National ID plan may have killed immigration bill

The U.S. Senate definitively rejected President George Bush's immigration bill on Thursday, just hours after senators expressed deep misgivings with portions that would have expanded the use of a national ID card.

Because the procedural vote was 46 to 53, with 60 votes needed to advance the immigration legislation, the proposal is likely to remain dead for the rest of the year.

Privacy advocates were quick to claim that a vote against Real ID cards the previous evening doomed the bill.

Wednesday's vote showed that senators were willing to delete the portion of the labyrinthine immigration bill that would require employers to demand the Real ID cards from new hires. Because some of the bill's backers had insisted that the ID requirement remain in place--as a way to identify illegal immigrants--they were no longer as willing to support the overall bill.

"The proponents of national ID in the Senate weren't getting what they wanted, so they backed away," said Jim Harper, a policy analyst at the free-market Cato Institute who opposes Real ID. "It was a landmine that blew up in their faces."

In a press release, the two Montana Democrats, Max Baucus and Jon Tester, said they were happy that a pro-privacy approach killed the bill. "If Jon and I just brought down the entire bill, that's good for Montana and the country," said Baucus, who cosponsored the amendment deleting the employer verification rule.

But supporters of the overall legislation, which would have created a new category of "Z" visas for currently illegal immigrants, expressed dismay at its apparent demise.

Microsoft said it was disappointed by Thursday's procedural vote against advancing the bill, which will "likely result in the collapse of comprehensive immigration reform that is desperately needed to address the shortage of highly skilled talent."

"The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws," Bush said.

Opponents of the bill, including Republican senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, said derailing it was a victory. "When the U.S. Senate brought the amnesty bill back up this week, they declared war on the American people," DeMint said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, another longtime foe of Real ID, said the Real ID requirements were a "poison pill that derailed this bill, and any future legislation should be written knowing the American people won't swallow it." Another section of the immigration bill would have given $1.5 billion to state officials to pay for Real ID compliance.

Even if the immigration bill is goes nowhere, however, the Real ID Act is still in effect. It says that, starting on May 11, 2008, Americans will need a federally approved ID card to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments or take advantage of nearly any government service.

States must conduct checks of their citizens' identification papers and driver's licenses may have to be reissued to comply with Homeland Security requirements. (States that agree in advance to abide by the rules have until 2013 to comply.)

[asdf]

Or maybe it was the fear of an armed revolution

you never know what these coke-addicted subhuman amoral corporate-owned scumbags might have in their minds, if you can call them that, when they vote.

Hey! Have you heard about of all the jobs Americans won't do? Like Nursing, teaching programming, landscaping, food service... damn.. we won't do ANYTHING...

Hey have you heard that it's OK for employers to break the law all they want? That's because THERE IS NO LAW... the rule of law has been effectively dissolved in the United States. Employers don't need to obey it. the filth at Cohen and Grigsby
http://programmersguild.blogspot.com/2007/06/youtube-gate-cohen-grigsby-train-how-to.html
will teach you how to avoid it... nothing happened to them!

See, if you're RICH in this nation, there are no laws...laws are for little people....

it doesn't mean anything to be an American anymore, except maybe you'll be drafted to be cannon-fodder for the Haliburtons and Blackwater executives... they need another private island and some more hookers, dammit. .. There... that's what it means... I knew it meant SOMETHING ...

The rich don't have to obey any laws they don't want to. Just remember that next time you see Kennedy (Chappaquiddick Kennedy, not baby-sitter Kennedy or skiing-Kennedy ) get up and start yelping about immigration and John *cocaine* McCain and freaking Arlen *magic bullet* Spector start telling you about how you won't work for 50 bucks an hour picking lettuce.

If you don't vote your filthy, lying dirtbag Senator out of office (Byron Dorgen-ND excepted...North Dakotans be PROUD.. where'd you FIND that REAL American) then you're part of the problem.

[Phillep_H]

Whatever it takes

This was an idiotic bill all on it's own. A terrible idea even if it did not make a bad immigration and visa situation worse.

[Jadefa]

The American People Killed the AMNESTY Bill

The National ID had nothing to do with the death of the Amnesty Bill. The American People said "NO" to rewarding Law Breakers and "NO" to allowing the illegal invasion on our borders, language & culture to continue. We flooded the switchboards and e-mail boxes of our elected officials with cries of outrage and they heard us loud & clear! Nice Try Libs.

[_mats_]

xenophobia

Jadefa,

You seriously have xenophobic issues when you mention the
"invasion of culture and language", people do not learn the
lesson, the same was said when the irish immigrated, the
germans, the italians, the polish, and this is still the US.

Regardless if this bill passes or not, I am afraid I have bad news
for you Jadefa, have you seen demographic projections for the
next decade? (and the next and the next?)

What are you going to suggest next, kill all the spanish speaking
citizens in this country? - too late Jadefa

[suyts]

To Spock...or anyone else

Because I can't reply directly to you, I'll start a new thread. What does history tell us about cultures that do not assimilate?

We have a choice, all of us, including the immigrants we have today. We can embrace a culture that has proven successful or we can embrace a culture that people literally run from. I don't know, pick one for us.

[dwimmer38]

bill

The only thing that killed the immigration bill was the amnesty for the existing illegals. I don't think most people have a problem with the National ID plan, as long as it's used to remove the illegals from our midst.

[ralfthedog]

Get rid of the legal immigrants.

I have no problem with the people who break the law to come into this country. America is great not because of our culture (ok, our culture plays a part) But because the people with the most drive chose to come here, and would not let anything stop them.

Does this country need a bunch of law and order pansies who do what people tell them to do, or do we need people who get things done no matter what is in the way?

The grand children of the people who walked into this country or hid in shipping containers will found the companies your grandchildren will work for.

[chris_d]

Microsoft is bunch of lying scumbags

There sure is a lot of available tech talent here in the U.S., especially after all the offshoring. Microsoft just seems not to be looking for it. If they go to my alma matter and talk to my academic advisor, she can put them in contact with a number of students who graduated this spring in computer science who didn't have job offers.

Microsoft is raking in billions of dollars in profits, but cannot be burdened with paying American workers a decent wage, when they could lie instead and get more foreign workers here who will work 7 days a week at lower wages. Way to go, scumbags!

[Mozarks]

Can you see the forest for the trees?

Having read the last 29 comments; having lived in this country all of my 55 years; having two English "*******" illegal immigrant grandparents (one jumped ship before the civil war and one crossed the Detroit River before the depression)and a Pilgrim Father in my background;having learned to pay attention in a public school system that tried to "assimilate" me into proletarian oblivion; I have a comment.

Are any of you paying attention??
This is what the new world order looks like.
The majority of humanity washing from one shore to another in relative poverty, trying to get ahead, with that brass ring just a little out of reach.
Most of these folks, no matter what language they were born into, honest and hardworking and not really willing to rock the status quo; just trying to take care of their own.

This is not about immigration. This is about keeping us in line and at each others throats, as usual.
George Bush was right. The constitution is nothing but a piece of [toilet] paper.
You only have whatever "rights" you can actually exercise.
Take a walk through the bill of rights and see whats left. Not much.

This country is getting ready to tank along with the rest of the worlds economy.
We are all Walmart addled Chinese wage slaves.
Proud to be an Amerikan? *** is that? Try exercising your American rights. Try to find any honest American commerce in this (or any other) country.
Try finding something to eat that isn't polluted, either with gene splicing or industrial waste disguised as "fertilizer".
Try finding something to wear that wasn't made by some slave somewhere else.
Try finding a place to live that isn't owned by the bank (a faceless bunch of "investor" leeches) or the state (if you think you own your property, stop paying taxes and see what happens).
Try not paying "your" income taxes. Imagine the irony of being taxed on the sale of the only thing that really is yours; the hours of your god given time on earth.

This is about class. It's about re-establishing global serfdom. It's about the New (old) World Order.

[Mark Greene]

The discourse in this country can't get much lower

These days, knowing how to use 'discourse' properly passes for intelligence.


Most of the country thought Saddam was directly involved in 9/11. I'll never get over that.

I mean, wow, we're retarded!!!

[blueyes123]

This guy apparently missed the boat

This bill which was not just Bush's, but also the democrats. What killed it? ID? No way Jose. Legal US citizens killed it because it rewarded 30 million diseased, illiterate, drug dealing gang members with citizenship. ( But they work hard at it.) Just what we need a quantum leap adding another 10% uneducated illiterates to our already over loaded groups of the same in our population. Bush, McCain, Kennedy, Reid, Graham, Martinez, Kerry, Gates et al are all multi-millionaires who don't want or need a country---the buck for themselves is their concern. Gates donates billions to Africa (which is his right) and gives only 10s of millions to the US to educate people--but he makes more by hiring recent foreign nationals at half the price than hiring US citizens. If you haven't figured it out yet---these flaming ******** don't give a damn about you or me. This bill, even discounting an amnesty reward for criminals, would have once again INCREASED illegal border crossings---not slowed or stopped them. Neither do these folks want to stop it. Bush should not be impeached, but tried for treason in time of war for giving aid to the enemy (illegals---remember, treat them with dignity and respect) and them summarily executed---throw the rest in for good measure. I'll do the job personally.

There is NO FREE LUNCH! These illegal aliens may work cheaply---but they make up the difference by having no auto insurance, kids we provide schooling, lunches, food stamps, medical care, subsidized utilities and on and on. Remember the old saying, pay me now or pay me later? DUH YOU TOTALLY SUBSIDIZE THEM!

Can't deport them? Too difficult? That means we have no control of our own nation---exactly what the above listed want. Remember the Bush family's "New World Order?"

They would leave voluntarily within 6 months, because if they didn't and get fingerprinted on the way out, they would be incarcerated in outdoor Arizona prison camps, responsible for their own food, tents etc until their government paid a $10,000 fine each to be released. Those who left voluntarily, were fingerprinted and filled out applications, could be allowed back in with work permits where by their employers would be entirely responsible for them, or they would be locked up. Enforce this and they'd be out of here before 6 months.

[Orion Blastar]

A real benefit of Real ID

is to prevent identity theft, which is almost as bad if not worse than the illegal immigration problem.

It will also prevent voter fraud, as only citizens will have a Real ID.

[mark cranick]

new id's

my only question is this--what connection does microsoft have with the homeland security department-and doesn't bill gates have enough money without tapping into government contracts??
since when does microsoft dictate national security proceedures???