Shailagh Murray/Jonathan Weisman/WaPo insert infomercial into immigration coverage

Posted Sat, Jun 9, 2007 at 11:05 am

Shailagh Murray and Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post offer "Talk of Resurrecting Immigration Bill Begins as Autopsy Goes On" (washingtonpost . com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802771.html). I see that Mickey Kaus has also pointed to this paragraph:

Within policy circles, immigration reform is viewed as vital, addressing both the growing demand for workers and the social costs of an illegal underclass. The public also generally supports the idea. In last week's Washington Post-ABC News poll, a narrow majority of voters -- 52 percent -- said they supported allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the United States, as long as they are penalized, while 44 percent opposed the idea.

Certainly, some policy experts - particularly those funded by the Ford Foundation, George Soros, and the like - see "reform" (aka amnesty) as vital, but there are others who do not. Some of the latter are even suggesting simply enforcing the current laws! I guess Murray and Weisman need to either get out more, or stop misleading people. And, the idea that the "public also generally supports the idea" is based on misleading polls that fail to include all the downsides of the subject or offer false choices.

I also can't figure out whether he's being disingenuous or not (I suspect the former):

[Harry Reid] bristled when he was asked why he gave Dorgan a second chance. "This is a killer amendment? After five years, you'll take a look at how the program is working? I can't fathom why this is a bad amendment," he said.

And, showing surprising self-awareness as to what everyone else thinks of him and the Bush administration:

Chertoff rejected the suggestions that the administration had not hustled. "They are going to have to fumigate the room because we were basically living there. Anyone who says we weren't engaged is ignorant of the facts."

Tags: 
comprehensive immigration reform
michael chertoff
jonathan weisman
harry reid
mickey kaus
shailagh murray

Comments

llamajockey (not verified)

Sat, 06/09/2007 - 20:01

Lonewacko, Do you get the suspicion that the NYT, WAPO, LATIMES, ChiTrib and the WSJ are all going to join the rest of the MSM for a massive relaunch of "CIR" by before Labor Day? I predict another knife stabbed in Lou Dobbs' back any minute now. I can imagine a massive campaign of shortage shouting for cheap labor all summer.

llamajockey (not verified)

Sat, 06/09/2007 - 20:28

Sounds like Bill Gates wants "CIR" resurrected ASAP _CRITICISM FROM HIGH-TECH FIGURES STUNNED AUTHORS OF THE BILL WHO HAD SET OUT TO HELP COMPANIES RECRUIT TOP SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS AND MATHEMATICIANS. E. JOHN KRUMHOLTZ, DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL AFFAIRS AT MICROSOFT, SAID SENATORS “REALLY WANTED TO HELP US” FIND SKILLED FOREIGN PROFESSIONALS. MR. KRUMHOLTZ SAID THE AGREEMENT WAS “WORSE THAN THE STATUS QUO, AND THE STATUS QUO IS A DISASTER.”_ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/washington/09immig.html?pagewanted=2&hp The IT industry is scared shitless that after ripping off over a half a million H1-B visa holders, some for more than a decade, many of them will simply decide to go home if a green card is not in the works soon. Even if they are given a green card the IT industry would much rather roll over their jobs to a new younger generation of H1-B suckers instead of risking the chance of having to pay them slightly higher wages. Worse having to hire an American. The IT industry also is worried about finally being sued in US courts for conspiring with Immigration Lawyers and foreign job brokers to delay the granting of green cards for as long as possible.

D Flinchum (not verified)

Sun, 06/10/2007 - 15:04

"Even if they are given a green card the IT industry would much rather roll over their jobs to a new younger generation of H1-B suckers instead of risking the chance of having to pay them slightly higher wages." Or even train them in newer technology. I take every opportunity to point out this little bump in the road to the occasional H-1B visa holder who posts in certain blogs saying how awful we are to want to restrict them. In the IT biz, just like medicine and the law, things change and you have to learn new languages and techniques. The biz interests want to be able to hire whoever has what they need at the exact minute they need it and then drop them and hire whoever has the next set of skills 3 years later instead of investing in training current employees. They save $$$ in the short run but lose out in the long run; but, of course, the guys making these decisions are mainly only there for the short run. Their idea is loot and leave.

Fred Dawes (not verified)

Sun, 06/10/2007 - 21:34

total Racism at work