Impossible DREAM? Dems push DREAM Act again

[cal04]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/28/6965314-impossible-dream-dems-push-dream-act-again
By Domenico Montanaro, Political Reporter, NBC News

Democrats have packed the hearing room for the first-ever DREAM Act testimony. More than 200 people are in the room, including many students, who say they are undocumented and pushing for the passage of the bill. The bill would grant a path to citizenship for children brought to the United States illegally.

The bill has little chance of passing the Senate, but Democrats' theory might as well be if at first (or second or third or fourth) you fail, try, try again. It failed in December 2010, 55-41, unable to garner enough support to overcome a filibuster.

(snip)
Testimony today became snippy at times, particularly between Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) -- who opposes the bill -- and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a former border-state governor.

(snip)
Napolitano argued that Homeland Security would be better served, redirecting their resources on criminals, not students who are trying to learn.

[Bandit]

1. This was a bill first introduced by Orin Hatch and had six Republican co-signers.

Then Obama said he was for it and all the Republicans suddenly changed their minds....Go figure..:shrug:

[Ship of Fools]

2. sorry, naysayers--

but my man Obama is proving, once again, timing is everything. state the vision, wait out the hysteria, gently push until mass consensus, then GO FOR IT. community organizer extraordinaire.

change takes time, did he not remind us that time and time again?

just one woman's opinion.

[Philippine expat]

3. Personally I am totally against rewarded criminal behavior n/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. These students are not guilty of criminal behavior.

They were helpless passengers with their parents.

You want to punish the kids for the crimes of their parents?

I say NO.

[Dappleganger]

5. Well said, Peggy!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Thank you, my dear Dappleganger!

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. +1

[pinboy3niner]

15. +2 nt

[Dappleganger]

7. You mean people like this "criminal"

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/18/local/la-me-1118-illegal-immigrant-presiden20101118

The parents of popular Cal State Fresno Student Body President Pedro Ramirez always talked a lot about el sueño Americano — the American Dream.

He was to study hard, get good grades and claim the prize, but it wasn't until that night in their kitchen when the high school valedictorian was filling out university applications that they told him a missing detail — he wasn't a United States citizen. He was born in Mexico. He came to this country when he was 3 years old.

Now, an anonymous tip to the college newspaper has forced Ramirez to publicly expose his secret and has put this son of a maid and a restaurant worker into the thick of a debate on immigration and education that has reached a boiling point in recent weeks. Some have called for his resignation while others have rallied to his defense.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. Yeah, gotta punish them for the crimes they committed when they were 6 months old.

:eyes:

[Lisa0825]

12. Extremely ignorant post.

:spank:

[cal04]

9. Senate Judiciary holds first DREAM Act hearings

by Joan McCarter
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/28/989413/-Senate-Judiciary-holds-first-DREAM-Acthearings?via=blog_1

(snip)
Some big guns, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, are set to testify at the session chaired by by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and hosted by the Senate Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security.

The legislation, first introduced in 2001 and reintroduced several times since then, had earlier received the support of some Republicans but has fallen short of passage. Most recently, late last year, Senate Democrats attempted to fold the act into a defense-spending bill, only to see it filibustered. An effort to pass the DREAM Act separately also failed.

But Durbin is persistent.

"I've been working on the DREAM Act for over 10 years," he said in a statement. “in that time, it's been reported out of committee by a large bipartisan margin, passed the House of Representatives, and received a bipartisan majority vote in the Senate, only to fall because of a filibuster."

..."This could be a piece of a solution to a number of the challenges our country faces," Duncan said Monday on a press conference call. "We just need the human potential, the tremendous capacity, to contribute to society, to contribute to our economy."

Duncan said the law would recue the federal deficit by $1.4 billion in the next decade by making it possible for more illegal immigrants to stay in the country and pay taxes.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Kick!

:kick:

[applegrove]

13. They need to bring this back next year too. Obama needs to fight 2012 on immigration.

[Mimosa]

14. ^ What? LOL Do you want to sink Obama? ^

Obama needs to run on jobs (if there are any! ).

[applegrove]

17. Of course he needs to run on jobs and how the GOP and corporations have stopped anything that might

create a job. But the GOP has steered clear away from immigration reform and that tells us something.

[pinboy3niner]

16. In other words...

¡Sí, Se Puede!

K&R