Blogosphere Reaction to Byron Dorgan
From Big Lizards:
The Senate is currently working through a series of amendments. Some are bad; some are really ugly, like Byron Dorgan's (D-N.D.) attempt to prevent "foreigners and recent illegal immigrants" (!) from signing up to be guest workers; one presumes Dorgan wants the guest-worker program limited to Americans only.
Actually, that's exactly what he wants. I think I know what Dorgan's favorite Bus Boys album is. (Sorry, gotta input those obscure KRRC references here and there.)
From jurassicpork:
Bush’s speech is getting cautious support from the Senate, many of whom are obviously grandstanding for their constituents as election day draws near. Many Republicans are content to let the status quo remain, as Arlen Specter demonstrated today when he helped shoot down Byron Dorgan’s proposal to kill 325,000 work visas, saying that if the US doesn’t “provide for guest workers who can fill the needs of the American economy, then we're going to create a vacuum of a situation where illegal immigrants will come into fill those needs.”
In other words, keep them in the fields under the hot sun, at gunpoint, making shit and getting no health care because what’s a Taco Bell Gordita without those fucking diced tomatoes?
From Flashcat's Realm:
[T]he liberal debate over immigration isn't simply one between the left and the center. It cuts across ideologies. There are conservative Democrats, civil rights activists and leftist multiculturalists calling for legalizing undocumented immigrant workers, while figures including antiwar Air America radio host Thom Hartmann, writer Michael Lind and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., are urging much tougher restrictions. The central question is whether the interests of working-class Americans and those of immigrants, legal and illegal, are necessarily in opposition, and if they are, how progressives -- and the lawmakers they support -- should deal with it. What does it mean if the inspiring words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty -- "Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me" -- can't be reconciled with the needs of this country's workers?
From PoliPundit:
The following Republican politicians, who would sell US citizenship to millions of illegal invaders, have permanently lost my support for any elected office:
President George W. Bush
Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL)
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Senator Bill Frist (R-TN)
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Senator Chuck Hagel (R_NE)
Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH)
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)
Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)
I donated thousands of dollars to these politicians when they were running for office. I urged PoliPundit.com readers to vote for them and volunteer for their campaigns. No more. They are agents of Mexico, not representatives of the American people.
The following Republican politicians have earned my support for any elected office:
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
Rep. J. D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Senator George Allen (R-VA)
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)...
Few Democrats have supported strengthening America’s borders. Those who have, such as Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), are too far to the left on other issues to deserve our support. The one exception is Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), who has been good on most issues, and has turned out to be a stalwart on immigration.
From Sign On San Diego:
McCain is part of a Senate majority – centered on the Democrats – who want not only to legalize millions of immigrants but also to assure a steady supply of low-wage labor to the farmers, landscapers, restaurateurs, meat processors, construction contractors, hotel operators and others who have become dependent on illegal immigrants....
Both California senators, Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, have endorsed the concepts of McCain's push for sweeping legalization. But North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan has thundered against the proposal to provide work visas and a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers every year.
Dorgan calls it “total nonsense” and a betrayal of American workers....
And here's what David Sirota wrote in 2005:
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) just introduced a resolution to deny President Bush's request to extend "fast track" trade authority that Congress granted him a few years back. This authority lets Bush negotiate corporate free trade deals with little to no input from Congress - a power that lets him bypass most labor, human rights and environmental standards.
As AP reports, Dorgan noted that "fast-track authority was responsible for problems with the Central American Free Trade Agreement recently signed with the Dominican Republic and five Central American countries." Farmers are getting quite nervous about the deal - and rightly so. Dorgan also noted the deal would lead to "U.S. jobs going overseas, as companies try to take advantage of low-wage labor in countries with no environmental controls."
To understand why fast track is so bad, check out the Australia free trade deal Bush negotiated under fast track authority. The deal undercut small family farmers in the United States, while also codifying laws that make sure medicine prices stay high.
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