Jun 12 2007
The Race To The Bottom Continues
The two major political parties seem to be in a mindless race to the bottom. Between the Democrat’s disasterous obsession to surrender Iraq to al-Qaeda and the GOP’s inability to provide a comprehensive, common sense step forward on illegal immigration we have the two parties mired in high disapproval ratings, the likes of which I have never seen beforef:
Fueled by disappointment at the pace of change since Democrats assumed the majority on Capitol Hill, public approval of Congress has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.
Just 27% of Americans now approve of the way Congress is doing its job, the poll found, down from 36% in January, when Democrats assumed control of the House and the Senate.
And 63% of Americans say that the new Democratic Congress is governing in a “business as usual” manner, rather than working to bring the fundamental change that party leaders promised after November’s midterm election.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the first woman to hold that position, has also failed to impress many Americans. Only 36% approve of the way she is handling the job, the poll found.
I am looking forward to seeing the actual poll results (if someone has the links let me know). It is possible that both the Dems and Reps are now below Bush’s numbers (all we know is that Bush is in the 30’s somewhere while the Dems are at 27% approval). What I find interesting is the one person who can benefit from all this insanity is the one person who never has to face another election! If Iraq turns the corner and the comprehensive immigration bill is passed he will come out of this looking good. And his detractors will be the ones with the hangovers. H/T Mac’s Mind
Mac Ranger? You HT Mac Ranger? Have you not noticed he is a member of the Far Right Cabal who is against this Comprehensive Alien Reform You keep Embracing?
Senator Jim Demint:
The Senate immigration bill calls for the following security benchmarks to be completed as a “trigger†before other parts of the bill go into effect. Bill proponents claim these provisions can be implemented within 18 months. All of them can be implemented under current law:
• Bill Trigger #1 – 18,000 agents border patrol agents;
— This is already scheduled under current law: Customs and Border Patrol Press Release 8/4/2006: “In May, President Bush announced his commitment to hire an additional 6,000 agents by the end of 2008, bringing the Border Patrol’s total strength to 18,000 agents.â€
• Bill Trigger #2 – 200 miles of vehicle barriers, 370 miles of fencing, and 70 ground-based radar and camera towers, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles;
— This requires less than is already required under current law. The Secure Fence Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2006, already requires 700 miles of two-layered reinforced fencing along Southwest border, mandates DHS achieve operational control over entire border through “virtual fence†that deploys cameras, ground sensors, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and integrated surveillance technology.
• Bill Trigger #3 – End “catch and release†and provide ICE 27,500 beds for immigration detainees;
— According to DHS, both of these triggers have already been accomplished. DHS Press Release 10/30/2006: “Ended ‘Catch-and-Release’ Along the Borders: In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE re-engineered the detention and removal process to end this practice along the border… ICE also increased its detention bed space by 6,300 during the fiscal year 2006, bringing the current number of funded beds to 27,500 immigration detainees.â€
• Bill Trigger #4 – Secure identification documents with photo and biometric information and operational employment verification system to determine work eligibility
— The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2005, already requires secure identification documents with photo and biometric information.
— The Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2007, passed by Congress and signed into law in 2006, already provides $113 million to fully expand the Basic Pilot / Employment Eligibility Verification (EEV) system to be a national employment database.
Other Border Security Provisions of Current Law
• Achieve and maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States as required under the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-367)
• Fully integrate all databases maintained by DHS which contain information on aliens as required by section 202 of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 (8 U.S.C. 1722).
• Fully implement US-VISIT program to record the departure of every alien departing the United States and match records of departure with the records of arrivals in the United States as required by section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1221 note).
• Enforce the provision of law that prevents States and localities from adopting “sanctuary” policies or that prevents State and local employees from communicating with DHS as required by section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373).
• Fully operational equipment at each port of entry and uses such equipment in a manner that allows unique biometric identifiers to be compared and visas, travel documents, passports, and other documents authenticated in accordance with section 303 of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 (8 U.S.C. 1732).
• An alien with a border crossing card is prevented from entering the United States until the biometric identifier on the border crossing card is matched against the alien as required by section 101(a)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(6)).
• Any alien who is likely to become a public charge is denied entry into the United States pursuant to section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(4)).
There is an excellent post at CQ with excepts of a memo circulating on capitol hill as to why this bill failed as it should have. The manner in which a few senators tried to pull the wool over our eyes was nothing less than despicable. The normal procedures were not followed. This bill was written in secret and not sent through committees. They tried to shove this thing through so fast, nobody would know what was in it. It was the American people who spoke up and said, NO, not again! Senators have heard the voice of the irrelavent majoritys on both sides of the aisle and have backed off of this sneaky deed. Now, Issacson and Chambliss, both former proponents of the bill are telling the President to first fund and build the fence and then we can talk.
So who’s irrelevant now?
Michelle Malkin has that also. She also had a GREAT Post yesterday:
HOW CONGRESS GIVES SPECIAL RELIEF TO CONVICTED MURDERERS, SMUGGLERS, AND OTHER ALIEN LAW BREAKERS
Excellent article, worth your time.
Real leadership is tested by lack of popular support but not broken by it. Remember polls are sampling a society that can barely even name its leaders.
This president has raised the bar for judging leaders. He stands above fickle public perceptions and demogogic attacks and just continues to build a record of accomplishments.
Republicans pulling away from the bottom on the immigration issue!! Democrats racing towards bottom on the immigration issue!!
Here’s that poll you requested AJ.
–begin quote–
Voters continue to trust Democrats more than Republicans on ten key issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports. In fact, the latest tracking update on five of these issues shows Democrats gaining ground modestly on four of the five issues. However, there is one major exception to the trend—immigration.
A month ago, the Democrats had a fourteen-point advantage on the immigration issue. Following the Senate debate, the Democrats’ advantage has been cut to five points. Forty percent (40%) of voters now trust Democrats more than Republicans on immigration while 35% have more confidence in the GOP. The Republicans still lag Democrats on this issue, but they lag on every issue. Immigration is now tied with taxes as the GOP’s strongest issue. It’s also the only issue on which unaffiliated voters trust Republicans more than Democrats.
–end quote–
source for the above quote –
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/republicans_gain_trust_on_immigration_dems_still_have_edge_on_ten_key_issues
No need to thank me. I know you appreciate my hard work in locating it for you.
Republicans pulling away from the bottom on the immigration issue!! Democrats racing towards bottom on the immigration issue!!
Here’s that poll you requested AJ.
–begin quote–
Voters continue to trust Democrats more than Republicans on ten key issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports. In fact, the latest tracking update on five of these issues shows Democrats gaining ground modestly on four of the five issues. However, there is one major exception to the trend—immigration.
A month ago, the Democrats had a fourteen-point advantage on the immigration issue. Following the Senate debate, the Democrats’ advantage has been cut to five points. Forty percent (40%) of voters now trust Democrats more than Republicans on immigration while 35% have more confidence in the GOP. The Republicans still lag Democrats on this issue, but they lag on every issue. Immigration is now tied with taxes as the GOP’s strongest issue. It’s also the only issue on which unaffiliated voters trust Republicans more than Democrats.
–end quote–
source for the above quote –
rasmussen
No need to thank me. I know you appreciate my hard work in locating it for you.
Republicans pulling away from the bottom on the immigration issue. Democrats racing towards bottom on the immigration issue!
Here’s that poll you requested AJ.
–begin quote–
Voters continue to trust Democrats more than Republicans on ten key issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports. In fact, the latest tracking update on five of these issues shows Democrats gaining ground modestly on four of the five issues. However, there is one major exception to the trend—immigration.
A month ago, the Democrats had a fourteen-point advantage on the immigration issue. Following the Senate debate, the Democrats’ advantage has been cut to five points. Forty percent (40%) of voters now trust Democrats more than Republicans on immigration while 35% have more confidence in the GOP. The Republicans still lag Democrats on this issue, but they lag on every issue. Immigration is now tied with taxes as the GOP’s strongest issue. It’s also the only issue on which unaffiliated voters trust Republicans more than Democrats.
–end quote–
source for the above quote –
http://tinyurl.com/2vtall
No need to thank me. I know you appreciate my hard work in locating it for you.
No apache,
I asked to see the rest of the LA Times poll. LOL! No wonder you folks keep coming up with the wrong answers. You never pay attention to the questions.
No AJ. This comment by me –
Here’s that poll you requested AJ.
was a facetious remark. I thought it was rather funny. I thought it a clever way of linking to poll results that clearly prove that you are living in an alternate universe.
Humor. Wit. Try it some time. You could can all of the insults, which any 6 year old can do, and try a more refined method.
yeah right Apache, people love failure and gridlock and hysteria.
Apache,
I knew what you meant. But your side is not humorous anymore. The price you folks paid for the civil war you started with us traitors who support Bush (get the irony? Funny, eh?)
HOW CONGRESS GIVES SPECIAL RELIEF TO CONVICTED MURDERERS, SMUGGLERS, AND OTHER ALIEN LAW BREAKERS
Yeah, Michelle, and puppy-rapists too. Just ask WorldNetDaily.com.
Rhetoric like that is why I won’t read Malkin. And it’s drama-queen stuff in a similar vein (such as the insinuation that we’re being INVADED BY MEXICO and that AMERICA’S SOVEREIGNTY IS IN DANGER) that’s turning me off of a lot of Right blogs. I don’t need to get shouted at in order to learn something, and I don’t need to read a bunch of angry people who want me to get angry with them and join them on some hate binge, cursing their enemies along with them.