NBC News reports on a new nationwide poll on immigration reform, an issue considered this year's biggest legislative priority–and possibility for actual success–in Washington:
A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows that seven in ten registered voters think that Republicans and Democrats in Congress will not be able to work together to pass an immigration bill this year.
Hispanics and Democrats are slightly more optimistic, with about a third of each group saying that the bill will get to the president’s desk. But only 24 percent of voters overall said they believe that Congress can pass the legislation…
A bipartisan bill passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month by a 13-5 vote and will be taken up on the Senate floor in June. But the fate of various immigration measures in the Republican-controlled House is still unclear.
Evidence is mounting everywhere of a hardening among House Republicans against the immigration reform effort that only a few weeks ago seemed to have real bipartisan momentum in the Senate. You can see this shift quite clearly in the "evolution" of GOP Rep. Cory Gardner of Colorado, who has switched from a perceived need to reach out to Hispanic voters after the 2012 election to rehashing the same conservative objections to the Senate's immigration reform bill you've been hearing for years from immigration hard-liners. Gardner's hard-line comments came only a few days after House Speaker John Boehner declared the Senate's immigration reform bill "DOA" in his House. Boehner, like Gardner, calls benchmarks for border security, or "triggers," too "weak."
The possibility of a bipartisan immigration reform measure passing this year has been held up as a sign of hope that Republicans are aware of the long-term demographic peril they are in, as their backward and increasingly anachronistic position on this issue is central to the party's unpopularity among the fastest-growing segment of voters in the United States–Hispanics. At the same time, Republican support for immigration reform risks a backlash from the party's right-wing "Tea Party" base, whose fervor is one of the only assets the GOP has left with which to win elections. The "Tea Party" has no interest in compromise on immigration as long as there are "scandals" to jawbone–or failing that, someone named Barack Obama in the White House.
This is how yet another chance–and demographically, really maybe one of the last chances–for Republicans to show they can be participants in a functioning government could slip away.
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And they'll have no one to blame but themselves.
Open Borders!
Let them all in.
Immigrants already contribute a bunch more to medicare than they take out. If we don't want to end up in the same place as countries like Japan, tons of old with few young supporting, we couldn't do better than just hanging out a come on in sign. In fact we already have one. The Statue of Liberty. We've ALWAYS been fueled by waves of immigration. It's ALWAYS been a good thing. That's what the "real" America has ALWAYS been; a land of immigrants, not the private preserve of the SAR and DAR, much as those groups may have liked to think so.
Nothing wrong with tracing one's ancestry back to the founders and beyond. It's a fine heritage. But they aren't the ones who created the greatest middle class the world had ever known. Wave after wave of immigrants are the story of American prosperity, economic power, invention, scientific and technological advancement. Always have been. If you want to preserve the "real" America, preserve our tradition of welcoming immigrants. That will, as always, be a shot in the arm to our economy, enrich our culture and preserve social security and medicare unlike austerity policies which have done nothing but make matters worse everywhere they've been tried.
right on BC. you tell it
Nobody really favors Open Borders. We all want border inspections – just on DIFFERENT criteria than what the anti-immigrant folks of the world support.
Perhaps. But it's pretty silly that terrorism is so often sited by rightie pols as a reason why we must have ever more vigilant border security. That particular reason is right up there with Gessler's hysteria about fraudulent voting considering that a grand total of zero acts of terrorism have been perpetrated by anyone who came across our southern border illegally
Or the northern border, despite when John McCain thinks:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2009/04/24/911_terrorists_came_from_canada_mccain_insists.html
John McCain's fuzzy thinking has never been anything to write home about. The fact that he is to be greatly admired for surviving his long and horrifying ordeal as a POW doesn't translate into an obligation to give him credit for knowing WTF he's talking about, which he almost never does.
We aren't going to agree about the need for protection against future fraud in voting today BlueCat, but I don't want to have that argument.
That disagreement aside, if we were really trying to use the immigration code to stop terrorism and not other things then we'd have a different immigration code.
Not surprised. You never want to have arguments you know you can't win, and there is zero evidence that a) voter fraud is a significant problem or on the road to becoming one or b) true concern about this non-problem, not a desperate rear guard attempt to stem a rising demographic tide that doesn't favor them, is what motivates all the dogged and expensive GOP initiated efforts to pass over the top draconian "solutions" out of all proportion to any real world, fact based problem. You can't seriously expect anyone to believe, for instance, that there is any reasonable justification based on voter fraud issues for refusing to send a mail in ballot to someone who missed one, count 'em, one, presidential year election, as Gessler argues. So of course, we won't be continuing this discussion.
I still remember how you conducted yourself during the Hackstaff/Gessler thing and so am not will to discuss something along these lines with you online. If you want to chat over coffee sometime with PCG or others, drop me a line.
Oh, my terrible behavior. Like pointing out that you refused to actually address my points. That's OK. I understand your reluctance to engage. In your shoes, who wouldn't be searching for excuses? Have a nice day sweetie.
Notice, his justification isn't protection from repeats of past or current fraud, which there's no evidence of. It's protection against future fraud…
Wasn't there some sci fi movie where they got to arrest you for crimes you were maybe thinking about committing? I wouldn't have thought that people who think they are Libertarians, with most of those being nothing of the kind, would be for that kind of thing.
I do.
Open Boarders!
So you support Hamas members entering the country without any form of inspection at any border/port of entry? I support very few restrictions on people entering, but I do support SOME restrictions.
When my ancestors came, there was no inspection and it all worked out.
We are going to have to disagree then. I want the country to inspect certain people and keep them out. For example, if you have an active case of Ebola you aren't coming unless it is under close medical supervision in biohazard suits.
Or a Republican. Not that that's contagious.
Your Ebola point is interesting point but last time I entered a foreign country nobody seemed to be doing any quick, on the spot research as to whether I had Ebola or any other disease nor was I ever prevented from re-entering the US until I passed some health inspection. I'm pretty sure American tourists aren't going to be universally subjected to temporary quarantine and screenings every time they return from a foreign country any time soon so….
Point is if you know you have it and we know you have it, we don't want you coming in until it isn't communicable.
It's already happened with whooping cough.
Exactly. If you are for open borders you would have been against opposing such people's entrance.
What is going on here is a confusion of terms: when pro-immigrant people say "open borders" they mean "relaxed criteria for entry"
When anti-immigrant people say "open borders" they mean "no inspection at all, people drive across border like you are driving to McD's."
Actually that wasn't my point (as usual) but never mind, dear. I'm increasingly convinced your obtuseness isn't feigned but genuine and you really can't help it. Besides, aren't you supposed to not be arguing with me because I'm so rude?
@ElliotF
"What is going on here is a confusion of terms: when pro-immigrant people say "open borders" they mean "relaxed criteria for entry". When anti-immigrant people say "open borders" they mean "no inspection at all, people drive across border like you are driving to McD's." "
WRONG!
I am PRO immigration. Hugh PRO. When I say Open Borders, I mean open. I want more immigrants and I really don't care who they are. More is better for the economy. You made my point for me as they would not be driving to McDs if they were not going to spend money there.
However Eliot defnes it he certainly doesn't speak for the self indentified right and can't even pretend to speak for the middle or left so his definitions are of limited value. In fact they hold water only on planet Fladen, not the one we actually live on.