Rossputin.com Rational Thinking About Our World

see "U.S. Senate heads for crucial immigration vote" (Reuters, 6/28)
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2732384920070628

The best thing that can happen to the GOP and to the country, following Republicans voting to re-open debate on the Immigration Bill, is to aggressively crush the Bill. Otherwise, the GOP will lose substantial electoral support because of either the perception or reality of supporting a version of immigration that probably represents the worst of all possible worlds.

I am all for true immigration reform, including enforcing our borders and stronger penalties on employers...but it must be combined with a very large increase in the number of visas available for workers of all skill levels.

Although I have not read the bill (and neither have most of the Senators who will vote on it), it seems clear that it is a mess. The idea that illegals will pay big fines or return to their countries is just silly. The unions forced a reduction in the visa increase from 400,000 to 200,000.

While I don't believe most illegals actually want citizenship, we should take careful heed of the wishes of people like Ken Salazar (D-Oaxaca) (oops, I meant D-CO) who made it clear that he wants illegals to get the right to vote. Senators have also demonstrated an interest (in last year's failed immigration bill) to give illegals rights to receive Social Security.

There is no doubt that the Democrats are supporting this bill because they think it will buy them enough new voters (after 10 or 15 years, anyway) to become a nearly permanent majority. I think they're wrong as to the degree the bill would help them, but there is no doubt it would.

I would not argue to kill immigration reform just because it helped Democrats...if the reform were well thought out and to the benefit of the nation. But this bill is the deformed love child of John McCain and Ted Kennedy, and deserves to be terminated with extreme prejudice.

From the GOP's point of view, if they are wishy-washy on this, it will cost them dearly in the next election. I am not saying that the GOP should take a strongly anti-immigration position...that obviously didn't work in the last election and most Americans are pro-immigration as long as it's legal. Instead, Republicans should be screaming from the hilltops exactly why they're against this bill...and without just yelling "amnesty". Americans are too smart just to hear one word from a politician and believe him or her.

In any case, today's vote will be very interesting. The news stories say it will be close. I hope it's not that close, and that almost all of the Republicans who were not involved in drafting the bill (and possibly some who were, but I'm not hopeful) will vote against it, and then make a cogent explanation why to the American people.

As it has been for many months now, the biggest political negative for Republicans has been George Bush. From his refusal to veto anything other than stem cell research to his not firing Don Rumsfeld until after the election when it could have done it a month earlier to his support for this bill, it would be comical if it weren't so sad to see the head of the Party being the main cause of its destruction.

I hope that today's vote does not even gain a simple majority for passage, much less then 60% needed to overcome a filibuster.

And if enough Republican Senators are politically suicidal enough to support this bill that it actually gets through, we'll have to rely on the House Republicans to fix the Senate's mistake. While I hope it doesn't get that far, at least it would give House Republicans the chance to do something right...which we haven't seen from them in years.