President Obama fails us again: Reaganomics passes, but Dream Act doesn’t?

Does President Obama have any credibility now with the legions of people who believed in his mission of hope and change?

The Tax-cut bill was not just an extension of Bushonomics, it was a revival of Reaganomics. We already know trickle down theories are ineffective and yet that was worth compromise?

That was bad enough. But today, considering all the arm-twisting that goes on, couldn’t  he get a few more Republicans to trade  their  tax cut vote  for the Dream Act?

The Dream Act at least reduces the deficit.

Could it be that the racial component of immigration was too much for logic to triumph?

Sad, sad commentary that the majority refuses to recognize the talented innocents who came to this country with their undocumented parents.  These are the ones worth keeping, not deporting.  

This was President Obama’s very hollow statement on the failure of the Senate to pass the Dream Act (from a White House e-mail:

In an incredibly disappointing vote today, a minority of Senators prevented the Senate from doing what most Americans understand is best for the country. As I said last week, when the House passed the DREAM Act, it is not only the right thing to do for talented young people who seek to serve a country they know as their own, it is the right thing for the United States of America. Our nation is enriched by their talents and would benefit from the success of their efforts. The DREAM Act is important to our economic competitiveness, military readiness, and law enforcement efforts. And as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reported, the DREAM Act would cut the deficit by $2.2 billion over the next 10 years. There was simply no reason not to pass this important legislation. It is disappointing that common sense did not prevail today.  But my administration will not give up on the DREAM Act, or on the important business of fixing our broken immigration system.   The American people deserve a serious debate on immigration, and it’s time to take the polarizing rhetoric off our national stage.  I thank Senators Durbin, Reid, and Menendez for their tireless efforts. Moving forward, my administration will continue to do everything we can to fix our nation’s broken immigration system so that we can provide lasting and dedicated resources for our border security while at the same time restoring responsibility and accountability to the system at every level. 

Emil Guillermo: One minority view of the Tax-cut deal

If you come from immigrant stock,  here’s one way to look at this $858 billion tax cut plan Obama and the Republicans are proposing.

Consider how you, your parents or grandparents came to America for opportunity. But now the capitalists here have gotten smarter. They’re shipping jobs back to where we came from.  That’s the American Dream now. You stay put, our jobs will migrate to you.

You see, you never had to immigrate in the first place. The New America is global. It’s wherever you are. 

In the eight years of the Bush Administration, 5 million manufacturing jobs were lost as plants were shut down all over the U.S.  Opportunities? If you’re Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese, Indian, or from any other low wage country, it’s right under you nose. Just wait, America will be there and pay you in your native currency.

If you heard Sen.Bernie Sanders nearly nine-hour speech last Friday, you heard his lament. In 2000, there were 17,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. By 2008 there were less than 12,000.  Since the beginning of World War II, the U.S. has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs–a 29 percent reduction.

That’s just one of the reasons why so many people are out of work here.

And now those people  face  the indignity of being the pawns in this huge tax-cut game in Washington.

In order to get unemployment, the GOP wants to trade extension of benefits for the extension of the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy

That’s practically immoral.

An $858 billion  tax cut proposal is just insane given our $13.8 trillion national debt.

But this is the road advocates for the tax-cut deal us on.

Our jobs are gone, our people are unemployed, our future compromised.

If you’re in a Third World nation now, why would you ever want to come to America?

More on the tax cut bill on my blog at www.aaldef.org/blog

Keep Dreaming: Dream Act vote on hold in Senate

The fight over taxes trumped the fight over the undocumented this week.  No time for GOP handwringing over “illegals.” The rich want to make sure they get their dole extended.

I hope the people who want the tax cuts know that the undocumented pay more than their share in taxes.  They don’t need a tax cut. But they sure merit a reward for being productive members of our society. Residency, citizenship? None of that should be withheld.

The House passed the Dream Act this week to give the young undocumented hope.   But passing the dream in the Senate will be a problem next week.

On Thursday, the Senate voted  to put off the measure till next week because many Senate Republicans said they’d filibuster the bill if it came up before the tax compromise.

So the delay gives more time for supporters  to lobby.

Check out my regular post  to see the key senators who are important in the vote. It’s on my regular column/blog:

 www.aaldef.org/blog

It’s not as dreamy as I’d like, but Congress set to vote on Dream Act this week

Check out my blog post on the uphill battle for the Dream Act  at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund website:

http://www.aaldef.org/blog/

Many GOPers are planning to vote against the Dream Act. 

They’re not thinking.

All those undocumented students that would be legalized become voters for life. Voting for the Dream Act is ultimately a selfish act for a GOP legislator.

But they’re stuck in the old closed-minded thinking about immigration that believes the undocumented shouldn’t be rewarded for becoming educated and productive taxpayers. To them, the dream is to send people back to their countries and cut off any new access to the border.

That’s not my dream. Is it yours?

Emil Guillermo's amok commentary on race, politics, diversity…and everything else. It's Emil Amok's Takeout!

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