June 4, 2007
SOUND AND FURY, EASILY IGNORED:
Backers of Immigration Bill More Optimistic: Lawmakers Cite Sense of Urgency (Jonathan Weisman, June 4, 2007, Washington Post)
Congress's week-long Memorial Day recess was expected to leave the bill in tatters. But with a week of action set to begin today, the legislation's champions say they believe that the voices of opposition, especially from conservatives, represent a small segment of public opinion. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who led negotiations on the bill for his party, said the flood of angry calls and protests that greeted the deal two weeks ago has since receded every day."You just have to recognize you will get 300 calls, you'll get conflicts at town hall meetings -- all of them negative," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who consulted with Kyl and hopes to carry a similar deal through the House in July. "The last few days have really turned things around."
Public opinion polls seem to support Kyl's contention that Americans are far more open to the deal than the voices of opposition would indicate. In a Washington Post-ABC News poll released today, 52 percent of Americans said they would support a program giving illegal immigrants the right to stay and work in the United States if they pay a fine and meet other requirements. Opposition to that proposal was 44 percent.
And the amnesty is supposed to be the toughest sell. Ask them if they want to let the same folks come here legally in the first place and the nativists are marginal. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 4, 2007 12:00 AM
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Posted by: Sandy P at June 4, 2007 9:39 AMThe trick questions posed in the phoney polls don't begin to even suggest what a shameless scam this all is. The parts of the Immigration Bill which look balanced, which get those approval numbers for the whole package, have all sorts of triggers, or exceptions, or administrative exemptions. In practice, the bill is amnesty and open borders, plain and simple.
Don't trust these polls. These are the same kind of polls that were telling us al those years that the nation was clamoring for more gun control.
Posted by: Lou Gots at June 4, 2007 10:12 AMLou:
Yes, people are less inclined to support amnesty after the fact, though most do. The prohibitive majority is for just making their entry legal in the first place. Commonsensical enough given the American streak of puritanism and desire for fair play.
Posted by: oj at June 4, 2007 12:42 PM