What happened behind doors on immigration
I have two pieces to share. One that details how the actual Gang of 8 group was formed, what really happened to broker an agreement with the labor unions, why Fox News is now changing its tone on immigration, the strategy the White House has played, and why Schumer was furious at Leahy during the Judiciary Committee.
Full article here
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Getting to Maybe: Inside the Gang of Eight’s immigration deal. The New Yorker. Six years ago, when John McCain, the Arizona senator, last worked on an immigration bill, his partner was Ted Kennedy, of Massachusetts. Kennedy, especially in his final decade in the Senate, was known for working closely with ideological opponents to pass major pieces of legislation. On a recent morning, McCain sat in his dimly lit office, across the street from the Senate, and said how much he missed Kennedy. The Massachusetts senator died in August, 2009, at the age of seventy-seven, after a protracted battle with brain cancer. McCain, who is known for his irascible disposition and his sarcastic ribbing of colleagues, was in a wistful mood. When asked if there was anyone like Kennedy in the Senate today, he replied, “No. I can’t think of anybody.” He added, “We had a lovely relationship for a number of years there. He changed, too.” In his forty-six-year career, Kennedy somehow had moved past Chappaquiddick and his time as a hard-drinking bachelor to become one of the institution’s best legislators. “He grew from the playboy to what I always call the Last Lion.” McCain is attempting his own political comeback, and Kennedy’s redemption was instructive. Beginning with his Presidential run against Barack Obama, in 2008, McCain had aligned himself with a wing of the Republican Party he once fought, and retreated from issues he once championed, including immigration reform. “Let me show you something,” McCain said. He got up and removed a framed cover of National Review from a wall of political memorabilia. It was dated July, 2007, the height of the previous immigration debate. It showed him leaning in close to Kennedy, apparently about to share a confidence. Opponents of the bill had decried it as “amnesty for illegals,” and the magazine accused the two men of hiding the true nature of the legislation. “LET’S SAY IT’S NOT AN AMNESTY,” the headline said. In the bottom corner of the cover, Kennedy had scrawled, “Let’s at least deny amnesty to National Review! Best, Ted.” McCain laughed as he read it. “I’ll never forget the last time I saw him,” he said. In March, 2009, Kennedy had returned to the Senate for an important vote. Afterward, as a few of his aides escorted him to his car, he spotted McCain. “He called me. ‘Oh, Jawn! Oh, Jawn!’ ” McCain said, imitating Kennedy. “I came over and he gave me a hug.” . . . |
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App Sent: 06/12/2013 to Phoenix lockbox, routed to Nebraska.G-1145 Notification: 6/24/2013
Biometrics Letter Received: 07/07/2013
Biometrics Walk-In: 07/09/2013
Approval!: 08/27/2013
Last edited by swiftp; 06-21-2013 at 05:49 PM..
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This second one shows how Schumer almost caved in to the Cornyn amendment until the CBO released their report.
Link.
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Inside the border deal that almost failed. Politico. “The fact is that we can get this border secured, and the answer, my friends, as is proposed in the Cornyn amendment, that we hire 10,000 more border patrol is not a recognition of what we really need,” McCain said. “What we really need is technology.” Graham, meanwhile, began looking around for Republicans who wanted a Cornyn alternative. Corker and Hoeven stepped up. And later that day, Corker’s office convened a meeting with almost a dozen interested GOP Senate offices, including Mark Kirk (Ill.), Susan Collins (Maine), Johnny Isakson (Ga.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.). Schumer told Corker that he would consider what the group came up with as long as it didn’t make the path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants contingent upon a metric that could be left up to interpretation by future administrations. In short, they had to drop their demand that the border patrol achieve a 90 percent apprehension rate before immigrants could apply for legal permanent residence. But the Corker-Hoeven talks remained deadlocked for days. Democrats began growing impatient that Schumer would cave. He fielded a call Tuesday from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. He urged the Democratic caucus during their luncheon that day to give the negotiators some time. But Schumer’s optimism began to dim later that night as he tried to convince Hoeven during their phone call that the 90 percent trigger wouldn’t work. They got nowhere. Hoeven wouldn’t back away from keeping the 90 percent apprehension rate. That was too much for Schumer, who believed the pathway to citizenship would be unattainable under Hoeven’s approach. Get creative and find another solution, Schumer suggested to Hoeven. And the two men ended the call, with no deal in sight — and the time running out in the Senate floor debate. |
__________________
App Sent: 06/12/2013 to Phoenix lockbox, routed to Nebraska.G-1145 Notification: 6/24/2013
Biometrics Letter Received: 07/07/2013
Biometrics Walk-In: 07/09/2013
Approval!: 08/27/2013
Post your reply or quote more messages.
Post your reply or quote more messages.
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