Why Is Congress Rushing A Bad Immigration Bill?

The Senate's Democratic leadership and bipartisan Gang of Eight were in such a hurry to stop debate on their 1,200-page immigration bill that they didn't want anyone to read it. It's the latest in a long line of political travesties that threaten the future of our 237-year-old republic. Sadly, those who pass our laws can't be bothered even to read them these days. But if they did, they might be shocked to discover that the "Immigration Reform Bill," after the Corker-Hoeven amendment, has turned into a giant pinata stuffed with all kinds of hidden pork and goodies to make it easier for senators to choke down. "When you pass complicated legislation and no one has really read the bill," Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward noted on Fox News Sunday, "the outcome is absurd." He's right. Just like the bloated, pork-filled ObamaCare bill before it, immigration reform has lots of juicy tidbits in it to buy the votes of key legislators. And, also like ObamaCare, legislators and average citizens alike will have to "pass the bill to find out what's in it," in former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's now-infamous phrase.

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