Immigration

I am with the Republicans on this Issue!


Immigration reform gets second chancePressure from activists, industry and White House revives Senate bill
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADTCopyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Senate leaders, under intense pressure from immigrant-rights groups, the business sector and the White House, agreed Thursday on a plan to revive an immigration bill sidetracked last week by partisan clashes and conservative opposition.

Business wants that cheap labor that cuts out jobs for Americans!!______________________________________
Schwarzenegger: Turn Off Spanish TV
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a gathering of Hispanic journalists that immigrants should avoid Spanish-language media if they want to learn English quickly.
"You've got to turn off the Spanish television set" and avoid Spanish-language television, books and newspapers, the Republican governor said Wednesday night at the annual convention of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
"You're just forced to speak English, and that just makes you learn the language faster," Schwarzenegger said.
"I know this sounds odd and this is the politically incorrect thing to say, and I'm going to get myself in trouble," he said, noting that he rarely spoke German and was forced to learn English when he emigrated from Austria.
Schwarzenegger was responding to a question about how Hispanic students can improve academically. Many journalists for Spanish-language organizations in the audience were surprised by the remarks.
"I'm sitting shaking my head not believing that someone would be so naive and out of it that he would say something like that," said Alex Nogales, president and chief executive of the National Hispanic Media Coalition.
Hispanic immigrants need Spanish-language media to stay informed and "function in this society," Nogales said.
Schwarzenegger has garnered more Hispanic support than most Republican governors in the past two elections, despite some seemingly anti-immigration blunders — such as praising the Minutemen border militia group on a talk radio show.
Schwarzenegger also lauded President Bush's push for immigration reform, saying the country has its first opportunity for change in decades.
But he also said the Senate's current immigration reform proposal, which failed last week, still needs more fine tuning so it can be enforced.

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Hot topic on talk radio


The move to offer the downpayment on border and interior enforcement marks an attempt to quell a revolt by Americans bombarding senators with angry phone calls, e-mails and faxes. Their message: We've got no faith that you'll actually enforce the law or increase border security.
"Senators on both sides are being pounded by talk radio," said Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss.
The lobbying has been equally furious on the other side, with immigrant-rights advocates demanding a legalization program; business interests pressing for a temporary worker program and more green cards for skilled immigrants; and religious institutions demanding retention of a legal immigration system chiefly focused on family reunification.
The desire to frontload immigration enforcement spending was also welcomed by Democrats as a necessary confidence-building step.
"If we can assure the American people that the security measures we have in the legislation are, in fact, going to be funded, I think that will take care of the concern that people have," said Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.
Some conservative critics of the bill, however, fumed that the $4.4 billion is little more than a way to buy votes.
"This is a blatant attempt by senators to extort votes so they can fast-track an amnesty plan," said Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus.
Even as the bill's backers found a way to resuscitate the legislation, new questions were being raised about its potential impact.
A senior citizens' group issued a study estimating more than 2 million illegal immigrants could gain nearly $1 trillion in Social Security benefits by 2040 if the bill becomes law.
"We're unequivocally certain that it's going to have a devastating effect on the solvency of Social Security, which is already estimated to go bankrupt in 2041," said Shannon Benton, executive director of TREA Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan advocacy group that claims a membership of 1.2 million people.
Hutchison sought to deny Social Security credit for all time worked under illegal status.
But her amendment, accepted by the Senate during the earlier floor debate, was pared to deny work credits only to illegal immigrants who obtained legitimate Social Security numbers after January 2004. Otherwise the amendment could have required changes in the 2004 Social Security Protection Act, triggering the opposition of powerful senators.
Big numbers in play
The senior citizens' group estimates illegal immigrants who received Social Security numbers prior to 2004 would be on track to receive more than $966 billion in Social Security benefits by 2040.
"I am very concerned about it because I believe that we should keep our Social Security system in the black and intact," Hutchison said.
Benton's group does not necessarily advocate that illegal immigrants be denied Social Security, she stressed.
"We think that members of Congress, maybe they are not aware of it," Benton said. "And we want to make sure Congress and the American people are aware of this issue before it's too late."

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Snow: President Bush Is "On The Frontlines" Of The Iraq War "Every Day"


" Really"

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Three injured as squirrel goes nuts!
A ferocious squirrel went on the rampage in Germany this week, attacking three people before meeting its match in an angry 72-year-old.
Police in the southern town of Passau said the creature attacked a 70-year-old woman on Tuesday, sinking its teeth into her hand.
It next entered a building site and jumped on a construction worker, injuring his hand and arm before he fought it off with a pole.
A police spokesman said the squirrel then finally met its end - but it didn't go down without a fight.
"The squirrel went into the 72-year-old man's garden and attacked him on the arms, hand and thigh," the spokesman said. "Then he killed it with his crutch."
He explained that experts thought the creature's behaviour could have been brought on by the mating season, or it could have been ill.
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Arianna Huffington: Waiting on Petraeus: How Many Will Die Before He Tells Us What We Already Know?
Even as a steady stream of bad news pours out of Iraq, Democrats are once more divided over how much of their focus to put on Iraq. "You can't become a one trick pony," warned Rahm Emanuel, arguing that Democrats need to pay equal attention to domestic issues. Thankfully, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid seem to have learned the lesson of 2004 -- it's not the extended family leave, stupid. Or, at least, they've learned the lesson of 2007: there is nothing wrong with being a one trick pony, if it's the right trick. And at this point, getting us out of Iraq is the feat voters most want to see.