Morning Briefing
For May 10, 2013
1. Senate Judiciary Committee Seals the Fate of the Gang Immigration Bill
The Senate Judiciary Committee began its markup of the gang of 8 immigration deform bill (s.744). The striking thing about the markup is that any casual observer would think we were living in 1965 or 1986, when there was either relatively low legal immigration or no failed amnesty to look back upon. To most of the senators sitting around the table, the border is more secure than ever (despite the sharp rise in crossings), our record levels of immigration don’t exist, and there is no reason to implement the enforcement before the legalization.
The first vote was on the Schumer manager’s amendment, which is a substitute making technical changes to the bill. This ostensibly is the bill. Yet 4 Republicans – Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, John Cornyn, and Orrin Hatch – joined all the Democrats in supporting it. I’m not sure why someone who ultimately opposes this bill would vote for that. Would they have voted for the defacto Obamacare bill in the form of a substitute? Either way, I overheard Chuck Schumer celebrating the votes of Hatch and Cornyn, noting that it was “a good sign.” If Cornyn and Hatch believe that not to be true, they ought to clarify their position. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2. Benghazi hearings in the Mirror Universe
It’s amazing to watch the media bury yesterday’s explosive testimony on Benghazi. Just imagine for a moment that today is the day after a veteran career diplomat – the top man on the ground in Libya after the murder of the ambassador – testified that a Republican administration told him not to cooperate with Democrat congressional investigators, shook him up with a menacing phone call from the top political “fixer” for a Secretary of State widely viewed as a leading 2016 presidential candidate, demoted him under cloudy circumstances so they could portray him as “disgruntled”… and then spent eight months loudly boasting of their enthusiastic, transparent cooperation with Congress. Imagine the media coverage – from the glowing profile of Gregory Hicks as a new whistleblower demigod in the pantheon of good-government heroes, to the hows of outrage that noble truth-seeking Congressmen were thwarted by the machinations of a shadowy White House bent on preserving its electoral viability, no matter the cost to public transparency or national security. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3. Texas is Open for Business
Yesterday, Barack Obama headed to Texas where he’ll be greeted by Governor Rick Perry. The President’s going to see just how awesome Texas is. Seriously. The rest of us should be jealous.
Texas was just named the best place to do business by CEO Magazine, several other groups have listed Texas as the most favorable state for jobs, Raytheon just abandoned California for Texas. It’s got booming bioscience, technology, and manufacturing sectors. People who have been saying “it’s the oil” have to look again. It no longer is just the oil and gas. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
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