maxparrish
05-31-2007, 08:55 PM
Radio Talk Show Host, former Republican Admin. Attorney (Reagan and Bush One I think), and very well connected. Hewitt is upbeat and says bill is dead as drafted...REALLY dead.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Can Any Immigration Bill Be Saved? (http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/2998af5a-88a3-4164-9868-d8027d82ff1c)
Posted by Hugh Hewitt | 7:53 PM
Another day of interviews and calls, and my overwhelming sense is that the immigration bill as drafted is as dead as dead can be. The president's speech on Tuesday had the effect of throwing gas on the flames, and the anger has multiplied, and it isn't nativist in the least.
Could the bill be saved? Only if the Republican leadership comes back with a package of amendments which it announces beforehand and insists be voted on serially and all of which must be adopted if cloture is to be invoked on the final amended version. The choice before the Democrats is whether they will accept genuine enforcement (the whole fence first, big hikes in federal law enforcement beyond the Border Patrol, a burden of proof requirement on non-Spanish speaking immigrants from countries with jihadist networks and perhaps even for gang-age Spanish speakers etc.) What happened over the past ten days was a huge shift against the bill so that the amendment package must be real reform of the reform or the dead end will be reached. John McCain knew what he was doing when he demanded a jam down --the bill has lost support with every day of scrutiny.
...Expect more and more Democrats to try and keep the bill as it is because of the inferno on the right. Even lefties pushing for more family member migrations etc have got to see that unity in pushing the present version forward will splinter the GOP as surely as the Corn Laws did Peel's Tories or as Ireland did Gladstone's Liberals. If the GOP doesn't get its amendment package out and adopted, the Republican Leader has got to call a halt to the meltdown. See this story for a clue on the deep damage done to the GOP over the past few days. (http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/45b04c21-b94d-4352-b945-824992c66bc3)
Now I like Hugh AND he is more moderate than the typical conservative host (he even supported Harriet Meyers) BUT he is damn smart and researchs everything. As he has been pissed at Tancredo for not compromising last year, his attitude was somewhat downbeat till this week. NOW he is sure it will die and he is very happy...
We will see, but it is a good omen.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Can Any Immigration Bill Be Saved? (http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/2998af5a-88a3-4164-9868-d8027d82ff1c)
Posted by Hugh Hewitt | 7:53 PM
Another day of interviews and calls, and my overwhelming sense is that the immigration bill as drafted is as dead as dead can be. The president's speech on Tuesday had the effect of throwing gas on the flames, and the anger has multiplied, and it isn't nativist in the least.
Could the bill be saved? Only if the Republican leadership comes back with a package of amendments which it announces beforehand and insists be voted on serially and all of which must be adopted if cloture is to be invoked on the final amended version. The choice before the Democrats is whether they will accept genuine enforcement (the whole fence first, big hikes in federal law enforcement beyond the Border Patrol, a burden of proof requirement on non-Spanish speaking immigrants from countries with jihadist networks and perhaps even for gang-age Spanish speakers etc.) What happened over the past ten days was a huge shift against the bill so that the amendment package must be real reform of the reform or the dead end will be reached. John McCain knew what he was doing when he demanded a jam down --the bill has lost support with every day of scrutiny.
...Expect more and more Democrats to try and keep the bill as it is because of the inferno on the right. Even lefties pushing for more family member migrations etc have got to see that unity in pushing the present version forward will splinter the GOP as surely as the Corn Laws did Peel's Tories or as Ireland did Gladstone's Liberals. If the GOP doesn't get its amendment package out and adopted, the Republican Leader has got to call a halt to the meltdown. See this story for a clue on the deep damage done to the GOP over the past few days. (http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/45b04c21-b94d-4352-b945-824992c66bc3)
Now I like Hugh AND he is more moderate than the typical conservative host (he even supported Harriet Meyers) BUT he is damn smart and researchs everything. As he has been pissed at Tancredo for not compromising last year, his attitude was somewhat downbeat till this week. NOW he is sure it will die and he is very happy...
We will see, but it is a good omen.