Shamnesty Watch: Waffling over the DREAM Act
Here’s the latest from Numbers USA on the grass-roots campaign to kill the illegal alien DREAM Act amnesty:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has not announced when a vote will occur on the DREAM Act amnesty amendment (now SA 2919). Reid did announce, however, that no more votes will occur this week, and that the Senate will hold only one vote today on an unrelated defense matter. In other words, any potential vote on SA 2919 will not occur until next week.
It will take 41 NO votes to kill this amnesty. Currently, only 21 Senators are telling their constituents that they will vote NO on the amnesty.
Here are the wafflers who voted no on the illegal alien shamnesty bill in June, but have not yet pledged to vote no on the DREAM Act amnesty.
Phone them by contacting the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Alaska: Murkowski, Stevens
Arkansas: Pryor
Florida: Martinez
Idaho: Crapo
Indiana: Bayh
Iowa: Grassley, Harkin
Kansas: Brownback
Louisiana: Landrieu
Maine: Collins
Michigan: Stabenow
Minnesota: Coleman
Mississippi: Cochran
Missouri: McCaskill
Montana: Baucus, Tester
Nebraska: Nelson (Ben)
Nevada: Ensign
New Hampshire: Sununu
New Mexico: Domenici
North Dakota: Dorgan
Ohio: Voinovich
Oregon: Smith
South Dakota: *Johnson
Texas: Hutchison
Utah: Hatch
Vermont: Sanders
Virginia: Warner, Webb
West Virginia: Byrd, Rockefeller
Wyoming: Barrasso
Numbers USA says Sen. Cornyn is telling constituents he’s a no (which is consistent with what my readers are saying), but he is apparently not a committed no. That is also consistent with what I’ve heard from readers. Also: I contacted Sen. Cornyn’s office two days ago about his position on the DREAM Act and have yet to receive a response.
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Categories: DREAM Act
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I am thinking midnight hour like when they vote themselves a pay raise.
Martinez is getting a call and email.
I just called Missouri Senator McCaskill’s office and they told me that the Senator hasn’t made up her mind yet. I gave them my support for a resounding no vote and hope that’s what she does. They had to put me on hold for a while, so hopefully, she is getting calls about this issue.
This continues to be ignored on the right for come reason.
Maybe we are the Stupid Party.
It might be worthwile contacting the talk radio hosts and asking them to cover this. And drop a line to National Review as well. They seem to be a dreamworld over there.
Calling both now – busy @ Hutchison, on hold with Cornyn’s office…
NR has been covering it plenty. Here. Here. And plenty more.
I hate when people make accusations of non-coverage without checking first.
Something needs to be done to stop this!
If these morons had any idea how many voting Dems are against this they would rethink their position. Some are coming to their senses, and they’re as upset as the rest of us. Especially, those that have lost their jobs or been outsourced. Amazing, the job market plays no favorites. Who knew?
Was able to talk to the gentleman at Cornyn’s office. Claimed to “not have any information” on the Senator’s position, and that the Act was not currently scheduled for a vote. Let him know I wanted the Senator to vote “no”. Tried Hutchison’s office again, got another busy, so sent an email through her site.
HERE WE GO AGAIN. OUR SELF SERVING SENATORS ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH THEIR CAREERS AND WITH THE SPECIAL INTERESTS THAT THEY ARE WILLING TO SELL OUT OUR COUNTRY.
I AM ANGRY THAT WE HAVE TO FIGHT OUR OWN REPRESENTATIVES TO GET THEM TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND ENFORCE THE LAWS THAT ARE ALREADY ON THE BOOKS.
CALL THE WAFFLERS LIKE SENATOR COLLINS IN MAINE AND GIVE THEM THE WORD AGAIN!
Hutchinson sent me a reply to an email and said she would consider my opinion in her decision,Gee I feel better already.
Same here. I was awfully tempted to write a pro-DREAM act email to see if I get a different response, but it’s probably the same form letter. The ’sittin on the fence’ letter. Sigh. Plus I just don’t think I could get myself to write a pro-amnesty email, even out of extremem curiosity. I’d break into a cold sweat and would shake so bad I couldn’t type…
This is pretty tough when I’m basically this guy.
A search of The Corner for the past week shows four references to the DREAM Act, all by Mark Krikorian.
There was also one non-Corner article written by Kate O’Beirne. This is the sum total of NR’s contribition to beating this thing back. Everyone else there is preoccupied by Dan Rather and MoveOn.
And Hugh Hewit, who played a big role the last time, seems not to have even heard about this amnesty.
It’s tough for us who are busy making calls and sending faxes and emails when it seems that the opinion shapers on the right just don’t care that much. You excepted, of course.
When I called Domenici’s office I was told he would vote against it. Since he is still on the NumbersUSA list this may have been spin on his offices part.
Despite his temporizing, I have no doubt that Cornyn will vote no. If we’ve lost him on this issue, then we’ve lost altogether.
Scroll down on this and you’ll see that Cornyn is sponsoring amendments of his own to add new visa categories. He also wants to double the number of H-1 visa slots. Because America has such a shortage of people in the computer industry, don’t you know.
I have a dream….I dream about a Congress that takes our borders, culture, language and security seriously…I dream about two political parties that argue on the merits of an issue, and not because some fat cat Chinese lobbyist gave them money, or not because a bunch of scummy lawyers provided a big check…No, my friends, I dream of a world where our children are educated instead of programmed to march lock step with the political correctness and “diversity is why America is great” crowd…I dream of a world where being an U.S. patriot is a good thing and not something to laugh at or hide. I dream of a U.S. where people call themselves “Americans” first and believe their U.S. heritage is more important then the country they and/or their parents originated…I dream of a country where just because you are black you can’t make an opulant living by being a race baiting scum sucking “reverend” causing pain and anguish where ever you go and all to keep you in the limelight and line your pockets….I dream of a country where organizations like NAMBLA, ACLU, NAACP, Gay and Lesbian organizations…etc..etc..dry up and blow away because people see through their duplicity and realize they cause more problems then they fix…I have a DREAM…ok…I know…wake up…
I know it very well. When you look at the explosion of innovation and wealth that is happening in the e-world, you need to ask yourself “who is writing all the code?” The shortage of U.S. candidates with strong software development skills is causing a lot of the engineering work to be done in places like Bangalore. It used to be just lower-level code construction but now it is happening more frequently at the managment and architecture level.
If you are against illegal immigration, you’ll find a lot of the country is with you. If you are against bringing the best and the brightest to the U.S. legally you’ll loose the support of the entrepeneurs and a lot of the Americans who rely on them.
re: PAUL TROMMER #10
ALL CAPS = SHOUTING in blogland.
Then again, maybe your were shouting.
ifer49 #17, beautifully said.
All y’all in Texas I got the same responses. They’re canned by their staffers and yes, Kay Baily and Cornyn each have their own reasons to play coy. I’d also sent e-mails to two dem senators because we own property in another state. Word for word both dems and repubs listed the same exact reasons. Been a long time since I’ve thrown anything across a room, but I felt like it.
Come off it. I know unemployed American software developers and IT staff. Work is being done in Bangalore because wages are lower.
The people being brought to America are not the “best and the brightest”. They are people who will work for less than Americans.
I’d be hard pressed to advise any American to go into these fields, even though they pay very well.
dedalus
If you know where there is a desperate shortage of software developers, then we could clean up. I can easily find plenty of people, and you say you can find plenty of frantic employers looking for workers.
Did you see that clip of the immigration lawyers explaining to employers how to get around hiring Americans?
Unless Martinez has changed his mind, he’s not voting for the amendment. I think his objection was that this is in the Defense bill.
Since July 17th numerous e-mails have been sent to Feinstein and Boxer regarding the dream act without any response / zip. I’m expecting their answers after all this is over. Probably the same canned BS that you guys have been receiving today. including another dose of ‘pat myself on the back’ even if it fails they will spin it somehow.
Durbin is in the process of watering down his amendment..if I read correctly to remove the requirement to give illegals instate tuition. I guess what that means is that the amendment will leave that tuition decision up to the individual states, but still allow the illegals to attend college??? Several states already give illegals instate tuition, including Texas so the Texas senators are in a situation where it wouldn’t change a thing as far as tuition. We Need to concentrate on the other parts of the bill which would allow amnesty for relatives, etc. which would be a basis for senators to vote against it.
Am I thinking right?
If this passes, won’t it be discrimination lawsuits waiting to happen?
I say, LET IT ROLL!
Sorry to yelling, but we have become a complacent party – always trying to be diplomatic and it seems to NOT work.
Yeah, it’s a meaningless watering-down, which is why the amendment has a new number. He removed the in-state tuition part. Big deal. Once these people are legal, they’ll get to receive the in-state tuition rates from the states in which they live anyway.
The other change is that the cut-off age is now 30. Another big deal. Because illegals are, by their supporters’ own pc definition, ‘undocumented’, how is someone going to prove whether someone is 30, 35, 40, etc? A 45 year old could claim to be 30 & they’ll most likely just be let through b/c only a few thousand people are going to be processing the applications of milliions.
Once people are legalized, they can then become the anchor relative to anyone they claim is a relative. It’s not like the govt’s going to be doing DNA tests to prove they’re relatives, so that will be millions more people who will get legalized, including many who aren’t even here yet. It will become a very profitable cottage industry for those who get the DA amnesty to get paid by people for claiming to be their relatives.
This is every bit as big as the KBK amnesty, which is why it’s baffling to me why so many people who were tirelessly covering the KBK are either not paying any attn to this at all, or the kind of token, occasional attn that’s going on over at NRO. What’s even more maddening is the misinformation being provided by even the opponents of this. As I’ve demonstrated, this will legalize almost as many people as the KBK. Yet, I routinely see the magic number of ‘up to 4 million’. Wrong. Up to 99% of those here, plus a lot more who aren’t here yet, could be ‘regularized’ by the DA.
Btw, I’ve been having a depressingly easy time getting through the DC switchboards. They usually pick up after just one ring. And this time, the opposition is also calling in in support of it. English-speaking high-school/college kids are doing what we did last Spring & need to be countered by us. Here are the toll-free Congressional switchboard numbers:
800-862-5530
877-851-6437
866-220-0044
800-833-6354
866-340-9281
877-762-8762
866-808-0065
888-355-3588
(some of these numbers are open 24/7 & some rarely work)
Lou Dobbs has pointed out that many of these work visas aren’t even being used to bring people here. They’re often being used to hire phone-answerers in India. Americans can do those jobs. But the employers would have to pay them a helluva lot more.
Also, here’s the video flenser mentioned: http://youtube.com/watch?v=x2IQ4XFNyiU
Mmmmm Senatorial waffles.
Any legal scholars out there who can take a look at this from a Constitutional Law position? What can “Equal Protection” under the 14th Amendment possibly mean when the Congress can anoint a defined group of ILLEGALS, let alone citizens, let alone an ethnic group of citizens, preferred access to STATE universities, essentially overturning the STATES’ “rational interest” in offering preferential tuition rates to the offspring of state residents whose taxes pay for and support their education?
If congress passed a law saying “all persons with the last name of Smith” can get in-state tuition, how would that be any different?
Somone wanna ’splain that for me?
.
800-833-6354 is the number I’ve used.
It has taken between 2 to 7 rings, but someone always answers. They don’t always take your name or address state and zip code, so I don’t know how they can reconcile these calls, maybe it’s in the total ‘numbers’ so KEEP calling.
We can all call every senator in the US, every state, both sides, so focus on the list Michelle provided…the hopeful no’s. The no voters from this summer.
It will never be easier than now, making a few 2 minute free phone calls….
Isn’t is an utter shame that while America is under attack from mexicans and muslims, Americans have to worry about and fight their own elected officials from selling America out to the same enelies. And oh.. the sellout starts with white house and goes through the proper channel of State Dept., Dept. of Homeland Security and down. Amnericans are as much in danger of their own politiians as America’s enemies.
What a damn shame!
Thank you fiona for the link. I appreciate the info. I know that sometimes when employers need to comply with H1-B and Green Card regulations they already have a candidate in mind–in fact that candidate may already be employed by the company under a different visa. Could be the consultants were speaking to that type of situation. I know, in the past, I’ve had private conversations with lawyers who are very careful in wording their advice so that I can be compliant and also achieve a business objective.
I recommend the piece to other posters. My personal experience has been with dozens of guys like the developer who ended the piece (the one with the heavy beard). He doesn’t care what happens at work today since he knows he can have another job tomorrow. The good ones are all that way, and are able to maintain the leverage in the employer/employee relationship.
The last number I saw at the end of 2006 for the IT unemployment rate was 2.2%. I’m not disputing that you have friends who are not finding the right jobs.
My recommendations for getting good work as a software developer.
1.)Silicon Valley, Seattle, NYC still provide the most interesting and biggest variety of opportunities.
2.)Specialize and pickup a credential. Focus on security, the hackers will keep you employed forever.
3.)Be excellent with relational databases (I think I made a job offer to every candidate who was).
4.)There is still a real scarcity of good Web2 developers–primarily AJAX. Staying on the edge is interesting and will net a premium.
5.)Be young and if you’re not, then present young-of-mind. The 30-year old interviewing you doesn’t care what you doing back before computers were cool.
6.)Follow the VC money. Read blogs like TechCrunch and GigaOM. When you see a company just raised $50MM, learn what they do, figure out how you can help them and try to reach the CTO or SVP of Technology directly. A VC-funded company almost always has to grow one of the top lines, not the bottom line.
Anyway, I apologize for yanking this thread into geekdom.
I spoke to Martinez’s people today. They assured me he would vote No… However in 2004 when running for office he said he would vote against any amnesty.
SORRY in 2007 that dog don’t hunt.
The Three Amigos Kennedy, Martinez and Graham were leading the charge up the Capitol Hill on the Amnesty Bill to sell legal Americans out.
fulldroolcup #31, very interesting thought there. This bill raises an odor I can’t describe. If any of this makes it into law, we need to find a group of lawyers willing to take it (if need be) to the Supreme Court. It is a Constitutional issue, and one I fail to see where our elected critters tread without risk of falling in deep $*%T.
Bold prediction: they will vote on Mon when Ammena-jihad is pontificating at CU…
I think the odd thing is, that these Senators who seek to transfigure America, think that those who oppose them are extremists. Think about that.
GGggrrrrrr … I called her office the mornings of 9/20 & 21 and was told both times by the staffer who answered that she was voting no and that they were getting lots of phone calls from constituents frustrated that she hadn’t yet said that publicly. And then a few hours later they tell you that she is undecided. I’m not happy!
I am a Pennsylvanian. My Senators are Arlen Specter(Rino) and Robert Casey(D). Two votes yea for the passage of Shamnesty Lite. I don’t believe these two would change their vote if Jesus Christ ordered them to do so!
Those statistics are wrong because most have exhausted their unemployment benefits. They do not keep track of people that are not unemployment!!
My next door neighbor used to work for Microsoft and was replaced by an Indian H1B Visa holder that he was asked to train BTW.
They told him initially he would be working for my neighbor then it was announced he would be replaced taking over the department.
He had 20 years in the programming business and now cannot find work and has just used up his unemployment benefits. The Indian Computer programmer was started at just shy of 40k 1/3 of what my friend used to earn.
Do not tell me there is any US worker shortages as Microsoft and others are actively lobbying congress on this issue.
Do a google on how Bill Gates in going to use its subsidiaries in Canada to get around hiring Americans with the experience and education.
You really need to bone up on the H1B issue. It is just like illegal immigration. The big multi nationals are systematically replacing the workforce with cheaper foreign labor. If they cannot outsource their business operations to a foreign country they are using H1B’s to insource cheaper foreign labor. The multi nationals are trying to eliminate the middle class in America which has always been a thorn in their budgets.
6 Million American jobs have been replaced under George W Bush and still counting. Many of those jobs are high tech and engineering jobs which used to comprise the middle class in America.
If we do not stop this we will not have a middle class any longer.
dedalus
Here is a study that proves what I am saying about the phony issue of labor shortages in the software business.
Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage
In addition, this website will help get you up to date on the fraudulent use of H1B visas.
Job Destruction Directory
I’m not surprised at any of this BS from Washington,it makes me sick; however we did put the fear of God in Grahamnisty, here in SC. There’s still hope, keep those e-mails, faxes, and calls flowing to Foggy Bottom non stop. Don’t give up the ship.
And now we learn that the governor of New York has ordered that drivers licences be given to illegal aliens. So much for government with the consent of the governed – he did not even need legislative approval.
Congress has to crack down on this, or the country will disintegrate. And where will dedalus be then?
This constant barrage by our so called “representatives” in Congress is just another example of why we need term limits …
If we had term limits all this political posturing for what has become a never-ending campaign for re-election would come to and end because they would be forced out of office regularly …
Perhaps that would put more pressure on the Congressional membership to actually do what the people want as opposed to catering to the lobbyists and and special interest groups …
Hi Scotty Dog,
Thank you for the link to testimony. This could be a very long conversation but my response at a high level is that I’d worry about our software industry ending up where our auto industry has. Americans could benefit from a more European model that protected jobs and wages, but I’d rather accept the shorter-term displacement than the longer-term problems. Here are a few bullet points I took away from the link:
Agree:
1.) Age is a big negative for a developer
2.) Business are looking for cheapest labor that can get job done
3.) There is a 10-1 productivity range among programmers
4.) Legal work for H1-B’s often make them more expensive than Americans
Disagree:
1.) Any developer can be retrained since “Programming is programming is programming” (Some language changes are equal in complexity some are akin to moving from checkers to chess).
2.) Dr. Matloff uses a salary test to dispel the “best & brightest” case for H1-B’s, but does so after demonstrating that H1-B’s are systematically undercomp’d.
3.) “Telecommuting doesn’t work” (It does, at a cost. But that cost is decreasing with improved video conferencing tools that are now basically free, with something know as SOA and other tools that enable teams to share functionality with some isolation, and increases in bandwidth).
4.) H1-B jobs are unlikely to be moved offshore. Once a U.S. company has gone through the overhead of establishing an offshore relationship in India, Russia or China the marginal overhead cost of bringing on one additional resource over there, rather than the US, is not a problem.
dedalus
Not if America demands our Government change the tax code and provide incentives for Companies to stay in America instead of allowing our manufacturing base to be shipped offshore.
Offshoring is not trade, free or otherwise. It is labor arbitrage. By replacing US labor with foreign labor in the production of goods and services for US markets, US firms are destroying the ladders of upward mobility in the US. So far economists of Milton Friedman ilk have preferred their delusions to the facts.
It is a mystery how a people, whose economic policy is turning them into a third world country with its university graduates working as waitresses, bartenders, and driving cabs, can regard themselves as a hegemonic power even as they build up war debts that are further undermining their ability to pay their import bills.
I am not alone in this view. People like Sloan Foundation President Ralph Gomory has just recently written a book on the subject: Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests.
http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/07/0917/art1.html
dedalus
Why? If our software industry cannot compete then it does not deserve to exist. It’s not the governments role to step in to try to give it a competitive advantage. Sure, it might impact you adversely, but thats creative destructon for you.
The same applies to all the other industries where the government is bending and breaking the law at the behest of business people, including agriculture. If its cheaper to grow a tomato in Mexico than here, then they should be grown in Mexico.
There is no economic theory under which is the role of government to ship in cheap foreign labor at the request of business owners.
It isn’t likely to affect me either way. I think creative destruction is an important principle, and winning companies tend to be the ones that have the foresight to engage in it.
I was responding to the notion that we should limit immigration to constrain the candidate pool in the hopes that it will mean higher wages and more jobs for those who are already here. I don’t believe that to be sustainable.
With the ability to move millions in funds and product around the world in a few seconds, the software market has a small and ever decreasing amount of friction.
Congressmen may just be cynically using Shamnesty as a fundraising honeypot, as they use abortion and gun control.
Pandering to Hispanics gains Hispanic votes, and since both parties are corrupt on illegal migration, in general concerned voters cannot vote against pro-illegals since there is no choice on the matter, so for congressmen a pro-illegal stance is win-no loss game.
Similarly an anti-abortion stance is safe since it wins Catholic and Evangelical votes, while not alienating pro-abortion voters too much since they already have Roe versus Wade.
Gun control wins the zealous gun control vote, while the gun people remain relatively apathetic since they still have the 2nd amendment.
All are great for raising funds.
I hate to say it, but this really is true. It goes along with something I’ve been saying for years and years: call it being too gentlemanly in the face of harsh and unappreciative adversairies, the “Bob Dole Syndome” (what I call it), whatever. We don’t need to adopt the liberals ideologies, God forbid, but a good helping of their passion and commitment wouldn’t hurt. Just no dressing up as pink bunnies.
When calling your congressman, remember a very important line of attack that worked well the last time: talk in terms of any senators who cast a yes vote being replaced – seriously replaced – in the next election, and don’t be shy or “too gentlemanly” about it. You’ll be surprised how many senators will suddenly get an epiphany.