June 15, 2007, Priorities
Well, well... it seems that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who was part of a surrender associated with tying conditions to Iraq war funding for troop withdrawal (even symbolic conditions and goals) lest Democrats be called for "not supporting the troops" by not working over Memorial Day weekend... has decided that Democrats shall, if necessary, work over the precious July 4th vacation "district work interval"... to pass the President's signature immigration bill. Which leads to the simple question of... wtf?
This is not a Democratic signature issue... and if it is, the solution proposed (creating a legal class of under-menschen "guest workers" and granting amnesty to the estimated 12,000,000 line jumpers already here)... will, surprise, surprise, be a nice boon for those of us in affluent neighborhoods seeking to keep down the cost of our housekeepers, restaurant delivery-persons, nannies, handymen and gardeners... while helping to further keep pressure on to suppress wages among the working and lower middle class... i.e., what had once been thought of as the core of the Democratic Party.
I've said it before: I can understand why the corporatist President would want this bill: suppressing Americans wages (and increasing the value of capital) is a traditional Republican goal (along with making sure that the lives of the average Americans are as insecure and unpleasant as possible so that they will remain dependent on their betters). The problem for the President is not a Democratic Party best symbolized by Reid's actions on this very bill as standing for nothing (it's a party that can't fillibuster a Supreme Court Justice who'll tip the balance toward criminalizing abortion, can't block the repeal of habeas corpus, won't do a damned thing about the Iraq War... and I could go on)... and yet, wants to cross party lines in the interest of pandering on an issue that it (wrongly) perceives as a measure universally supported by Latinos in the interest of holding its support among that group... at the expense of the interests of its only two solid, always reliable constituencies (African Americans and organized labor). You got all that?
So who's going to kill this insanity idiocy bill? You got it: nativist Republicans (joined by some vulnerable Democrats who need to join them and not by "core-value" Democrats because such a creature doesn't seem to exist) will see to it that this bill is shot down, because the Republican Party is now a Deep South (and Mountain West) regional party, and its constituents are motivated by... well, dislike of the kind of people who tend to be the bulk of our... housekeepers, restaurant delivery-persons, nannies, handymen and gardeners...
Anyway... you'all see my views on this bill. But frankly, why help the President, who would just as soon jail the opposition-now-in-majority as talk to them (would that he thought he could get away with it... give him time)? I mean, the President should be thwarted for the sake of getting the next Democratic President elected, period... ... besides, the SOB is at 29%... why do him any favors? And, this just happens to be a terrible bill anyway.
Of course... that's just me.
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Posted by Lillian at June 16, 2007 8:55 AM