Bush, Congress tell working folk to go to hell

Date: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 3:03 PM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1487 >>>>>

Lou Dobbs wrote his article before the Senate voted for cloture on S. 2611.
Had Dobbs known that was going to happen perhaps the title would have been:
"Bush, Congress tell working folk to go to HELL IN A HANDBASKET!"

The Senate vote for cloture on S. 2611 by a 73-25 vote. That ends all
debate on the bill which means that the entire bill will be voted on
perhaps by tomorrow.

The Senate is in a mad rush to meet Bush's deadline of having a bill by
Memorial Day. Things are so rushed that nobody knows what's in the bill.
Check this comment out by Feinstein:

The final hours of the Judiciary Committee's March 27 markup got
so rushed that, at one point, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) of
California asked: "Excuse me, but did we just vote to raise or
lower the number of H-1B visas?" No one knew.

I find it hard to believe Feinstein doesn't know the answer to that
question. Just for the record S. 2611 would raise the number of H-1B visas
from 65,000 to 115,000 a year. It will have an automatic 20 percent
escalator clause in the bill that will kick if the previous year's quota
was met.

Cornyn isn't very reassuring either:

Asked whether the Senate was "flying blind" on the demographic
impact of this bill, Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas said:
"We're not entirely blind."

I hope all of you are working with the organizations that are fighting this
bill. Our backs are literally against the wall so there is no time for
procrastination.

This is just a partial list. Whomever you are working with, plese get to
work!

NumbersUSA
http://www.numbersusa.com/

FAIR
http://www.fairus.org/

Team America PAC
http://www.teamamericapac.org/

Californians for Population Stabilization
http://www.capsweb.org/main.html

Washtech and TechsUnite
http://www.unionvoice.org/techsunite/home.html

Materials Used for this Newsletter

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/23/dobbs.may24/index.html
Dobbs: Bush, Congress tell working folk to go to hell

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0525/p01s02-uspo.html
Surprises on Senate's path to immigration bill

excerpt from NumbersUSA newsletter 5/24/2006

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/23/dobbs.may24/index.html

Dobbs: Bush, Congress tell working folk to go to hell
By Lou Dobbs
CNN

Editor's note: Lou Dobbs' commentary appears every Wednesday on CNN.com.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush says that the installation of the new
Iraqi government was a "watershed event," but at the same time warns
Americans of the challenges and loss as we continue to prosecute the war
against Iraqi insurgents. Sen. Harry Reid declares that legislation that
would render English the national language is racist.

Thirty-seven Democrats vote for full amnesty for all illegal aliens in this
country, even though nobody really knows whether the number is 11 million,
12 million or 20 million. The Senate Republican leadership demands that a
"comprehensive immigration reform" plan must be passed before this Memorial
Day weekend. And the president signs into law a tax cut that raises taxes
on the educational funds of teenagers saving for college.

Never before in our country's history have both the president and Congress
been so out of touch with most Americans. Never before have so few of our
elected officials and corporate leaders been less willing to commit to the
national interest. And never before has our nation's largest constituent
group -- some 200 million middle-class Americans -- been without
representation in our nation's capital.(Watch why Dobbs said Mexico's
leader is in charge of U.S. immigration policy -- 3:16)

George W. Bush's approval ratings have slumped to the lowest of his
presidency. The approval rating for Congress is even lower, and nearly
three-quarters of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong
direction.

But what is our government doing about that? The president is staying the
course in Iraq and apparently demanding little of his generals to create a
new, far more effective strategy for urgent success. Of course, he also
wants a guest-worker program and amnesty of millions of illegal aliens. And
Congress, faced with midterm elections in just over five months, is intent
on giving the president what he wants and telling working men and women and
their families, American citizens all, to go to hell.

Illegal aliens are more important to this Congress than securing our
borders and our ports, more important than those legal immigrants who have
waited in line and who follow the law. The Senate has added to the litany
of lunacy that makes up what it calls reform: Illegal aliens would only
have to pay back taxes on three of the past five years, they will not be
prosecuted for felonies such as identity theft or purchasing or using
fraudulent Social Security cards, and unlike millions of visa holders who
have to leave the country to have them renewed, they may simply remain in
the United States while this Congress and this president give away all the
benefits and privileges of American citizenship.

This is an outright assault in the elitist war on the middle class. And
working men and women who've already borne the pain of losing good-paying
manufacturing jobs and having middle-class jobs outsourced to cheap foreign
labor markets are faced with the onslaught of more illegal immigration and
cheap labor into the American economy. This president and Congress talk
about bringing illegal aliens out of the shadows while they turn out the
lights on our middle class.

President Bush and his most trusted advisers tell us how well our economy
is doing, how many jobs have been created and how so-called free trade will
enrich the lives of the same people whose livelihoods these policies are
destroying.

It's hard not to think of the trusted adviser to Catherine the Great who
sought to hide from her the embarrassing and shoddy condition of Ukrainian
and Crimean villages by having elaborate facades built to divert her
attention and to mask an uncomfortable reality. I don't know whether Karl
Rove is President Bush's Grigori Potemkin or whether George Bush has
created Potemkin villages all by himself. But the facades are cracking, and
phony fronts of failed policies are quickly crumbling.

Six thousand unarmed National Guardsmen working as adjunct rear support to
our undermanned, under-equipped Border Patrol is not border security. Three
million illegal aliens continue to cross our borders and depress wages by
hundreds of billions of dollars every year. The millions of manufacturing
and middle-class jobs lost over the last five years have been replaced by
lower-wage employment.

The president's faith-based commitment to so-called free trade will likely
lead to a $1 trillion U.S. current account deficit this year and a trade
debt of $4.5 trillion after 30 years of trade deficits. And while the
president and Congress point to No Child Left Behind as a solution to our
educational crisis, we're failing an entire generation of Americans whose
test scores continue to fall and whose high school dropout rates would be
embarrassing to a third-world country.

And a third-world country is what we will be if our elected officials don't
soon come to their senses.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0525/p01s02-uspo.html

from the May 25, 2006 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0525/p01s02-uspo.html

Surprises on Senate's path to immigration bill
By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON - After months of emotional gridlock, US senators are pushing
the pedal to the metal on the first overhaul of immigration policy in two
decades.

The trouble is, no one is quite sure what's in it. The quickened pace in
recent days has helped the Senate get to "yes" on the 614-page bill - a
final vote is expected this week. And it's given senators a rare chance to
actually legislate. But it's also produced several surprises that have
caught members off guard.

What counted was maintaining a "fragile" coalition of senators committed to
passing comprehensive reform, including a path to citizenship for many of
the millions already in the country illegally. While those following the
action on C-SPAN saw frequent lulls, the work behind the scenes to hold
that core was unrelenting.

Keeping abreast of the bill's changes often overwhelmed members. The final
hours of the Judiciary Committee's March 27 markup got so rushed that, at
one point, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) of California asked: "Excuse me, but
did we just vote to raise or lower the number of H-1B visas?" No one knew.

In the end, the Senate raised the number of visas for high-tech workers
from 65,000 to 115,000 a year. But with an automatic 20 percent escalator
clause in the bill that could mean an additional 3 million foreigners will
compete with American workers for high-tech jobs in the US during the next
10 years.

"To do a bill like this on a forced march, it wasn't ready to come out,"
said Senator Feinstein, after joining 72 other senators to vote to end
debate on the bill Wednesday. "I am very pro-high tech, but these are prize
jobs in our economy. They really should be evaluated every year."

It's one of the many possibly unintended consequences in a bill that could
have a vast impact on America's economy and society.

"This has been the most satisfying week I've had since I've been here,"
said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina, in comments off the Senate
floor on Tuesday. "There were unusual coalitions being formed and a lot of
give and take on the floor. Our coalition is stronger than it was a week
ago, and we've been tested by fire."

Indeed, the coalition had to face down a string of so-called poison pill
amendments intended to block a path to citizenship for those in the worker
program.

Last Thursday, for instance, the coalition nearly dissolved over a bid to
bar illegal immigrants currently in the country from claiming Social
Security credit for the years they worked with forged documents. The
amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Ensign (R) of Nevada, took the bill's
core supporters by surprise, because it opened a new window on the
criticism that the bill amounted to amnesty - a charge its supporters have
denied. "Does this bill punish the people who stole an American citizen's
identity? No, it does not. It rewards them," said Senator Ensign.

The vote count was 49-49, when Sen. Mark Pryor (D) of Arkansas was walking
up the steps toward the Senate floor. "Hurry! We need your vote!" cried a
Democratic staffer, who had been tracking the vote no one expected would be
so close. With Senator Pryor's vote, the amendment was defeated.

"A lot of us took tough votes where we would have liked to vote the other
way, but we didn't, because we wanted to hold the coalition together," said
Senator Graham, who voted with 10 other Republicans against the amendment.

On many key votes in the last two weeks, the majority of Senate Republicans
were not on the winning side. These included votes on amendments by Sens.
Jon Kyl (R) of Arizona and David Vitter (R) of Louisiana that would have
ensured that the guest worker program did not include a path to eventual
citizenship. Had the amendment passed, supporters say that bipartisan
support for the entire bill would have crumbled.

"[Republicans] have the White House, the Senate, and the House. If we can't
solve the immigration problem because it's too hard for us, people are
going to turn to the other party," said Graham.

At the same time, the debate often produced unexpected alliances. Populists
on the right and left found themselves in losing positions on the defense
of American jobs from a surge in competition from cheaper labor.

In a key vote last week, Sens. Byron Dorgan (D) of North Dakota and Jeff
Sessions (R) of Alabama - typically bookends on any vote on social policy -
found themselves on the same losing side of a 69-28 vote to limit
eligibility for the bill's guest-worker program to protect American jobs.
"What on earth are we thinking? Can't there be some modicum of discussion
about the effect on American workers?" said Senator Dorgan, introducing his
amendment last week.

In support of that amendment, Senator Sessions introduced a new report by
the Heritage Foundation that claimed that the Senate bill would allow 100
million new legal immigrants into the country over the next 20 years. He
called for a demographic impact statement on the impact of the bill.

"There's been no discussion of the fiscal costs of amnesty or the plight of
American workers in the Senate debate," said Steven Camarota, director of
research at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports limits on
immigration.

Asked whether the Senate was "flying blind" on the demographic impact of
this bill, Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas said: "We're not entirely blind."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From NumbersUSA Newsletter

Measure Number: S. 2611 (Comprehensive Immigration
Reform Act of 2006 ) Vote Counts:
YEAs 73
NAYs 25
Not Voting 2

THESE SENATORS VOTED TO STOP DEBATE AND ALLOW A FINAL VOTE FOR THE S.2611
AMNESTY BILL THAT WOULD OFFER 32 MILLION PERMANENT GREEN CARDS OVER THE
FIRST 10 YEARS.

NUMBERSUSA WILL SCORE THIS AS A VOTE FOR AMNESTY.

Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brownback (R-KS)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Dayton (D-MN)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dodd (D-CT)
Domenici (R-NM)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Thomas (R-WY)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Wyden (D-OR)

THESE 25 HEROIC SENATORS STOOD UP AGAINST THE POWERFUL FORCES OF THE U.S.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, PRESIDENT BUSH AND MOST OF THE COUNTRY'S MEDIA TO VOTE
AGAINST ALLOWING CONSIDERATION OF A BILL FOR WHICH NOBODY HAS EVEN TRIED TO
FIGURE OUT THE COSTS

NUMBERSUSA WILL SCORE THIS AS A VOTE AGAINST AMNESTY

Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Ensign (R-NV)
Grassley (R-IA)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Roberts (R-KS)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)

NOT VOTING
Enzi (R-WY)
Rockefeller (D-WV)

Support this Newsletter and www.ZaZona.com by donating:
www.zazona.com/Donations.htm

To View the Newsletter Archive go to:
http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/JobDestructionNews.htm

To Be removed from this mailing list, reply to this
email with UNSUbSCRIBE in the subject window

Back to archives