As usual, I was mulling over the latest news while getting ready for the day this morning, and have a couple thoughts which, for what it’s worth, I’ll put out there.
To begin with, it should not even be under discussion for Congress to pass a one-year continuing resolution. Weren’t they supposed to be passing an actual budget? Wasn’t their claim, in the House, that “of course we want to pass a real budget, if only Reid and the Democrats in the Senate weren’t standing in the way”? For the conventional wisdom to be, and for the GOP to be on record as saying (not sure who or how many) that their preferred option is a long-term deal, is an indicator that the GOP isn’t all that much better, anyway. Of course, for the pundits and the media to adopt the approach that anything short of a long-term CR is tantamount to causing a shut-down is equally wrong.
So my preference would be for a short-term deal, just long enough to enable Congress to pass a real budget in early 2015. Failing that, I suppose another alternative would be a long-term deal with “triggers” — that is, a continuation of funding with the proviso that, for any department where Congress sends to the President a funding bill, the existing funding arrangements shall end 14 days after both houses pass the bill, in such a manner that Obama’s veto effectively triggers the shut-down.
Various people are also claiming that, if the issuing of work permits is funded by the fees collected, then the administration can do whatever it likes, which seems like a stretch but, hey, it’s the Obama administration, so I can see them making this claim, and then so narrowly defining the “cost” that suddenly $100 suffices for the processing time, overhead, etc. But I don’t know: the calculus so far seems to be that the GOP is at such a disadvantage in the way the media reports events that any game of chicken in which the GOP tries to force Obama to back down from his legalization program will produce unwanted results which are automatically blamed on the GOP. And so far, based on newspaper and wire service reporting, it seems to be the case.
Second thought: there were a large number of people out there on twitter (and I only saw those which were retweeted by the people I follow; I suspect there are many more) who are pissed because they shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for their legal immigration process — or who are even now waiting to bring over a spouse, say, from the Philippines. Can you imagine? You’re waiting patiently for a family reunification visa, and in an instant 5 million people have jumped ahead of you in line. If only you’d paid a smuggler, you’d be snuggling with your sweetie. And for many people, the wait will be made even longer, as the government busies itself with processing these 5 million. (*5 million? Who are we kidding? You’ve got to add a margin of fraud to that.)
One would wish for an ad campaign. “Illegal immigration isn’t a victimless crime.” Profile people whose identities have been stolen. People where the pay in their line of work has dropped due to being undercut by illegals with false ID, or who can’t get hired because the workplace is now Spanish-speaking. But, of course, the anti-legalization groups don’t have the funding of a Zuckerberg or a Soros.
So maybe the next step is to put E-Verify at the top of the agenda for January, with the stipulation that no temporary work visas may be processed until the system is fully implemented. Then run an ad campaign (again, who’ll fund?) with stories of people harmed by identity theft. Presumably Obama vetoes with his usual nonsense-whine that “it’s not comprehensive.” What then? Can the Republicans get their story out, pointing out that Obama already took what he wanted so he speaks with no moral authority?
And that’s all I’ve got for you for now.
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