Day of Infamy: “Bartering Our Freedom for Gain”

Mike Scruggs

     Thursday, June 27, 2013, may be remembered as a day of infamy by Americans who have fought to preserve their country’s heritage as a nation governed by law. On that day, 68 of 100 United States Senators turned their backs on law and the American people by passing an immigration bill that put the will of big-business, cheap-labor lobbyists ahead of the will, rights, and prosperity of the American people. Senate bill S.744, sometimes referred to as the Schumer-Rubio or Gang-of-Eight amnesty, not only would give amnesty to more than 11 million illegal immigrants but would also authorize corporate lobbyists to bring in another 33 to 34 million permanent foreign workers over the next ten years. In addition, the annual authorization for temporary guest workers would be nearly doubled from the current level of approximately 800,000.

     When 21 million Americans want a full-time job but cannot find one, 68 of 100 senators voted to flood the job market with a new wave of cheap foreign labor. Never let any of these 68 senators get away with the lie that they care about American jobs again. They do not care about jobs!  They care about filling their campaign chests with loads of special interest money to buy TV and radio ads in their re-election campaigns. They want to be seen as compassionate to 11 million illegal immigrants in the liberal dominated national media. But where is their responsibility to and compassion for 142 million American workers? 

     The Heritage Foundation has estimated that the Schumer-Rubio amnesty alone will add $6.3 Trillion over the long run to the already huge U.S debt of $16.5 Trillion. Senate bill S.744 was deliberately structured to hide its enormous costs. That is why newly amnestied immigrants will be given a new Registered Provisional Immigrant (PRI) Status immediately but not made permanent legal residents with a path to citizenship for ten years in most cases. This was so the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, which may only include the first ten years of costs, would not reflect the enormous cost of amnesty. Senator Sessions (R, AL), one of the fiercest opponents of Schumer-Rubio’s outrage against American workers and taxpayers, was unfortunately not successful in getting the CBO to change its policy. However, even the CBO report states that the immediate effect of Schumer-Rubio will be higher unemployment, higher taxes, and higher interest rates. As Senator Shelby, also a Republican Senator from Alabama remarked, “That alone ought to be enough to kill this bill.” 

      Unfortunately, no degree of harm to American workers or gargantuan fiscal irresponsibility was enough to deter 68 senators from the temptation of special interest money, legislative log-rolling, (I’ll help roll your log, if you help roll mine.), and fawning liberal media favor. Never let any of these 68 senators get away with the lie that they care a whit about budgets and fiscal responsibility. They have proved themselves unworthy of any public fiscal responsibility. 

     Perhaps the most egregious amendment added to Schumer-Rubio was a fig-leaf enforcement amendment offered by Bob Corker (R, TN) and John Hoeven (R, ND). The so-called enforcement amendment was an obvious attempt to give cover to Republican senators who wanted to vote for amnesty and open-door immigration but not look bad to their conservative constituents. The amendment actually authorizes amnesty for future illegal immigrants, legitimizing lawless open-door immigration concepts.  Red State online conservative news called Corker, Hoeven, and those Republicans who voted for it, the “Wimp Brigade.” Senator Corker has now admitted that Schumer-Rubio is very unpopular in Tennessee. However, had it not been for this little-read phony enforcement amendment, Schumer-Rubio might have been defeated.

     The vote for Schumer-Rubio included all 53 Democrats, independent socialist Bernie Sanders, and 14 now infamous Republican members of the Gang-of-Eight or Wimp Brigade. Sanders at least condemned the bill’s devastating impact on American workers, but apparently succumbed to some Schumer log-rolling offer on the final vote. Thirty-two Republicans voted against it. Whether or not the 14 Republican yes voters can be classified as wimps, analytically challenged, or just corrupt remains to be seen, but the largest American Tea Party group, the Tea Party Patriots has vowed to get all 14 out of office. Here are the 14 Schumer-Republican Senators who voted for it.

Alexander, TN
Ayotte, NH
Ciesa, NJ (appointed by Gov. Christie)
Collins ME
Corker TN
Flake AZ G8 (Gang-of-8)
Graham SC G8
Hatch UT
Heller NV
Hoeven ND
Kirk IL
McCain AZ G8
Murkowski AK
Rubio FL G8, Chief Republican S.744 sponsor

    Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Prebus, in my opinion, has a disastrous misunderstanding of the facts, demographics, and economics of the immigration issue as it pertains to a winning Republican electoral strategy and can take some blame for the witless vote of several Wimp Brigade converts.

     Here are a few verses of poetry and song protesting the corruption leading to the betrayal of Scotland during the 1707 negotiations for the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England. Scottish performer Dick Gaughan changed a few words, and it has since appeared in the albums of several Scottish groups and vocalists. It seems extraordinarily appropriate to the Schumer-Rubio betrayal of the American people.

“What's the spring-breathing jasmine and rose?
What's the summer with all its gay train,
Or the splendour of autumn to those,
Who've bartered their freedom for gain?”

     Immigration matters are now in the hands of the U.S House. Republicans have a majority of 233 of 435 seats there and have proved more conservative and courageous than the Senate in the past. I hope the Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner (OH), and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (VA) realize that the credibility and future of the Republican Party and the nation’s continued freedom and prosperity now rest in a rejection of amnesty and open-door immigration in the U.S. House.