Among other things, the bill:• Adds $1.5 billion to
President Obama's failed jobs stimulus, a gift to socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders
of Vermont.• Turns the Travel Promotion Act, which was supposed to end in 2015,
into a permanent program at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. Prime
beneficiaries? Las Vegas casino interests, a gift to Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid of Nevada.• Makes a range of serious crimes for which U.S. citizens
can be arrested and imprisoned — including assault and battery, drunk driving
and tax fraud — "waivable" for illegal immigrants when it comes to
their amnesty status.• Gives Alaskan "Seafood processing" jobs
special status as "shortage occupations," letting those industries
hire low-skilled illegal immigrants to fill "temporary" jobs, a
bipartisan favor to Alaska Sens. Mark Begich (Democrat) and Lisa Murkowski
(Republican).
That, no doubt, isn't a comprehensive list. But since no one
has read the bill — the latest version of immigration reform was issued less
than 75 hours before Monday's vote — it's impossible even to say how much pork
is in the bill the Senate is voting on. But even if you took out all the pork,
the bill should be rejected. Both parties late last week trumpeted the
Corker-Hoeven amendment as a "tough" answer for average Americans'
insistence that the border be secured first before legalizing 11 million
illegal aliens. And, on the surface, it sounds good: Corker-Hoeven doubles the
number of border agents and authorizes the construction of 700 miles of border
fence. The so-called Gang of Eight claims that should allay any concerns over
border security. It does no such thing.
To begin with, the bill doesn't require the adding of 20,000
new border agents until 2021 — which, as we all know, means it will never
happen. Also, it leaves in place a
provision that gives Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano —
not Congress — power to stop the fence from being built.
Indeed, by some estimates, the bill allows for as many as 60
million more illegals to come in over the next decade. Without securing our
border, the fiscal impact of this human flood would be devastating to our
nation. Just legalizing 11 million will cost U.S. taxpayers $6.3 trillion in
coming decades, according to a study by the Heritage Foundation.
This latest display of fiscal recklessness and a lack of
concern for average citizens shows why Americans are increasingly distrustful
of Congress. The most recent Gallup data show Congress' favorability now at
just 10% — its lowest level ever, ranking them at the very bottom of all the
major institutions in America. If Senate Democrats and their allies were
designing a plan of action to undermine Americans' faith in our democratic
republic, they couldn't have done a better job than this.
Source: Investor's Business Posted 06/24/2013 06:43 PM
ET Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/062413-661240-gang-of-8-immigration-reform-bill-turns-into-pork.htm#ixzz2XDchnOXC
No comments:
Post a Comment