IMMIGRATION
Time For The 'Heavy Lifting' To Begin

At a bipartisan meeting with congressional lawmakers yesterday, President Obama pledged "that he would push for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration system by early next year." "It's going to require some heavy lifting," Obama said. "It's going to require a victory of practicality and common sense and good policymaking over short-term politics. That's what I'm committed to doing as president." Before the meeting, which had been delayed twice, the New York Times reported that although they agreed with the need for comprehensive immigration reform, some lawmakers, such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), "refused to put their political capital at risk without some assurances that Mr. Obama will spend some of his own." The meeting at the White House appears to have put those concerns to rest. "I don't think he could have be[en] clearer today or more committed today that he wanted to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality," said  Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), who had previously expressed frustration with Obama's commitment to the issue. "A lot of cynicism and a lot of doubt were left behind." According to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Obama told the lawmakers that he was "ready to speak out publicly, ready to use whatever capital he had left to make sure immigration reform happens." Substantively, Obama announced at the meeting that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will lead a group of lawmakers on the issue from the House and Senate "to start systematically working through" what the Associated Press calls "the stickiest, most emotional questions."

COMPREHENSIVE REFORM CAN'T BE DELAYED: Acknowledging that "there is not by any means consensus across the table" about the particulars of immigration reform, Obama said he was encouraged that "after all the overheated rhetoric and the occasional demagoguery on all sides around this issue, we've got a responsible set of leaders sitting around the table who want to actively get something done and not put it off until a year, two years, three years, five years from now, but to start working on this thing right now." Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed with the sense of urgency. "We've got one more chance to do this," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), adding, "If we fail this time, no politician's going to take this up for a generation, and that'd be a shame for the country." "We've all shouted at each other on television enough. Now it's time to get down to work. I think the time politically is ripe," Weiner said. Earlier this month, when the Reform Immigration for America campaign was officially launched, Center for American Progress President and CEO John Podesta refuted "opponents of reform" who argue that "at a time when American workers are hurting, the best solution isn't reform -- but deportation." "This argument fails to recognize the critical role that immigrants play in economic growth," Podesta said. "We need solutions that restore the rule of law while aiding our economy by making taxpayers of all immigrants. So, to those opponents of reform we say this -- immigration reform and economic recovery are not at odds with each other, but rather go hand in hand."

PRINCIPLES FOR REFORM: Earlier this week, the Center for American Progress released a set of principles for immigration reform, which provide guidelines for an approach that "would require immigrants to register and become legal, pay taxes, learn English, and pass criminal background checks." Recognizing that "lasting solutions flow from policies that defend the bedrock American values of opportunity, equality, fairness, compassion, and a commitment to the common good," CAP argues that "five key principles for reform should guide the president and Congress." First, resolve the status of the undocumented, as it is "morally and economically unacceptable for the wealthiest nation on earth to have 12 million people living and functioning in an underground economy." Second, enhance legal immigration channels and labor mobility, so that employment-based immigration and family-based immigration complement each other and are "not pitted against one another in a zero-sum game." Third, any reforms must also protect American workers by safeguarding their ability to defend their rights, including the rights to change jobs freely and organize without fear and to earn a fair wage. Fourth, an inclusive American identity should be fostered by ensuring that newcomers have access to programs that "facilitate their integration into the nation's social and cultural fabric." Finally, smart enforcement policies and safeguards should be adopted, remembering that "a workable system would tolerate neither deliberate unlawful presence nor the violation of an individual's rights."

HARD WORK AHEAD: As President Obama noted, "comprehensive immigration reform is difficult" because it is such "a sensitive and politically volatile issue." Though the lawmakers in the meeting were "united by a common interest in solving the problem," as Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) put it, points of tension did emerge. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), whom Obama praised by name in the meeting, "drew an early line in the sand" over the issue of a guest-worker program, saying he would not support any reform bill that does not contain a guest-worker measure. However, such a program is opposed by many labor unions, who have proposed that "an independent commission study labor market needs and decide how many immigrant workers should be allowed into the country." Ana Avendano, the Director of the Immigrant Worker Program at the AFL-CIO, pushed back against McCain's position, telling the Los Angeles Times that "just because McCain said no [on Thursday] doesn't mean we're not going to continue pushing policies that are good for working people in the United States." Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), chairman of a Senate committee on immigration, said that the tension over a guest-worker program is representative of the fact that "both parties, left and right, are going to have to give in some to get immigration reform."

Under the Radar

RADICAL RIGHT -- REP. BACHMANN FEARS CENSUS WILL BE USED TO PUT AMERICANS IN INTERNMENT CAMPS: On Fox News yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) reiterated her intention to break the law by refusing to complete the 2010 Census. Playing prominently in Bachmann's fear-mongering about the Census is her misguided belief that the community organizing group ACORN is helping to collect Census data. In fact, ACORN will not have any role in collecting Census responses. ACORN is simply one of thousands of partners who have agreed to help promote the fact that the Census bureau will soon have many job openings. Bachmann also suggested yesterday that the government could use the Census data for nefarious purposes -- including the imprisonment of Americans in internment camps. She claimed that the Census information collected between 1942 and 1947 was "handed over to the FBI and other organizations, at the request of President Roosevelt, and that's how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps." She then suggested that this might happen again. But while Bachmann's concerns about the data collected by the Census appear to be new, the questions that she is concerned with are not. Indeed, Census questions on race have been asked since 1790; home language since 1890; rent since 1880; income since 1940; and how Americans heat their homes since 1940. Moreover, as a former tax attorney, Bachmann ought to recognize that many of the Census questions that she considers invasive overlap with information that Americans give to IRS every year when filing their taxes.

Think Fast

The House is likely to vote today on the American Clean Energy and Security Act which would, "for the first time, put a price on carbon emissions" in the U.S. If passed, the law would "reduce emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020" using a cap-and-trade system. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is still whipping votes in favor of the legislation.

Despite a veto threat from the White House and against the wishes of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Congress yesterday "moved forward with plans to build more Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter jets."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is calling the U.S. combat troop withdrawal from Iraqi cities by June 30 a "great victory," making a comparison to "the rebellion against British troops in 1920." But also, "the Americans are going along with it, symbolically and substantively."

At a DNC fundraiser with gay and lesbian donors yesterday, Vice President Biden reiterated the administration's commitment to fighting for LGBT issues. "I don't blame you for your impatience," he said, addressing recent tensionson these issues. According to the White House pool report, Biden drew "repeated standing ovations" when he promised to repeal DADT, enact a ban on workplace discrimination, and push for adoption rights for all.

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi yesterday "issued a rare attack on supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accusing him of not acting in the interests of the country, and said Iran had suffered a dramatic change for the worse." The move indicates that Iran's "political rift is far from over." "I am not prepared to give up under the pressure of threats or personal interest," Mousavi said.

The Obama administration signaled yesterday that overhauling the nation's transportation infrastructure will have to wait. The White House is letting members of Congress know that planning new spending for transportation "is not a discussion they want to have now, in the middle of a recession and as Washington is consumed with battles over health care and energy."

After threatening to post pictures and "pertinent information" about the staff of Media Matters on his website, hate radio host Michael Savage has backed off, now saying that he will release only public information "such as the group's tax filings." View a Media Matters compilation on Savage's record here.

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) has acknowledged "that he visited his mistress in Argentina on a taxpayer-financed trade mission to South America early last summer, an admission adding another layer to a scandal that produced increasing calls for his resignation." "I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with," Sanford said. He has promised to reimburse the costs.

60 percent: The percentage of South Carolina residents who believe Gov. Mark Sanford (R) should resign, after he admitted to having an affair with a woman from Argentina. Just 34 percent said he should stay in office, according to a new SurveyUSA poll.

And finally: The White House held its annual congressional picnic yesterday, and the star of the show was Sasha Obama for sinking chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in the dunking booth. Other administration officials who occupied the "wet seat" were spokesman Robert Gibbs and OMB director Peter Orszag, who was dunked at least 12 times. The President, who grew up in Hawaii, made the outing into a luau with "hula dancers in grass skirts, fire dancers, [and] inflatable sharks floating in the pond."

Blog Watch

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A German eco-town goes car free.

Perino: The Sanford affair proves we need to "elect more women."

Is Iraq unraveling?

The Heritage foundation slams mythical defense cuts.

How much are Americans willing to pay for a cleaner future?

Daily Grill

"Some lawmakers and religious groups are concerned the [Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act] could be used to criminalize conservative speech on abortion or homosexuality."
-- CNN correspondent Deborah Feyerick, 6/25/09

VERSUS

"Nothing in this Act shall be construed to allow prosecution based solely upon an individual's expression of racial, religious, political, or other beliefs."
-- The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 4/28/09