Congress re-convenes on Monday Nov 15, 2010; Sen. Reid has retained his seat for 6 more years. But Speaker Pelosi’s control of the gavel and majority support only remains in force for six more weeks. That’s a too short a time to accomplish all the goals left on the agenda. So which one will they pick?
Healthcare is done. Freddie, Fannie and Frank have been saved. Spending the precious allotment of time remaining on old issues like abortion and gun control would be a waste. The big ones still to be done are Card Check (strengthen the labor unions), Carbon Tax (save the environment) and the DREAM Act (save the Party).
Survival being the first instinct of all mankind, the answer is obvious. If Pelosi and Reid see any hope at all for passage of the DREAM Act, that is where they will focus their energies. The provisions of the DREAM Act are designed to increase the population of Hispanic and other immigrant voters and widen the Democratic Party base.
The Heritage Foundation explains how the DREAM Act would provide de-facto amnesty for illegals. The bullet points are:
- It would reward illegal aliens for violating federal immigration laws by giving them in-state tuition while there are state laws that deny legal aliens on student visas such tuition benefits.
- It would encourage more illegal immigration by sending the message that the U.S. does not take its immigration laws seriously.
- It would offer these benefits on taxpayer dollars while out-of-state students struggle to fund their college educations and the economy flounders.
- It would prohibit the government from deporting anyone who files an application for DREAM Act benefits and would prohibit other agencies (such as the Department of Homeland Security) from receiving the information—essentially giving amnesty to individuals regardless of whether they actually qualify for the act’s protections.
- It would allow younger illegal immigrants the opportunity, like legal immigrants, to sponsor their immediate family members for a green card. While current law prohibits sponsorship of illegal immigrants living in the U.S., this leaves open the possibility that they could fraudulently, through falsified documents or other means, sponsor their parents who are in the U.S. illegally—creating an even larger amnesty.
Here is a link to the entire Heritage Foundation report.
If Pelosi and Reid determine that sufficient votes for passage of the DREAM Act cannot be had, we would guess the second choice would be to spend the time attacking the rich and condemning anticipated Republican blockage of Democratic initiatives.
RANDOM THOTS 