Reid Is Not Your Amigo
The current omnibus spending bill has stalled, primarily due to the fact that several Democrats are joining Republicans who are standing up and sayin “enough”. The bill has an increase in spending of over 8%, has nearly 8 billion in pork and earmarks, but that is not the sticking point I wish to talk about here.
Senator Jeff Sessions has been thwarted time and time again, as he attempts to bring the extension of the E-verify to the Senate floor for debate, and vote for inclusion in the omnibus bill. If you recall, Senator Harry Reid refused to allow the issue to come up for debate and vote during the stimulus process, and Reid has once again done everything he can to prevent it from being included in the omnibus.
On the 5th of March, Reid prevented the topic from being allowed to come to the floor, using Senatorial procedural tactics. In other words, he went out of his way to prevent it, but not based on the issue’s merit.
The original omnibus bill, as it stood, had in it an extension for the E-verify program for 6 months, expiring in September. Just last year, Reid did the same thing- allowing for the E-verify program to only be temporarily extended, and allowing it to expire in September. Why?
This is a cyclical, cynical carrot and stick that the Dems wish to see played over and over. The expiration of the E-Verify program every year gives fuel to the democrat’s illegal immigrant ‘base’, and instills hope that someday amnesty will come, and restrictions on work will disappear. In other words, Session’s 5 year extension of the plan, along with a severely struggling economy where millions of LEGAL Americans will need jobs, is a problematic dagger in near the heart of that amnesty carrot.
Over the coming several years, a serious and effective screening tool such as E-Verify, as well as lowering of wages across the board, will have a damning effect on the ability of employers and the government to turn a blind eye to illegals holding jobs that many people will be screaming about “taking back” as American jobs soon. The economy and the groundswell of people demanding that we hire and buy American first will soon grow loud enough it cannot be ignored. E-Verify, or any attempt to ignore it by employers, will become a household word, if allowed to remain law. (Note- E-verify is an optional program for private business; it IS mandatory for government contractors. Either way, any private employer not taking advantage of this free program would be taking a serious risk with its image, and would severely undermine their future business potential.)
Reid of course sees this, and wants nothing which could appear as a semi permanent barrier to allowing illegals to easily slip into our workforce to be put in place. Even more importantly, Democrats do NOT want to be forced to be put on record, having to decide between supporting jobs for Americans first, and a law that would undermine support from what they hope are 12 million new voters in the coming years. They fear the backlash from people who are not even American citizens, and do not wish to do anything that would harm their ability to have a favorable image with those people if they are able to pass some form of amnesty. Dems are trying to preserve their coming power grab.
Reid has been duplicitous about the issue. On the 5th, when Senator Mitch McConnell proposed Sessions’ amendment for debate, Reid used a simple procedural tactic to stonewall. Reid stated ”I’m not as familiar with that as Senator Sessions. I object.” Yet three days earlier, on March 2nd, Reid had sent out a letter to a constituent claiming ”I support reauthorization of the E-Verify program. I strongly believe that every job in our country should go only to those authorized to work in the United States. This is why I strongly support programs like E-Verify.”
Sounds a lot like his leader, Obama, no? Say one thing, act in the opposite way. Or, just have a different answer depending on the audience.
This is not a done deal, and when the omnibus comes up again soon, it is important we watch this issue, and press our Senators to support the inclusion of this program in the omnibus bill. The ONLY reason we have a shot at this is because Sessions has kept at it, people have called in to their Senators, and, the Dems didn’t have the 60 votes they needed to get this bull through the first time. “Clever” procedural tactics should not prevent this important issue from reaching the floor for debate, and for a vote to put people on record as to where they stand about what is really important here-
-taking care of American’s first, American workers first, and protecting American jobs…
Call YOUR Senator and make sure they know where you stand.
He’s ain’t the only one, brothers and sisters……Capitol america has got’s of blame too!……
UPDATE –
Long-term E-Verify fails by a couple of votes, the omnibus bill is signed full of earmarks, and the President gives us yet another speech on responsibility and transparency.
As for why Harry Reid is more pro-illegal alien and pro-democrat than he is pro-American, the answer is simple. The answer is Las Vegas.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of a tourist economy built on fabulous hotels and entertainment of all kinds are the hotel kitchens, rooms to be cleaned and all the service jobs illegal aliens have come to do so well.
If they can’t do service jobs they do construction, or they did until the housing bubble burst, and don’t forget landscaping needed for all those new homes that were popping up.
Las Vegas sucks money from tourists’ wallets and when the tourists are gone the economy of Las Vegas wilts like a plucked rose left sitting in the sun.
Harry Reid is a little shrunken gnome of a man with a life-long dedication to the Democratic Party. He hails from a strange little town just outside Las Vegas called Searchlight, Nevada. Always on the sidelines, always conservatively quiet, his driven dedication to the party is seldom matched.