Upchuck Schumer

I have callouses on my political expectations after eight years of Obama and over five months of Chuck Schumer leading the Democrats in the Senate. Yet, after former FBI Director Comey testified that he had told the Gang of Eight in Congress (including Schumer) months ago that Trump was not a subject of the Russian collusion investigation. Schumer continued to insist publically the exact opposite ... see: Trump's Lies.

Now, as reported by Paul Mirengoff in the Powerline Blog, Senator Grassley has pointed out this same Schumer demagoguery ... unfortunately without calling Schumer what he often is ... a liar ... see: Powerline Blog.

There are a lot of despicable politicians, but Upchuck Schumer is right up there near the top of the list.

Phony Boloney

Local TV and radio have been barraged of late with ads featuring Marco Rubio and other Republicans who, in selected sound bites, seem to be urging Americans to back the new immigration bill that is wending its way through Congress.  Somehow these ads and their voice-overs seemed suspiciously left-leaning to me … so I looked up the sponsor of these ads, “Americans for a Conservative Direction,” on Google.  Sure enough this group (whose tax-exempt status was probably approved by the IRS in a matter of weeks) was founded and funded by California liberals … multi-billionaire Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame being in the forefront (see: Before It's News Story).  The misleading naming of this group strikes me about as slimy and underhanded as one can get.  It is clearly an attempt to deceive the uninformed conservative voters into supporting this new immigration bill.  This then must mean that the bill contains lots of liberal goodies ... of which I am suspicious, see: Carrying Water in a Sieve.

In a related matter, there is also an evangelical Christian group that is also backing this same immigration bill.  One small problem … this group does not legally exist … see: Breitbart Story.  I am now even more suspicious due to the full-court press (fraudulent as it appears to be) surrounding this legislation that the left is urging on the American public.  I have a hard-and-fast rule that I never buy anything that I see advertised on television.  Now I am even more averse to this new Gang of Eight immigration proposal.  Perhaps, in response, I now should form a PAC called “Progressives for Closed Borders and Against Amnesty?”

Anyone want to join?

Democrat Butt Boy

Marco Rubio

“Marco Rubio is our Republican,” says Chuck Schumer … see the disturbing story here: Powerline Story  I had had high hopes for Marco Rubio, but he, of late, is behaving like a leashed-lapdog on immigration reform.  He is being turned into the Republican poster boy for the Democrats’ attempt to lock up nine million more liberal voters (rather, those votes that they don’t already have.)

I somewhat recently posted my concerns with the immigration reform bill that the Gang of Eight has proposed … primarily that many immigrants will probably prefer to stay in the shadows ... and its provisions will not be enforced … at least not by the Obama administration.  See: Crossing the Rubio-con . Although I do believe Rubio’s objectives are noble, he seems under the Svengali-spell of that ever-smiling New York Senator, Chuck Schumer.  This suggests to me another juxtaposition possibility:

Chuck Schumer

Cheshire Cat

Or perhaps Schumer is the cat ... and Rubio is the canary?

Crossing the Rubio-con

I listened to Senator Marco Rubio on Fox News Sunday today pitching the new immigration bill that is being brought forward by the “Gang of Eight” in the Senate.  And what he was saying sounds reasonable (see: Fox News Story) except for three glaring problems:

1) Marco Rubio has previously stated that, in order to get the American people to buy into this bill, there needs to be extensive Senate hearings over the summer … vetting all the provisions therein.  The Senate has to date scheduled only one such hearing.  This is an obvious travesty and a dissing of the American people. Marco Rubio needs to live up to his previous commitments on this matter (see: Mr. Pushy).

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2) Most of the provisions of this bill rely on the Obama (and later) administrations to enforce its terms.  We have had a twenty-five year history of non- and lax enforcement of existing immigration statutes.  Why should anyone believe that this pattern is going to change with a more rigorous set of requirements, fines, taxes, and penalties?  Janet Napolitano has proven herself to be utterly untrustworthy in such matters.  I don’t expect things to change with a new law.

 3) As I have previously stated I also don’t feel that many “illegal immigrants” will come forward to sign up for this program (again see: Mr. Pushy).  Any of them with criminal backgrounds, suspect work records, or other documentation problems will just stay in the shadows.  Why give the feds any visibility into your existence when you can continue to take advantage of the status quo under which many of them are thriving?

Please, can our Congress be realistic and deal effectively with such obvious and serious concerns? Else we will find that the illegal immigration problem will continue to fester and spiral out of control.  And … please Marco Rubio … cross back over that northern Italian river ... and fix these three problems first.

Afterward: Valid points critical of the foreshortened hearings on the Gang of Eight's immigration bill ... see: Powerline Blog

Mr. Pushy

Senator Chuck Schumer is playing the bully … stating that he hopes that the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill would be ready by the end of this week and quickly come to a vote (see: Breitbart Story).  However, Senator Marco Rubio’s schedule is quite a bit slower.  He thinks that hearings on what is being proposed should come first … with considerable public debate … with a Senate vote to occur sometime in the fall (see: Powerline Story).  Quite a difference!

I think Schumer has concluded that he has rolled the two liberal Republicans of the gang, Batman, Senator John McCain, and Robin, Senator Lindsey Graham … and that Rubio will have to follow the lead of this Daring Duo.  “Not so fast Batman!" ... if Marco Rubio has any hope of Presidential aspirations in 2016 he must stick by his guns now and cause the more conservative Senate Republicans to insist on substantive Senate hearings and a full public review process.  If however he can’t pull this off and is pushed to the sidelines by Schumer, he, I'm sorry to say, will be toast. 

If, on the other hand, Senator Rubio can engage the American public in this process and air all the thorny issues thoroughly, then it will be President Obama who will be backed into a corner with his veto threat.  Senator Rubio … please look on this as your San Juan hill … so to speak.