butterbean
Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2269
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Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject: Immigration is No Joke |
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In 2006 something extraordinary happened in immigration politics. As Al Gore might put it, the people defeated the powerful. The much-maligned Republican 109th Congress passed immigration-enforcement legislation to build a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border, without including an amnesty for illegal immigrants. President Bush has declared he will sign the bill today. How did this happen?
One year ago elites had crafted a much different scenario. It was going to be amnesty for 12 million illegal immigrants, a massive increase in legal (and low-skilled) immigration accompanied by tepid and cosmetic “enforcement” measures.
It appeared to be a very uneven contest. On the “comprehensive” reform (i.e., amnesty) side were the mainstays of power, money, and polite society: Big Media (the major TV networks, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal), Big Business (Chamber of Commerce, leading corporations), Big Labor (AFL-CIO), Big Religion (the mainstream Protestant and Catholic hierarchies), and Big Politics (Bush administration, Senator McCain, the Senate leadership, Senator Kennedy, and the Democratic leaders in both houses).
continued:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWJmOTU0NWM5MmFiYzY0NjI4YmZhYTFkYzRhYmE3M2E |
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