Since the demise of the Immigration Bill much finger pointing and “analysis” of what “really” happened has been dominating the news and opinion pieces.
Senators Dianne Feinstein and Trent Lott blame the evil “talk radio” for creating hyperbole and are suggesting that we reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. After all Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage are dominating AM radio. They don’t seem to remember Air America was going to compete and take over talk radio. Air America was on every major market with much fanfare and publicity, but no one listened and they went belly up.
When David Obey was asked about the Fairness Doctrine he said “Rush and Sean are just about as important in the scheme of things as Paris Hilton.” He didn’t know how prophetic he was, more people are aware of the comings and goings of Paris Hilton than the status of the “Immigration Bill.” However Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and countless other talk radio people, did make a big difference and kept our elected officials from selling out to special interests again.
Depending on who is talking the story of what happened to the Immigration Bill differs. The Democrats say that the demise of the bill is a major blow to President Bush dealt to him by the Republicans. The main stream media will have us believe that talk radio got enough mind numb robots to call and scare the Republicans into defeating the bill. Both the Democrats and the main stream media will also have you believe that the Immigration Bill is the only solution to problem.
If the Democrats were serious about the issue they wouldn’t have crafted a bill that is 800 pages long with at least 20 major loopholes in it and then limited debate. They wanted this bill to fail so they can use it in the 2008 elections. I can hear them now “we tried to fix the problem but the evil Republicans wouldn’t let us.” When the Democrats control both houses of congress that is questionable but, who knows it may work.
The Republicans didn’t defeat this bill look at the numbers. . “The tally was 46 to 53, with three-quarters of the Senate’s Republicans voting to derail the bill.” That means one quarter or 12 Republicans voted for the bill. If my math is correct that means that only 41 Democrats voted for the bill. What happened to the other 9? Believe me that is not a “party line” vote. What happened to honest reporting? I am not the only person in the world capable of simple arithmetic? The accusation that this is a blow to President Bush is true, but it wasn’t the Republicans who did it.
The argument that bill is even necessary is highly suspect. There is legislation on the books addressing the immigration issue. The 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli was designed to solve our immigration problem. It addresses all of the issues all it needs is enforcement. You may ask why do we have the problem today if we have legislation on the books? Laws are like tools they must be used not ignored. This turns out to be a true bipartisan issue; both Democrats and Republicans have failed to enforce Simpson-Mazzoli. The only thing not in the Simpson-Mazzoli bill is the fence which we already voted for. All we have to do is build it.
What never ceases to amaze me is that our elected officials on both sides of the aisle believe that another piece of legislation will solve our problems. Apparently this is a contagious disease, is there something in the water?
Husband, Father, Grandfather, Veteran, Retiree and Curmudgeon. Political activist, writer and political junkie. Farm boy from small town who found an easier life while in the Army. Became involved with missiles while in the Army and found aerospace fascinating. Retired after working on Titan, Gemini, Apollo, Polaris, Trident, Minuteman, Talon Gold, Space Shuttle and several secret projects.
Comments: keith.defilippis@comcast.net
