I don’t know how Democrats do it
The immigration reform proposal moving through the Senate is tearing the Republican Party apart. Poor Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), once the golden boy of the Tea Party and the conservative movement, is treated like a guy who wants to leave the gang but first has to take a group beating.
But Rubio is simply the latest javelin catcher in the right-wing immigration Olympics. The spotlight will soon turn to House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio). Conservatives in the House of Representatives are ready to block out the sun with arrows aimed at him if he introduces a bill without a majority of GOP support.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce just launched a television ad campaign promoting immigration reform featuring Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), even though Paul opposed the legislation because it does not include border security requirements. The Wall Street Journal editorial board – always a staunch supporter of maximizing immigration – appears to be on the verge of a collective aneurysm as it deals with what it sees as the Republican Party succumbing to nativist madness.
By comparison, while the GOP increasingly resembles a fight scene from the movie “Anchorman,” Democrats, led by New York Sen. Charles Schumer, look like Snow White’s dwarves whistling as they work.
It’s good that President Obama stays out of this, but the Democrats still managed to keep almost everyone in line. The left’s most outspoken critic has been Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who argues persuasively that the bill will disproportionately harm the unskilled and undereducated destitute.
But his support came at the price of a $1.5 billion youth employment program hidden in a fresh, 1,190-page amended bill that senators had up to 72 hours to read before Monday’s vote.
Still, Sanders’ complaint – and his abdication – raises engaging issues. One reason Democrats have an easier time is that their stakeholders can make deals and constituencies will agree to them. Organized labor will be carved out of Democrats, as will business groups willing to work on a bipartisan basis.
Contrary to popular belief, the GOP is now a much more populist and grassroots party, and soldiers are not in the mood to follow orders.
Democrats are usually the ones who decry the disastrous global trends that hinder the well-being of the working destitute and the middle class. And yet their biggest priority is a bill that will accelerate these trends.
When the Congressional Budget Office released a report last week that the immigration bill would raise per capita GNP by 0.2 percent and slightly reduce the deficit over 20 years, Democrats hailed it as vindication.
Republicans should have noted that the same CBO report assumed that the legislation would reduce immigration by only 25 percent and would reduce average wages very modestly in the first decade. Schumer is selling this bill as a way to make illegal immigration a “thing of the past.” A 25% cut doesn’t sound like the dustbin of history to me.
Liberal weirdos raced to defend the wage bill, noting that average wages won’t necessarily fall for current workers. (If 10 people earn $100 a day and add an 11th who earns $50 a day, the average will fall even if everyone’s wages don’t fall.) But arguing about how much wages will or won’t fall is far-fetched. from demanding a pay raise.
The poll shows there is overwhelming agreement on what to do about immigration. If residents illegally meet strict requirements – pay taxes, pay fines, etc. – support for a path to citizenship is high, even among Republicans. Without these requirements it falls.
The same applies to border security. Convince people that this is a one-time thing and not a repeat of Ronald Reagan’s amnesty, and most conservatives want to put this issue behind them.
The problem is that the right is simply not in a trusting mood. They believe, with ample justification, that Washington, including the GOP, has betrayed them – either accidentally or intentionally – for too long. I can totally understand that. What baffles me is why rank-and-file Democrats don’t feel the same.
