-tech elements including heat-sensing cameras and drones.
“It has to be measurable, objective metrics so we know the border is secure and so that folks feel that it’s attainable and we can agree that we have a secure border,” Hoeven said. “We’re trying to come up with something where we can get Republicans and Democrats to agree on.”
Democrats, however, still objected to the 90 percent trigger linking border security to a pathway to citizenship, and on Wednesday, Corker said they had “come up with a solution.”
According to aides with knowledge of the discussions, the Republicans agreed to make the 90 percent figure a goal rather than a requirement....
In other words, the provision means nothing-- and yet it got the headline and body of the article. Talk about agenda-pushing propaganda! Doesn't get any better than that.
“Unprecedented deployment of boots on the ground and commitment to the fence,” explained an aide close to the talks, speaking anonymously to talk candidly about continuing private discussions. The aide added that the Corker-Hoeven provision would go further in terms of adding border patrol agents than Cornyn’s plan....
This country is getting more militarized by the minute!
--more--"
The top commander:
"Obama says time for excuses on immigration is over" Associated Press, June 23, 2013
WASHINGTON — Declaring ‘‘the time for excuses is over,’’ President Obama is trumpeting the economic benefits of an immigration overhaul, arguing that a bipartisan bill picking up steam in the Senate would put the nation’s loathed deficits and fragile entitlements on better footing.
You know, when the Democrats won't stand up for American workers and view this bill with those chubby, money-grubbing fists one wonders what the difference is in the parties.
We are told we have no bipartisanship, but that is only when the American people do or do not want something. When it comes to the inter$t$ of war, Wall Street, corporations, and Israel, everything is ju$t fine.
A recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers’ nonpartisan scorekeeper, was Exhibit A in Obama’s weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. The report shows deficits would fall nearly $1 trillion over two decades after the bill becomes law.
Yup, lower wages and higher unemployment is going to be good for the economy -- now fork over those back taxes!
What’s more, Obama said, the influx of immigrant-driven investment, technology, and businesses would give the economy a 5 percent boost.
‘‘This bipartisan, common-sense bill will help the middle class grow our economy and shrink our deficits, by making sure that every worker in America plays by the same set of rules and pays taxes like everyone else,’’ he said.
Either he's delusional or a deceiver, and neither one is any good.
Confidence that the overhaul could pass the Senate by impressive margins is growing, and leaders scheduled a test vote on the bill for Monday, with a final vote expected by the end of next week. Although the heart of the bill is a 13-year pathway to citizenship for millions living in the United States illegally, it was a military-style surge to US-Mexican border security, added this week to placate wary Republicans, that was credited for giving the bill a much-needed boost....
Despite concerns from some Democrats that the security provisions — 20,000 new agents, 350 miles of new fencing, 18 new unmanned drones — are excessive, Obama spokesman Jay Carney said Friday it would constitute a ‘‘breakthrough’’ that the White House applauded....
When will Democrats learn presidents from their party care only for themselves? Clinton was the same way.
In the Republican address, Representative John Kline of Minnesota said Obama must show leadership to avoid an impending hike on student loan interest rates. He said it’s fortunate that Obama and House Republicans agree on the issue and have proposed plans that would tie interest rates to the market. He accused Senate Democrats of blocking each plan.
‘‘If I didn’t know any better, I would say they are content to let rates double,’’ Kline said. ‘‘This eleventh-hour scrambling is a perfect demonstration of why we need to take the politics out of student loans once and for all.’’
Nothing like not addressing the topic and changing the subject. I'm sure whatever happens you kids will get $crewed.
Related: College Students Need Credit Default Swaps
Could making money off you have something to do with the gridlock?
--more--"
Also see: Floored by Framing of Immigration Reform
Another thing I'm floored by: Slow Saturday Special: U.S. Government Defends Privacy of Illegal Immigrant Criminals
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
“The worst thing that can happen is doing nothing.”
WRONG! The worst thing that can happen is it passes and a flood on insourced work visas displaces Americans as intended.
Of course, the articles focus is on the border, amnesty, and an English test (seriously).
UPDATE:
"Immigration bill clears first hurdle in Senate; Plan to increase border security is endorsed" by Ashley Parker | New York Times, June 25, 2013
WASHINGTON — The $40 billion amendment will require a $3.2 billion high-tech border surveillance plan — including drones and long-range thermal imaging cameras — as well as an electronic employment verification system and a visa entry/exit system at all air and sea ports.
All those security measures must be in place before any immigrant can become a legal permanent resident and receive a green card....
Despite a clamoring for stronger border security from many Republicans in the Senate and the House, some leading Republicans dug in against the Corker-Hoeven plan.
John Cornyn of Texas, the number-two Republican in the Senate, said he could not “support an amendment cobbled together at the 11th hour that doubles the Border Patrol without knowing how much it will cost or whether it is even the right strategy.”
Other Republicans and advocacy groups opposed to the bill also offered loud complaints.
They said the legislation was drafted behind closed doors by a small group of senators; that the bill was too long and not given ample time for discussion; that the legislation needed to be stronger when it came to border security; and that the Corker-Hoeven amendment was simply a toothless provision intended to give Republicans cover to vote for a bill they still viewed as “amnesty.”
As noted above, it is. It's a non-binding declaration of intent.
On Monday, a group of 14 Republican senators sent a letter to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, calling for a “serious, extensive amendment process.”
“This is deeply, deeply disturbing,” read the letter, referring to the fact that only a fraction of the amendments filed to the bill had been voted on. “It is effectively shutting down the American people’s ability to be heard on this issue through their elected representatives.”
It's been that way for a long time.
******************************
Proponents of the immigration overhaul were also not entirely pleased with the Corker-Hoeven plan. A coalition of groups representing border communities urged senators to reject the amendment, which they called “an example of excessive and wasteful government spending” and a “poorly thought-out policy.”
“It is an assault on our system of checks and balances and seriously threatens the quality of life of border residents,” wrote the border groups, in a statement.
Other advocates worried that in an effort to garner broad bipartisan support for the bill, Democratic senators were making too many concessions without getting anything in return.
That's SOP for them. Think Obama and sequestration.
The border plan, for instance, also includes a provision by Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, that would prevent undocumented immigrants from qualifying for Social Security benefits, as well as from receiving federal welfare funds.
And the payment of all back taxes, don't forget that.
“It is a tough pill to swallow, and there is no guarantee it will not get worse later in the process,” said Kevin Appleby, the director of migration policy at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, referring to the amendment. “If the path to citizenship is further weakened, there could come a tipping point where the bill becomes unsupportable.”
Hopefully so, but it's expected and planned to pass before the July 4 recess.
--more--"
Nothing about all the new and expanded work visa programs.
