So the shutdown is over. Assuming the House votes Yes on this deal. And this is the deal:
- Government is funded until February 8
- CHIP is funded for 6 years (I can’t find much detail on this one — previously, there were elements like Community Health Centers left out)
- A commitment to a “global agreement” on immigration to include the fate of the Dreamers.
This is a bipartisan deal, that has many folks who voted for this relying on Susan Collins and Joe Manchin to get McConnell to keep his word. Which is a head scratcher — McConnell is widely distrusted, demonstrably lied to Collins to get her vote on the Tax Scam bill, but she will be able to keep McConnell to his word. Curious.
Both Carper and Coons voted Yes on ending the filibuster.
Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) blasted his Democratic colleagues in the Senate for shortchanging Latino voters, an increasingly critical voting bloc for the party.
“If the Republicans said we are ending same-sex marriage, but we promise Democrats a vote later; or we approve of oil drilling in every national park, but you’ll have a vote later — do you think the Democrats would say yes? This shows me that when it comes to immigrants, Latinos and their families, Democrats are still not willing to go to the mat to allow people in my community to live in our country legally,” said Gutierrez, one of Capitol Hill’s most vocal advocates for “dreamers,” in a statement.
Not exactly a surrender, but the Dems just paid a ton of money to just release one hostage. And they have a promise from the kidnapper that the rest will be released shortly. But I do think that Rep. Gutierrez here has a point, and even a broader one.
What do people know about what Democrats stand for here? Because I sure don’t know. Other than not playing a very good hand. I need every Dem to start taking to the airwaves to commit to getting a DACA vote before February 8. This is the last of kicking the can down the road. Make sure that everyone knows that the triumvirate of Kelley, Miller and McConnell have had their last bite at working to codify their prejudices. But at the end of the day, they have communicated to the Hispanic community that they are not as valued a part of the Dem coalition as others are.
We do live to fight again and the Dreamers are the priority. I’m not interested in supporting any Democrat who can’t go to the mat for the DACA recipients.
www.c-span.org/video/?440061-5/senate-minority-whip-durbin-shutdown-daca-agreement
This is Senator Dick Durbin’s speech on moving forward today. You can see what they think they got here — a commitment with a bipartisan group of Senators (which looks to exclude McConnell) to specifically work on this issue. Durbin is giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and is looking forward to more regular order on this issue. Hard to argue with him on this and he may feel that it was important to give the Senators willing to do the work the space to do it. I’m sympathetic to this point. But Democrats cannot squander away this time to address “the civil rights issues of our time”.
Screw foolish Chuck Schumer, this borders on betrayal and certainly is a fools game. Who in hells name trust McConnell or Trump? Once again the Dem elite has pissed away an opportunity, a moment of strength and bet on a hand shake. Notice also that Coons voted for it. Pass the hat, we need a primary and we need it bad.
I notice that S4L Carper voted for it too.
Cardin (D-Md) did as well.
But there is a dif between Carper & Cardin; Chelsea Manning is primarying Cardin.
Moment of strength? You must be kidding. They realized that the loony left was leading them down the road to a permanent minority.
Here here Cassandra! Stand up for DACA or get out of the way of those who will.
https://www.conservativereview.com/articles/chuck-schumers-three-decades-immigration-lies/
The Republican Party needs to write an Immigration Law using the 2008 Democratic Party Policy. A look back into the Democratic Party’s official 2008 platform on immigration shows just how far left its members have drifted in a decade.
Under the “Immigration” section of its platform document entitled “Renewing America’s Promise” the Democratic National Committee criticizes the nations “broken” immigration system,” pledging in August 2008 that “we cannot continue to allow people to enter the United States undetected, undocumented and unchecked.”
The harsh language in the document continues, castigating those who “enter our country’s borders illegally, and those who employ them, disrespect the rule of law.”
In terms of enforcement, the policy suggestions mirror President Donald Trump’s call for a wall covering part of the U.S.-Mexico border and an increase in the amount of Customs and Border Protection agents. The platform reads:
“We need to secure our borders, and support additional personnel, infrastructure, and technology on the border and at our ports of entry. We need additional Customs and Border Protection agents equipped with better technology and real-time intelligence. We need to dismantle human smuggling organizations, combating the crime associated with this trade.”