« April 2006 | Main | February 2006 »
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Immigration problems.....
I have thought on the matter and concluded the fix has always been in. The plan has been well developed and a part has been assigned to all the players. The plan and the working through the plan is designed to minimize political damage to the incumbent Republicans while developinf solution to the problem.
The bifurcated problem requires dual action. There must be real border security. There must be a procedure for allowing conversion from illegal to legal.
The House bill and the Senate bill allow both.
The house incumbents require the most political cover. The incumbents must be allowed to strongly support a bill that is very strong in securing the border and dealing with those who enter in violation. This very strong piece of work allows those who voted for it to go home and boast they did their part. They actually put the rubber on the road and voted for a very strong bill.
The Senate does not have the same problem. Republican Senators have a little more lee way. Some can oppose the Senate bill if politically necessary or at least play with ammendments that make their effort vote worthy even if defeated. The Senate will deal with the manner in which Mexicans are allowed to stay as workers.
The President has had input and perhaps his people are quietly coordinating the total efort out of sight. I'm convinced that what appears to be a somewhat chaotic process is actually a carefully managed process to develop a solution while controlling potential political damage.
The process underway is power politics at its very best.
