STORY #1: DREAM on
I could take this opportunity to make fun of President Obama for a) not making good on his promises of immigration in his first term and b) blaming congressional Republicans for it. But it has been in various stages of congressional debate in 2009, and although a few Republicans have co-sponsored it in the Senate, its Achilles heel has consistently been its inability to reach a 60-plus majority. So, really, his problem is with a fairly small number of legislators who could have moved it to where he wants it to be: his desk.
Now I have nothing against the DREAM Act, although the Republican alternative, which we will discuss a bit later, may make a bit more sense. Without getting too deeply into the policy differences just yet, Obama will have a much tougher time getting it passed now that there is an alternative – and one crafted by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), no less. With so many Republicans lining up to kiss his ass, Obama can’t hope for much more political mileage than he’s already had.
STORY #2: And now, the differences
The central differences between the DREAM Act and Rubio’s alternative, which appears to be unnamed, are these: Good grades in college and/or military service would provide a shorter path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants under Obama’s plan. Rubio’s plan does not consider college or military service (for n0w; it’s still in the development stages) and would not provide a shorter path to citizenship, although it would supply non-immigrant visas to those same children. Seems simple enough to me.
People may end up castigating both plans for not being comprehensive enough; indeed, improved border security and workplace-related reforms might end up being added through policy riders. But Rubio’s plan is a good start. It doesn’t punish these children for their parents’ illegal immigration, nor does it reward them at the expense of legal immigrants facing their own delays. Don’t be surprised to see Rubio win the day.
STORY #3: The only good Nazi . . .
Just a quick hit out of Arizona (why doesn’t that factor surprise me?) about the leader of a neo-Nazi, anti-immigrant militia, now dead in a murder-suicide attempt involving his girlfriend and her family – none of whom, I’m assuming, were recent immigrants. I bring this up because his version of “border security” was to place landmines across the U.S.-Mexico border. Please, if you’re a legislator, don’t consider this. Save the landmines for whatever hole this asshole is about to be thrown into.
