Posted by Frank James at 7:25 am CDT
A quick guided tour of some of the day's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.
A new and complicated immigration-reform plan was reached by a bipartisan group of senators and quickly received President Bush's endorsement. The new legislation would greatly strengthen border and interior enforcement, with increased penalties for employers who hired illegal immigrants. It would also provide a path to legalization for the estimated 12 million undocumented in the country but only after all legal immigrants already in line are processed, a feature critics called an amnesty. The legislation would also markedly shift the nation's immigration approach away from family unification and more towards meeting the nation's employment needs, which was criticized by immigration advocates.
President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had what was likely their last joint White House press conference with both men expressing great admiration for each other's leadership as they acknowledged that their popularity had been deeply damaged by the unpopular Iraq War they led their nations into.
Paul Wolfowitz, the embattled World Bank president, resigned after publicly losing White House support in his unsuccessful effort to turn the tide of international sentiment against him resulting from the furor over his violation of the institution's ethics rules to help arrange a lucrative job for his girlfriend. His June departure may open the door for the institution's first non-U.S. president.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's troubles grew as more Republican senators said he should quit and two Democratic senators announced plans to introduce a no-confidence resolution which, if passed, would dramatically raise the pressure on the White House and Gonzales to end his Justice Department tenure.
House Democrats passed a new lobbying-reform bill out of the House Judiciary Committee but without a proposed restriction to double to two years the length of time former lawmakers would be banned from lobbying their erstwhile colleagues. That extended ban was opposed by some Democrats.
James Dobson, the influential founder and head of Focus on the Family, the Christian group and radio program, said he could not vote for presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, because of the the former New York City mayor supports abortion rights.
Iraq is close to being a disintegrating failed state, said a British think tank, despite assertions from others that the military surge in Baghdad had lowered the violence. The report was released on Thursday, the same day at least 60 people were killed in mortar attacks, drive-by shootings and other assaults.
Congress is trying to determine whether Wall Street is the cause or the cure in the subprime mortgage crisis. The growth in mortgage-backed securities helped accelerate the push to give mortgages to borrowers with bad credit since such loans when packaged into securities give investors higher returns. Now lawmakers are considering more regulation on Wall Street that could rein in such lending.
Two dozen lawmakers spent more than $5 million in campaign funds in the last 27 months on legal fees because of criminal probes or ethics inquiries.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.,) a leading Republican presidential candidate, drew the ire of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for missing several Iraq votes, especially since other lawmakers running for president made the votes.
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the influential founder and head of Focus on the Family, the Christian group and radio program, said he could not vote for presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, because of the the former New York City mayor supports abortion rights.
There is a fine line here. If they are into politics, their tax status should be changed.
Posted by: bill r. | May 18, 2007 7:53 AM
Is it just me? Am I the only one that has zero confidence in our govt? It's not only the immigration issue, it's everything they touch. They screw the American people at every turn and try to make you think you're getting a good deal out of it. I'm just sick of them all.
Posted by: Steve L | May 18, 2007 8:47 AM
For the record, NO AMNESTY! I'm a Los Angeles County resident and I see what illegal immigration is doing to my country. I see the tide of homelessness in Los Angeles who are mostly White and Black Americans. I see illegals not hiding in the shadows, but out in the open, with contempt in their actions and voices for the U.S. Rules and Laws. Tax payers should not have to pay for or support another country's irresponsible behavior to its people. Most of the illegal immigrants do not want to be Americans they just want to make money. Me too, and most of my fellow American citizens, but if we don't pay our taxes and abide by the laws of this great free country, then we are denied that opportunity, evident by the millions of young black Americans locked up in our prisons for selling and using the drugs that come from these so call neighborly countries. If people can't get a job, they will turn to illegal activity. Give them jobs. Unemployment in the Black community is double digit, and has been for YEARS. We want to make money too.
NO Amnesty!
Posted by: Andrina Fletcher | May 18, 2007 9:05 AM
I do not like the amnesty thing, but I think under these conditions we have to bite the bullet. We did nothing to stop the problem. But none of this matters if we Don't SECURE THE BOARDERS! Am I wrong on this? I can't see anyone, repub or dem, arguing that. Still nothing gets done.
Posted by: Jim G. | May 18, 2007 9:30 AM
We give ditzy blonde bombshells, $25,000 if they eat worms and lay in a box filled with cockroaches. Surely we can let people who have trekked accross barren deserts for days without water stay in the country and do jobs we don't want to do.
Posted by: john | May 18, 2007 10:42 AM
One cannot help but admire the work ethic of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. They will stand for hours by Home Depots waiting for any type of work, no matter how hard. They will take jobs outside in the worst of weather conditions. And they will constantly look for work to help their families. These fine people deserve our
commendation, nor our condemnation.
Posted by: Shanika | May 18, 2007 12:39 PM
Victory! WE WON...WE ILLEGALS WON...now we demand that Spanish be rcognized as the official language of the US. We also want free medical care, the right to organize a hispanic goverment, no taxes, free homes, food stamps and free education in spanish for our kids. So get moving you ignorant gringos
Posted by: Bill | May 18, 2007 1:04 PM
Well, now that the not-so-reverend Dobson has opened his yap, I may have to reconsider my position on Giuliani and he may get my independant vote.
Posted by: BillS | May 18, 2007 1:07 PM
It's not just you, Steve L. I, too, have had it with our government. I really believe that our only choice is to drastically cut the size and scope of the government. However, I just don't see that happening. We reached the tipping point long ago. It's bound to get much worse before it gets better.
Posted by: Elliot | May 18, 2007 1:39 PM
Bill,
Sounds like it's not illegal immigrantion you oppose, it is Hispanics that you dislike.
Posted by: jethro | May 18, 2007 1:57 PM
I am an immigrant. Came here legally. 8 1/2 yrs to get my daughter here. If someone gets State Prison for breaking into someone's house. What should they get for breaking into someone's country. What do you get when you come north into Mexico, or any of the other 3rd world countries, Africa/Asia?
Posted by: jaime robers | May 18, 2007 8:46 PM
Does Swamp Gas = propane??
cool...
Posted by: C.Morris | May 18, 2007 8:58 PM
Bill,
You can't possibly know a real Mexican.
Posted by: C.Morris | May 18, 2007 9:42 PM