Archives for June 2013

Utah Sen. Mike Lee says the new amendment to the Senate immigration bill is not sufficient to win his vote but may be enough to get the bill passed. However, he says it won’t stand a chance in the Republican-led House of Representatives.

“I do suspect that the Gang of Eight bill will probably be passed in the Senate, but I also am certain that it will be dead on arrival in the House of Representatives,” said Lee.

But for all of the reports of sudden momentum for the bill, Lee says if the plan does clear the Senate, it will be despite the opposition of many Republicans.

“I think there is more resistance to it than support among Republican senators. It’s hard to say because the bill is still a moving target. We’re still in the middle of the amendment process. The Corker-Hoeven amendment, which was written up as a substitute bill, was just released within the last hour or so,” said Lee late Friday afternoon.

“That is about a thousand pages long so we’re still poring through that, trying to see what it means,” said Lee.

On Thursday, GOP senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota sponsored an amendment that they say should alleviate any concerns senators may have about a commitment to secure the border. It includes funding for 20,000 additional border agents, full implementation of E-Verify, greater use of drones in border surveillance and other tools. They say all of these resources must be in place before any green cards are issued to current illegal immigrants.

Lee and other critics of the bill say this won’t sway their vote. For Lee, it’s a matter of doing the right things in the right order.

“I fundamentally disagree with the approach taken by the Gang of Eight, which says we have to make all of those decisions all at once in a thousand-page bill. This is a bill that while well-intentioned in many respects, does a lot of harm by trying to tackle all these problems at once and not in the right sequence,” said Lee. “It still suffers from the same fatal flaws as it originally did so I’m not going to support it.”

Lee also responded to criticism of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who says this border security amendment ends any concerns on that front and the only reason for lingering opposition is fundamental opposition to a pathway to citizenship.

“What he’s really saying is he wants citizenship and he wants citizenship at the front end. He wants it virtually guaranteed at the front end, and if he doesn’t get that he’s not going to support and will oppose anything else. I think it’s fairly apparent that what he’s really saying is it’s his way or no way at all,” said Lee.

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President Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel twice this past week, once at the G-8 Summit in Ireland and again in Germany.  The two leaders disagree over how best to jumpstart staggering economies, with Obama favoring stimulus spending and Merkel preferring austerity measures.  Germany has mandated strict austerity measures as a condition for aid to cash-strapped nations like Greece.  In light of the ongoing Eurozone unrest, the Capitol Steps highlight their hit “Greece: The Musical”.  Our guest is Steps star Elaina Newport.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Daniel Foster of National Review Online cheer the defeat of a pork-laden farm bill in the House but shudder at the GOP leadership’s inability to count votes.  They also shake their heads as the Gang of Eight quickly embraces spending a lot more on border security because it is succeeding in buying GOP votes.  And they react to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel asking a man of Indian descent if he was a member of the Taliban

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The bipartisan Gang of Eight immigration reform coalition is embracing a new border security amendment they say should assuage any lingering concerns that border enforcement will take a back seat to legalization or leave America open to further illegal immigration.

The amendment from Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven had not been released as of late Thursday afternoon.  The lawmakers and press reports indicate the language calls for a major increase in border security agents and completion of the border fence along with other technological upgrades included in the original bill.  They also say these provisions must be completed before any green cards are issued to current illegal immigrants.

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter says the provisions appeal to him but the priorities of the legislation haven’t changed.

“The first thing that still happens under the amendment is a big amnesty, a big legalization, then the enforcement comes after,” said Vitter.  “That’s a fundamental problem with the bill and this amendment wouldn’t change that in any way.”

Vitter says another major problem is the assumption that implementing these provisions will actually secure the border.

“The amendment talks about what you would call inputs or spending money.  What the Gang of Eight completely rejected is any test of results, any metric, any test like we have 80 percent border security, we have 90 percent border security.  So they absolutely rejected any real measurement of results,” said Vitter.  “Washington knows how to spend lots of money, particularly the Obama admnistration, but it often doesn’t get results.  It’s never gotten results in this area.  Results are what matter.”

Vitter admits the amendment may be enough to clinch victory for the bill in the Senate and he says Republicans are evenly split on the issue.  He says if the vote were held today, the plan would likely pass but he stresses that public response might make a difference.  The senator says lawmakers need to hear this bill will not solve our immigration problems.

“I don’t think this fixes the bill.  I want to fix the bill and fix the problem, not just have some political exercise,” he said.

Vitter is sponsoring a number of amendments to the Gang of Eight bill.  In additional to his efforts to make border security the top priority of the bill, he also wants stronger language against legalizing anyone convicted of a crime against women and children.

“This is an example of a bigger problem in my opinion with the bill.  The Gang of Eight made various promises and put out various principles.  One was that folks involved in any sort of serious crime don’t get an amnesty and are actually deported.  The problem is when you look at details of the bill, these promises don’t pan out including this one,” said Vitter, who says the current language of the bill would allow perpetrators of domestic violence and child abuse to stay in the country.

“We’re simply adding those crimes under the Violence Against Women Act as disqualifiers for making folks legal and as requirements when somebody commits that crime that they be deported,” said Vitter.

The senator says he would still vote against the final bill even if this amendment were approved.

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The Tea Party got Marco Rubio elected to the U.S. Senate his leading role in the Senate immigration reform bill shows he is “bankrupt morally” and greatly endangering his political future, according to Florida-based talk show host Joyce Kaufman.

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss the good, the bad, and the crazy topics of the day. The FBI has foiled a plot by a man intending to kill many people, including the president, with a ray gun, the Gang of 8 are discussing an amendment to the immigration bill about border security, and the NYPD won’t be able to profile anyone completely anymore?

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President Obama told a crowd in Berlin that we are “citizens of the world” and that he plans to reduce our nuclear arsenal by as many as 500 additional weapons, declarations that former Pentagon official Frank Gaffney says are a diminishing of American sovereignty and tantamount to unilateral disarmament.

Speaking to about 6,000 people in the German capital, Obama said the world is becoming a smaller place and people everywhere need to be thinking of the common good.

“We are not only citizens of America or Germany, we are also citizens of the world and our fates and fortunes are linked like never before,” said Obama.  “We may no longer live in fear of global annihilation, but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe.”

Gaffney, who is president of the Center for Security Policy and served as an assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, says that kind of talk is dangerous.

“It speaks to the idea that American sovereignty, and for that matter American exceptionalism, is all really secondary to just being a good member of the international community,” said Gaffney.  “My personal feeling of it is that’s both wrongheaded, dangerous and had we pursued it in the past, we probably wouldn’t see a free Berlin today.”

“There are lots of people in the world today, both at the nation-state level and sub-nation actors, who are deeply hostile to us and who view such statements, and particularly commitments by the president to engage in unilateral disarmament as evidence of weakness,” said Gaffney.  “History tells us that, typically, thugs, tyrants, bullies, despots of various kinds, are emboldened by such evidence of weakness on our part or even simply irresolution.  That makes the world are more dangerous place by far.”

Obama stated that the 2010 START II Treaty reduced our nuclear arsenal to its lowest level since the 1950s, but he says a careful review of our program can allow for the reduction of one-third of our stockpile, which would mean the destruction of 500 additional nukes.  The president says such a move would not limit our deterrent and he will encourage other world leaders to follow the same course.

Gaffney isn’t buying any of that.

“The president didn’t actually, I think, reach this decision on the basis of a review.  I think he reached this decision on the basis of pre-ordained decisions about what he wanted to do, which is to rid the world of nuclear weapons starting with ours.  And I think what he has done is try to get a study that will help him justify making these sorts of cuts,” said Gaffney, who says this decision carries the same red flags that pop up in his mind when Obama refers to world citizenship.

“The cumulative effect of this is that we’re looking at behavior that suggests the United States is essentially determined to remove itself from the role of the greatest power in the world and make itself just one of a number of other nations,” said Gaffney.

Gaffney also says Obama has “reneged” on a key provision of START II that required the U.S. to modernize our nuclear weapons in order to ensure reliability of our arsenal.  He says Obama “double-crossed” Republicans who were key to the treaty passing the Senate with two-thirds approval.  Gaffney further fears that Obama will try to circumvent Congress on future arms reduction agreements because he knows the Senate is unlikely to go along.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review applaud the GOP House for passing a ban on abortions after 20 weeks.  They also rip President Obama for declaring us all citizens of the world and for making a major reduction in nuclear arms a major international goal.  And they react to a New Hampshire gun control advocate calling Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a victim of gun violence.

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Just days after stating he might bring an immigration bill to the House floor without support from a majority of Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner says that will not happen but a prominent critic of the Senate immigration bill says the devil is in the details.

Following a meeting with House Republicans, Boehner tried to quash the buzz that he might buck his own conference to find common ground on immigration.

“I don’t see any way of bringing an immigration reform bill to the floor that doesn’t have the majority support of Republicans,” said Boehner.

However, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert says that firm statement may only apply to a bill that starts in the House.

“He has been consistent on that as far as a bill coming to the floor of the House that the House generates.  That is not the concern that (Iowa Rep.) Steve King, (Minnesota Rep.) Michele Bachmann and others and I have had,” said Gohmert.  “Our concern has been that even if we pass a very good bill, like (South Carolina Rep.) Trey Gowdy’s bill, if the Speaker sends that to a conference committee and the report comes back and that’s the one we’re concerned may not have a majority of Republicans.”

A House-Senate conference committee is convened to reconcile different versions of legislation in the House and Senate.  Once the conference agrees on a final version, the two chambers vote on that bill with no opportunity for amendments.  That’s the scenario that has Gohmert and others worried.

“If we get a bill back that has amnesty and 99 percent of the Democrats vote for it and the Speaker can put the pressure on 30, 40, 50 of our guys, people that are committee chairs or in leadership positions, then they can still pass it even without a majority (of Republican support),” said Gohmert.

“We have understood that the Speaker didn’t want to bring a bill to the floor of the House originally .  Our concern is bringing a conference report to the floor that a majority of the Republicans do not support,” he said.

According to press reports, Boehner was noncommittal on Tuesday when specifically asked whether his vow to require a majority of GOP support would apply to a House-Senate conference report.

Even though Gohmert says there are several aspects of immigration policy that desperately need attention, the best move for the House is simply to avoid passing any legislation and avoid the creation of a conference.  He is pushing for a party resolution to hold off on any bill until specific criteria are met.

“Until the president secures the border, which is his legal obligation, as confirmed by the border state governors, then we do not, should not, will not take up any bill that provides any kind of legal status,” said Gohmert.  “This president has had plenty of time and he has not secured the border despite what they’re saying.  So once he gets amnesty for people that are here, what incentive does he have to ever secure the border?”

Members of the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” say they are also opposed to amnesty and insist their bill is something very different because of the taxes, fees, English language proficiency, delayed citizenship and other conditions that illegals would need to address.  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio frequently declares the current immigration to be “de facto amnesty” because illegal immigrants are permitted to stay indefinitely since we have no idea that they’re here.  Gohmert rejects that assertion.

“That’s simply not true… Because the president is not using the money and the forces he has to enforce the law, he’s basically given them amnesty himself.  This has never happened before in the history of the country where the president has refused to follow the law and so Congress has come along and changed the law because the president refused to enforce it.  I’m not aware of any time in our history where Congress has caved in because the president won’t follow the law,” said Gohmert.

In addition to border security, Gohmert mentioned changes he would like to see in the visa program.  Specifically, he is open to expanding visas, particularly, for agricultural workers, with one key condition.

“There are a number of things that we can do with regard to the numbers of visas or the types of visas.  I would love to see a temporary visa for farm workers that requires that sure, we’ll give you a visa for temporary farm work but you have to provide an umbrella health insurance policy so the rest of the country doesn’t provide all the health care for people who come in to do the farm work.  We know we need workers in some areas, but there ought to be health care that the rest of the country doesn’t have to pay for,” said Gohmert.

The congressman is also reacting to Monday’s Supreme Court decision, which declared that states cannot require proof of citizenship from people registering to vote since federal law does not have the same requirement.  The ruling was 7-2.  Gohmert says Arizona deserves credit for trying to enforce the laws the federal government won’t, but he says one of the most cherished rights in America is endangered because the court’s decision.

“It is a scary proposition, as noted by some of the international observers of our last election, who could not believe how lax we were in allowing the potential for fraud in our elections.  Third world countries take more care to make make sure that people who vote are not voting more than once,” said Gohmert.  “There is no one in the world that is as lax as we are over something so critically important as voting.  And so the people that are disenfranchised are all the legal voters.”

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss a CNN poll showing almost half of Americans think that the White House ordered the IRS to target conservative groups.  They also react to a new Obamacare rule that allows sharing of our medical data among different federal, state and local agencies.  And President Obama tries to make the case for NSA transparency.

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