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\u2019s worth, I\u2019ll put out there.<\/p>\n
To begin with, it should not even be under discussion for Congress to pass a one-year continuing resolution.\u00a0 Weren\u2019t they supposed to be passing an actual budget?\u00a0 Wasn\u2019t their claim, in the House, that \u201cof course we<\/i> want to pass a real budget, if only Reid and the Democrats in the Senate weren\u2019t standing in the way\u201d?\u00a0 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\u2019t all that much better, anyway.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
So my preference would be for a short-term deal, just long enough to enable Congress to pass a real budget in early 2015.\u00a0 Failing that, I suppose another alternative would be a long-term deal with \u201ctriggers\u201d \u2014 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\u2019s veto effectively triggers the shut-down.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s the Obama administration, so I can see them making this claim, and then so narrowly defining the \u201ccost\u201d that suddenly $100 suffices for the processing time, overhead, etc.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t know:\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And so far, based on newspaper and wire service reporting, it seems to be the case.<\/p>\n
Second thought:\u00a0 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 \u2014 or who are even now waiting to bring over a spouse, say, from the Philippines.\u00a0 Can you imagine?\u00a0 You\u2019re waiting patiently for a family reunification visa, and in an instant 5 million people have jumped ahead of you in line.\u00a0 If only you\u2019d paid a smuggler, you\u2019d be snuggling with your sweetie.\u00a0 And for many people, the wait will be made even longer, as the government busies itself with processing these 5 million.\u00a0 (*5 million?\u00a0 Who are we kidding?\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to add a margin of fraud to that.)<\/p>\n
One would wish for an ad campaign.\u00a0 \u201cIllegal immigration isn\u2019t a victimless crime.\u201d\u00a0 Profile people whose identities have been stolen.\u00a0 People where the pay in their line of work has dropped due to being undercut by illegals with false ID, or who can\u2019t get hired because the workplace is now Spanish-speaking.\u00a0 But, of course, the anti-legalization groups don\u2019t have the funding of a Zuckerberg or a Soros.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 Then run an ad campaign (again, who\u2019ll fund?) with stories of people harmed by identity theft.\u00a0 Presumably Obama vetoes with his usual nonsense-whine that \u201cit\u2019s not comprehensive.\u201d\u00a0 What then?\u00a0 Can the Republicans get their story out, pointing out that Obama already took what he wanted so he speaks with no moral authority?\u00a0 <\/p>\n
And that\u2019s all I\u2019ve got for you for now.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s worth, I\u2019ll put out there. To begin with, it should not even be under discussion for Congress to pass a one-year continuing resolution.\u00a0 Weren\u2019t they supposed to be passing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[137,46],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-executive-amnesty","tag-immigration"],"yoast_head":"\n