Groups have "unprecedented amounts of money" to push amnesty; Dobbs leaving was "critical victory"
The Washington Times article "Pro-immigration groups ready to fight/Take united front to push for reform" from Stephen Dinan (link) includes this quote from Tamar Jacoby:
"Especially on the left-of-center side, [groups that will push for amnesty] had unprecedented amounts of money in the past year, and they're organizing the field, coordinating among themselves, they're unrecognizable almost from what they were in 2006 and 2007... The business side hasn't had as much money pumped in and hasn't transformed as much, but it's also at a different level of the game."
And this quote from Eliseo Medina of the Service Employees International Union:
"With (Lou Dobbs) finally being called to account, I think that's also sent a message to many of these people... At the end of the day, I think in the last two years that this debate has moved much much further in terms of the American people's understanding."
That, once again, shows the importance of handling the Dobbs matter in a nuanced fashion: he's still the bete noire of those who are far worse than he is, and completely throwing him overboard in a loud public way helps them.
On a more hopeful note:
...(Steven Camarota), research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports stricter immigration limits, said the unity might be a myth. No matter how unified coalition leaders are, he said, they'll face a skeptical public โ particularly with a high unemployment rate... He said "opinion leaders" are significantly out of touch with average voters on the immigration issue, which produces a wide but thin coalition pushing Congress to act... "There are a lot of generals but not many soldiers there. That's their fundamental problem: Most Americans don't agree with them," he said.
Comments
Steve (not verified)
Tue, 01/12/2010 - 04:05
Permalink
HS 20194 2010-01-12T06:05:23-06:00
Well, the OBL is obviously trying to rewrite history. They vastly outspent the pro-enforcement side in 2007, and continues to outspend our side by wide margins. La Raza has much more money than NumbersUSA for example. A good exercise is to check their publicly available online Form 990s. Numbers revenue is about $3.5 million; La Raza has revenue of almost $21 million. Of course, we're still the underdogs and have to fight ammesty harder than ever (I'm calling various senators frequently), but what Dr. Camarota says is true.
eh (not verified)
Tue, 01/12/2010 - 07:26
Permalink
HS 20195 e10k@hotmail.com 2010-01-12T09:26:49-06:00
They're going to 'reform' the US as it is now out of existence. Then where will they all go?
Steve (not verified)
Tue, 01/12/2010 - 13:04
Permalink
HS 20196 2010-01-12T15:04:07-06:00
In other words, the OBL has always outspent us and always will. They have the cheap labor $$ behind them.
eh (not verified)
Wed, 01/13/2010 - 05:52
Permalink
HS 20197 e10k@hotmail.com 2010-01-13T07:52:19-06:00
Money, schmoney. Their main problem is, as before, that the politicans who must pass any legislation also have to worry about geting reelected. And I guarantee you any such effort will not be any more popular with the public now than it has been before; in fact, it'll probably be even less popular given the state of the economy. So good luck. You may want to think about whether it's a good idea to 'throw good money after bad'.
Fred Dawes (not verified)
Thu, 01/14/2010 - 19:05
Permalink
HS 20198 dawes57@cox.net 2010-01-14T21:05:12-06:00
Steve is right