More bluffs from Obama and Dems on immigration bill

Because of the administration’s repeated feints and bluffs on this subject over the last year and a half, in which the president and the Democratic leadership would declare their urgent intention to pass comprehensive immigration reform during this session of Congress, and then proceed to do nothing about it, I have stated previously that our side should not worry that the Democrats are going to attempt to pass comprehensive immigration reform until they actually propose a bill and put it on the congressional calendar for consideration. Evidently that event still has not happened, though the below AP story seems designed to make us think that it has happened or is about to happen:

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama is enlisting activists and labor leaders in a push for comprehensive immigration legislation that will showcase Republican opposition and include a speech by the president. [LA replies: if there is a “push” for comprehensive immigration legislation, where is this legislation? Where is H.R. xxxx? Where is S. xxxx? Where’s the bill / the beef?]

The strategy was discussed during a meeting Monday by a range of prominent labor leaders and activist groups. [LA replies: so there is no bill that has been proposed, there’s a “strategy” that’s being discussed.] Participants said Obama reiterated his support for immigration legislation but noted the political realities that have stalled it in Congress. [LA replies: False. The legislation has not been “stalled,” for the simple reason that it has never been proposed. You can’t stall legislation that doesn’t exist.]

Latino leaders say they will work in coming months to pressure Republicans to give way and support an immigration bill—and make opponents pay at the ballot box if they don’t.

“We’re going to make absolutely crystal clear who’s at fault here,” said Eliseo Medina, a leader of the Service Employees International Union. [LA replies: They are merely engaging in partisan maneuvers. Instead of actually proposing a bill and trying to pass it, the Democrats and their constitutent groups are looking for a way to make Republicans look bad for not supporting a bill which the Democrats themselves are unwilling to support.]

Prospects for passage of comprehensive immigration legislation look bleak this election year, and even many Democrats are wary of wading into the hot-button issue. But Obama, who pledged as a candidate to make immigration reform a top priority during his first year in office, faces pressure from the Hispanic community to act—or at least to try. [LA replies: But he’s not even trying to make immigration reform a top priority. All he’s doing is orchestrating this phony move to blame Republicans for not backing a non-existent bill which he and the Congressional Democrats have themselves have been unwilling to get behind, so as to give the Hispanics something to cheer for and keep them in his pocket.]

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 29, 2010 11:07 AM | Send