Kristol Claims DREAM Act Was Political Ploy by Reid & Obama to Make Republicans Appear Anti-Hispanic

[Amerigo Vespucci]

December 19, 2010 12:30 PM
Kristol Claims DREAM Act Was Political Ploy by Reid and Obama to Make Republicans Appear Anti-Hispanic

By Heather

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/kristol-claims-dream-act-was-political-plo



Another Sunday, another week where Bloody Bill Kristol proves that he's wrong about everything once again. This Sunday, he claimed that President Obama and Harry Reid were trying to get the DREAM Act passed just to make Republicans appear anti-Hispanic. Sorry Bill, but I think they've been doing a pretty good job of that all on their own.

KRISTOL: Barack Obama and Harry Reid played politics with this. You know how many hearings there were in either house, in the House and the Senate on the DREAM Act over the past two years? Zero. This bill was brought to the floor of the House, no amendments permitted, passed, brought to the floor of the Senate, no amendments permitted, they failed to get cloture. Is that a way to pass serious legislation? Is this bill so perfectly dreamed up, so to speak, three years ago that we shouldn’t have a debate in committee on it and the normal mark-up and the normal testimony from different experts? It’s a complicated matter dealing with illegal immigration. It was a pure political gambit by Barack Obama and Harry Reid to try to make Republicans look anti-Hispanic and I don’t think it will work.

WILLIAMS: It was a political deal by Republicans to absolutely make devils out of anybody who’s come to this country and this is a country of immigrants and the idea that children who were brought here by their parents and who have gone to school and served in our military are not allowed to become citizens. You know, it’s almost anti-American Bill and the reason they couldn’t discuss it was because the talk show hosts in America the right-wing talk show hosts, would beat up any Republican who supported a realistic effort.

KRISTOL: Usually when legislation is passed there are hearings, mark-ups; there are expert witnesses… none of those. It was a pure political attempt to jam this through.

As Think Progress noted, Juan Williams wasn't the only pundit on the Sunday shows that pointed out how stupid it was for Republicans to have blocked the DREAM Act -- Sunday Show Guests Assail Republicans For Blocking The DREAM Act . And here's more from that post on why Kristol's assertion is wrong.

[TheKentuckian]

1. Then you guys shouldn't have taken the bait, Billy.

Maybe you dumpsterfucks will at least do the clearly right thing going forward and avoid such "traps".

[LoZoccolo]

2. Even if that were true...

...we know that the Republicans never ever play politics with the bills, eh?

[RockaFowler]

3. The Repukes did this all on their own

It's OK for these kids to join the military and die for this country, but Oh No they can't be citizens. The Repukes are disgusting all the way around

[frazzled]

4. Jam it through? A little legislative history

Some version of this bill has been before the Senate over the last three Congresses, for more than six years, and at least a half dozen times the Republicans have blocked it. There has been untold discussion of its provisions, and these have been changed numerous times to address Republican skepticism or complaints. Each time a new complaint is found. They do hate Hispanics (though please note, this bill does NOT apply to Hispanics alone; there are many many undocumented people here from countries all over the world--Poles and Brits, and people from Asia and Eastern Europe).

A very similar version of the bill, though never called the "DREAM Act", was introduced during the 107th Congress in 2001, as H.R.1918 and S.1291 in the House and Senate respectively. It has been introduced in both the Senate (as the "DREAM Act") and the House (as the "American Dream Act") at various times. In the Senate: S.1545 (108th Congress), S.2075 (109th Congress), S.774 (110th Congress), and S.2205 (110th Congress). In the House: H.R.1684 (108th Congress), H.R.5131 (109th Congress), and H.R.1275 (110th Congress).
The text of the bill was also placed in various other failed immigration-related bills, including the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611) and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1348). With the failure of the "comprehensive reform" bills, Richard Durbin, the chief proponent of the DREAM Act in the Senate, made its passage a top priority for 2007.<24><25>
In September 2007, Durbin filed to place the DREAM Act as an amendment to the 2008 Department of Defense Authorization Bill (S. 2919).
(...)

On October 18, 2007, Durbin, along with Republican co-sponsors Charles Hagel and Richard Lugar, introduced the DREAM Act as S.2205. Though nearly identical to the revised amendment to the Defense Bill, opponents continued to cite previous arguments. In order to bring forth the DREAM Act for debate, a vote was scheduled on October 24 that would require a "filibuster proof" count of 60 yes votes, but this was not obtained.<28>
(...)

The act was re-introduced in both chambers of Congress on Thursday, March 26, 2009, during the 111th Congress. Introducing the bill were Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Harry Reid (D-NV), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), and Russel D. Feingold (D-WI)<29> and U.S. Representative Howard Berman (D-CA). To date, 128 representatives<30> and 39 senators<29> (not including former Senator Edward Kennedy) co-sponsored the bill.
(...)

The 111th Congress continued to consider the DREAM Act bill throughout 2010. S.3992, a new version of the DREAM Act, includes numerous changes to address concerns raised about the bill.

(...)
The DREAM Act, along with a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", was incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2011. On September 21, 2010, the Senate filibuster of the bill was maintained in a 56-43 vote; it would have taken 60 votes to stop the filibuster and continue the progress of the bill.<32> The following day, Durbin introduced the bill once again along with Richard Lugar. Only two senators cosponsored the bill and it was defeated again.<33> Less than a month later, on November 16, President Barack Obama and top Democrats pledged to introduce the Dream Act into the House by November 29.<34> The House of Representatives passed the DREAM Act in December 2010,<35> but the Senate did not, failing to have enough votes (55 yays - 41 nays) to secure cloture and move to a vote.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DREAM_Act#Legislative_history

[Turbineguy]

5. Like they need help.

[rurallib]

6. 'Spose if the kids were white christians from Germany

the outcome would be the same?

[SoCalDem]

7. & Jim Crow laws were a plot to make them look racist?

:rofl:

[Atman]

8. APPEAR anti-Hispanic? Hell, they just CONFIRMED it!

Some "ploy." Force them to tell the truth about themselves. LOL! Brilliant!

Some old Democratic pol once said "If the Republicans stop lying about us, we'll stop telling the truth about them." Love it.

[Johonny]

10. LOL, Yeah they are anti-hispanic

I guess they just hate when people call them out on it.

[robdogbucky]

9. Personally, I think this disconnect has its roots in....

Antisocial personality disorder

Antisocial personality disorder (adyp or Atu) is defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood."<1>......

Signs and symptoms
Characteristics of people with antisocial personality disorder may include:<2>
• Persistent lying or stealing
• Apparent lack of remorse<3> or empathy for others
• Cruelty to animals<4>
• Poor behavioral controls — expressions of irritability, annoyance, impatience, threats, aggression, and verbal abuse; inadequate control of anger and temper
• A history of childhood conduct disorder
• Recurring difficulties with the law
• Promiscuity
• Tendency to violate the boundaries and rights of others
• Aggressive, often violent behavior; prone to getting involved in fights
• Inability to tolerate boredom
• Poor or abusive relationships
• Irresponsible work behavior
• Disregard for safety
Other common characteristics of those with Antisocial Personality Disorder include superficial charm, shallowed emotions, a distorted sense of self, a constant search for new sensations (which can have bizarre consequences), a tendency to physically or verbally abuse peers or relatives, and manipulation of others without remorse or empathy for the victim. Egocentrism, megalomania, lack of responsibility, extroversion, excessive hedonism, high impulsivity, and the desire to experience sensations of control and power can also be present. This type of disorder does not relate to assaults of panic or to schizophrenia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder

[blogslut]

11. And it worked too!

Gee. If only there was a way those guys could stop looking like racist jerks...

Oh well.

[Vinca]

12. But they are anti-Hispanic. It's not a closely guarded secret.

[emulatorloo]

13. +1

You beat me to it.