Monday, June 25, 2007
A field guide to the Senate re: immigration
While there are two parties in the Senate, there are several factions on immigration. A field guide:
"Immigration policy as social work" donkeys and RINOs
There are Senators who basically see our immigration policy as social work on an international scale. For these people, it is morally superior for the United States to admit an unskilled illiterate than a winner of the Nobel Prize.
"Immigration policy as a business partnership" elephants
Senators deal as equals with the heads of large corporations. After all, some Senators were themselves once the heads of large corporations. In addition, all large corporations need friends in Washington, D.C.
The heads of large corporations are as eager to meet with Senators as a Congressman generally is to meet with those same corporate leaders. When it comes to bacon, the average Congressman can bring home a few rashers, but any Senator can send over a truckload.
Over time, some Senators come to identify with these captains of industry. Accordingly, if "my friend" at Microsoft needs more H1-B visa holders, "I want to help him out." (This is also why budgetary "pork" always seems to involve things like a new parking lot for a modern art museum or a new road to a golf course.)
"Peer group shift" chameleons
A Senator who does not meet with constituents during a recess is considered "being a Senator." A Congressman who does not meet with constituents during that seem recess is considered a snob. Accordingly, most Senators seldom rub elbows with ordinary folks in the way that Congressmen must.
The people with whom Senators do meet are exceedingly deferential, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Were St. Francis of Assisi to serve in the U.S. Senate, he could end up a raging egomaniac.
It is easy to go from "I am thankful to be in Washington" to "my constituents should be grateful I am here." Since Senators run only once every six years, it is easy to forget the home folks. That is what staff is for.
"Fool some of the people some of the time" weasels
Senator Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire) loathes the immigration bill and the paper upon which it is printed. He announced he will demonstrate his utter disgust with this abominable legislation by voting for cloture on Tuesday. Gregg added," I think it is very undecided now if the bill will pass." Yet if Gregg voted against cloture on Tuesday, the anti-amnesty side would need only 41 votes to defeat the immigration bill, instead of a majority later on.
I rhetorically said to an Oklahoma friend tonight, "Do these politicians think we are stupid?" Her response: "yes, they do."
|posted by Jim on 11:30 PM|
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