It’s coincidences like this that make people think there’s some sort of conspiracy among news media. The story on thestate.com this morning, from the NYT news service, was headlined, “Rubio offers full-throated support for immigration bill.”
Meanwhile a story in The Washington Post said,
On Tuesday, the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” is set to unveil a proposal that would represent the most far-reaching overhaul of immigration laws since 1986. The process of developing the legislation, which features a path to citizenship for up to 11 million immigrants who are in the country illegally, was hammered out in two dozen meetings led by veterans of earlier immigration battles, including Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).
But in many ways, the senators’ negotiations, behind the scenes and in public, have hinged on a party of one. Rubio, the tea party favorite whose parents emigrated from Cuba, has been considered the most crucial player all along. Although he has seemed to waver at times, his full-throated endorsement of the bill Sunday, in a marathon round of seven television interviews, put at ease a group of colleagues who have been working hard to ensure he stays the course. I don’t know how full his throat was, but his calendar was certainly crowded on Sunday.
Sort of makes you think there was an emergency meeting of the Press Establishment yesterday, and “full-throated” would be the modifier of the week.
The chances are good that I, too, will be offering “full-throated” endorsement of the bill when it’s unveiled tomorrow. Partly because, as you know, if both Lindsey Graham and John McCain are for it, I have a tendency to agree. (When Joe Lieberman was in the Senate, and all three of them agreed on something, I was almost always with them — the big exception being health care policy.)
Beyond that, after months of work by this bipartisan group, the pragmatic truth is that politically speaking, whatever they have come up with is the best chance this country has to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. Whatever this one’s flaws may be, I can’t imagine where a better bill would come from. And the country is overdue to address this issue.
I have another rule of thumb — if both David Brooks and E.J. Dionne are for it, I usually am. And I heard them praising the effort on Friday, in a way that implied they’d had a look at the bill. In fact, I thought for a moment that I’d missed something in the news, since they were talking about it as though it were already out there.
But to return to where we started, the fact that Marco Rubio is so “full-throatedly” on board is a good sign that this will be something worth supporting. While McCain and Graham are taking a big political risk with this — Graham faces re-election next year, and as we know, there are elements in his party who despise him specifically for such things as this — for Rubio, the stakes are bigger. Everyone’s speaking of him as a presidential candidate for 2016 (on NPR this morning, they were talking about him being “the GOP’s Obama”).
Presidential ambitions would help explain why he would support something like this, as it helps move him and his party toward the center. It also presents a big risk, since he’s already alienated much of his base just by being one of the Gang of 8.
Which is why all the political talk shows wanted him yesterday.
Whatever happens with Rubio, though, here’s hoping that, after all this buildup, the Gang’s bill doesn’t disappoint.
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“All of this, however, is contingent on the border security and enforcement, Rubio said.
“If you are undocumented here now, if you are illegally in the U.S., that you can’t even apply for this until these plans are in place and they begin to implement them,” Rubio said. “And then you’re going to have to pay a fine. You’re going to have to pay an application fee. You’re going to have to pass a background check.””
And I’ll ask what I have asked previously – what is the incentive to step forward and identify yourself as illegal, pay a fine, pay an application fee? Do you envision all those illegals working in chicken processing plants coming forward so they will expose their employer? Do you think the employers are going to want to start paying taxes and benefits for those employees? I want to see examples of people who will jump on this offer…
And what will happen to those who do not step forward or cannot afford the fine and fees? My guess? Nothing.
This cannot work and will not work. The only solution is enforcement of the laws. Crack down on employers, eliminate any benefits to illegals and their children, and encourage them to return to their home countries and re-enter legally.
For your easy reference, and because many news stories fail to list them all, here is the roster of senators in the Gang of 8:
The Republicans are Marco Rubio of Florida, Jeff Flake of Arizona, John McCain of Arizona, and Lindsey Graham of SC.
The Democrats are Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of N.J., Chuck Schumer of N.Y., and Michael Bennet of Colorado.
What happens to people who are captured while trying to illegally cross the border, or who are caught later here illegally or “without documentation”? Is there actually some type of punishment, or are they just basically put on a bus back to Mexico/Central America/wherever?