Reforms, passion and buttheads
Monday, 29 March 2010
Fazal M. Kamal
FINALLY passion, promises, politics and principles came together as the healthcare reform bill was passed by the legislature and then signed into law by President Barack Obama this past week. This triumph brought to a culmination the U.S. President's feverish attempts to have the reforms accepted by Congress despite vehement, and often vicious, opposition to the bill from the Republicans and other conservative groups even though the law will promote and defend the interests of millions of Americans who have been in a dire quandary for decades without adequate medical coverage.
However, as one set of urgently required reforms was being fought over and debated and ultimately overcoming legislative hurdles another set of reforms was already demanding the President's attention. Only last week thousands of demonstrators converged on the nation's capital to rally for an overhaul of the country's immigration system that has been described by Barack Obama himself as a "broken system" which needs fixing.
Just as the healthcare reform bill brought out some of the worst in certain people, the process of reforming the immigration system will definitely elicit rabid opposition from similar groups of people and will generate equally heated debates all across the nation. And just as the health bill took up a whole lot of the President's energy and time to reach a victorious conclusion, a reform bill for immigration is most likely to demand similar resources from the administration.
Present estimates claim that between eleven and twelve million "undocumented" immigrants are in the United States; and advocates want these people to be given the opportunity to transform themselves into legal entities. One formula advanced by two U.S. Senators, Democrat Charles Schumer and Republican Lindsey Graham, calls for illegal immigrants to admit they broke the law, pay a fine and back taxes, and perform community service if they want to get legal status. They would also be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English.
Commenting on this initiative President Obama said, "I congratulate Sens. Schumer and Graham for their leadership, and pledge to do everything in my power to forge a bipartisan consensus this year on this important issue so we can continue to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform." He added, "A critical next step will be to translate their framework into a legislative proposal, and for Congress to act at the earliest possible opportunity." He also assured the immigrants and the community groups that he would do "everything in my power" to get immigration legislation moving in Congress this year.
Some other elements in the Schumer-Graham proposal for immigration reform include giving legal permanent residence to people who graduate with doctoral or master's degrees from U.S. universities, adopting zero tolerance for illegal immigrants who commit crimes and expanding enforcement of immigration laws, creating a flexible legal immigration system that brings in more low-skilled workers when jobs are available and fewer in a recession, and requiring all U.S. workers --citizens and legal immigrants --to get fraud-proof Social Security cards with a biometric identifier. (After the passage of the health bill, however, Republican Senator Graham said he would no longer cooperate with the majority party on an immigration reform bill.)
Reports have it that activists have become frustrated with the government because even though Barack Obama had promised to make overhauling the immigration system a top priority in his first year at the White House the reforms continue to remain dormant while, in addition, the administration continued to detain and deport immigrants. Interestingly, at some levels the healthcare reform and immigration reforms are intertwined because a large segment of immigrants are uninsured and depend on "alternative healing practices" some of which are extremely dangerous. Therefore both sets of reforms would at last bring enormous relief to these immigrants.
A new hero -- or villain?
The victory of the Obama administration over the adamant Republicans as well as over frothing-at-the-mouth rightwing zealots (for further on them please see Faux News Network and other similarly inclined radio shows; example: Glenn Beck on the Fox channel, "The Democratic Party now officially is the Socialist Party.") has thrown up a new hero in Washington, DC. One newspaper's headline sums it up well: "Pelosi central in healthcare reform passage." That would be Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, the very first female to hold that position.
"The passage of healthcare reform is not just a triumph of Pelosi's liberal idealism, though it is partly that," commented Steve Konacki in Salon. "It's just as much a triumph of her underappreciated legislative savvy -- mastery, really. In the (2001) leadership race, (Rep. Steny) Hoyer was supposed to be the skilled tactician. Pelosi was supposed to be the clueless ideologue. But as speaker, she's adeptly mixed her idealism with the deft touch of a seasoned congressional insider.
"You need look no further than the healthcare saga for confirmation of this. Who else could have pulled off what Pelosi just did? For more than a year, she carefully balanced the wildly disparate interests of her caucus' various coalitions -- the progressives who demanded a 'robust' public option, the Blue Dogs who cared mainly about deficits, the pro-lifers who made abortion their make-or-break issue, and on and on. She gave away just enough to each group to keep reform alive -- without sacrificing her own bottom line of near-universal coverage."
In further appreciation of her abilities Konacki adds, "Since Obama's inauguration, Pelosi has racked up an impressive list of achievements. She pushed the stimulus bill through, then cap-and-trade, and now healthcare. And those are just the headline items. For a woman who supposedly hails from her party's left-wing fringe, she sure has a knack for winning over moderates when it matters."
However, her impressive successes have also made her a target of the wild-eyed ire not merely of the rightwing crazies but also of the Republican National Committee which has launched a website calling for the ouster of the Speaker. The aforementioned website of the RNC urges people to "Fire Pelosi…40 Seats Means No More Madam Speaker" and has a picture of Nancy Pelosi in flames! While a reader wrote to the Metro newspaper, "…Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi have perpetrated a sneak attack on the U.S. Constitution on March 21, 2010. This is a day which will live in infamy…"
These extreme reactions perhaps more than adequately articulate the measure of her success and triumph over those who would rather defend and protect the interests of the few as opposed to the interests of the majority. Also, now more than ever before both President Obama and the Democratic leadership as well as the more inclusive supporters of the reform policies of this administration realise how pivotal has been the role played by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in advancing the cause of essential reforms. In coming days her acumen will certainly be essential in passing the bill on reforming the immigration system, and in the process her mettle will be tested further.
Finally, however, this piece would not be complete without a few quotes from some Republicans and rightwing fanatics, which demonstrate both the silly and the sinister in their reactions. Rightwing radio commentator Rush Limbaugh said, among various other outrageous stuff, "We need to defeat these bastards, we need to throw them out." Senator John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, warned, "There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year." And though millions will be benefited from this law the Republican leader in the House of Representatives claimed that "the devastating consequences of this legislation will be felt in broken promises, higher costs, lost jobs and fewer freedoms," even though the facts fail to point in that direction.
Fazal Kamal fmk222@gmail.com
FINALLY passion, promises, politics and principles came together as the healthcare reform bill was passed by the legislature and then signed into law by President Barack Obama this past week. This triumph brought to a culmination the U.S. President's feverish attempts to have the reforms accepted by Congress despite vehement, and often vicious, opposition to the bill from the Republicans and other conservative groups even though the law will promote and defend the interests of millions of Americans who have been in a dire quandary for decades without adequate medical coverage.
However, as one set of urgently required reforms was being fought over and debated and ultimately overcoming legislative hurdles another set of reforms was already demanding the President's attention. Only last week thousands of demonstrators converged on the nation's capital to rally for an overhaul of the country's immigration system that has been described by Barack Obama himself as a "broken system" which needs fixing.
Just as the healthcare reform bill brought out some of the worst in certain people, the process of reforming the immigration system will definitely elicit rabid opposition from similar groups of people and will generate equally heated debates all across the nation. And just as the health bill took up a whole lot of the President's energy and time to reach a victorious conclusion, a reform bill for immigration is most likely to demand similar resources from the administration.
Present estimates claim that between eleven and twelve million "undocumented" immigrants are in the United States; and advocates want these people to be given the opportunity to transform themselves into legal entities. One formula advanced by two U.S. Senators, Democrat Charles Schumer and Republican Lindsey Graham, calls for illegal immigrants to admit they broke the law, pay a fine and back taxes, and perform community service if they want to get legal status. They would also be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English.
Commenting on this initiative President Obama said, "I congratulate Sens. Schumer and Graham for their leadership, and pledge to do everything in my power to forge a bipartisan consensus this year on this important issue so we can continue to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform." He added, "A critical next step will be to translate their framework into a legislative proposal, and for Congress to act at the earliest possible opportunity." He also assured the immigrants and the community groups that he would do "everything in my power" to get immigration legislation moving in Congress this year.
Some other elements in the Schumer-Graham proposal for immigration reform include giving legal permanent residence to people who graduate with doctoral or master's degrees from U.S. universities, adopting zero tolerance for illegal immigrants who commit crimes and expanding enforcement of immigration laws, creating a flexible legal immigration system that brings in more low-skilled workers when jobs are available and fewer in a recession, and requiring all U.S. workers --citizens and legal immigrants --to get fraud-proof Social Security cards with a biometric identifier. (After the passage of the health bill, however, Republican Senator Graham said he would no longer cooperate with the majority party on an immigration reform bill.)
Reports have it that activists have become frustrated with the government because even though Barack Obama had promised to make overhauling the immigration system a top priority in his first year at the White House the reforms continue to remain dormant while, in addition, the administration continued to detain and deport immigrants. Interestingly, at some levels the healthcare reform and immigration reforms are intertwined because a large segment of immigrants are uninsured and depend on "alternative healing practices" some of which are extremely dangerous. Therefore both sets of reforms would at last bring enormous relief to these immigrants.
A new hero -- or villain?
The victory of the Obama administration over the adamant Republicans as well as over frothing-at-the-mouth rightwing zealots (for further on them please see Faux News Network and other similarly inclined radio shows; example: Glenn Beck on the Fox channel, "The Democratic Party now officially is the Socialist Party.") has thrown up a new hero in Washington, DC. One newspaper's headline sums it up well: "Pelosi central in healthcare reform passage." That would be Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, the very first female to hold that position.
"The passage of healthcare reform is not just a triumph of Pelosi's liberal idealism, though it is partly that," commented Steve Konacki in Salon. "It's just as much a triumph of her underappreciated legislative savvy -- mastery, really. In the (2001) leadership race, (Rep. Steny) Hoyer was supposed to be the skilled tactician. Pelosi was supposed to be the clueless ideologue. But as speaker, she's adeptly mixed her idealism with the deft touch of a seasoned congressional insider.
"You need look no further than the healthcare saga for confirmation of this. Who else could have pulled off what Pelosi just did? For more than a year, she carefully balanced the wildly disparate interests of her caucus' various coalitions -- the progressives who demanded a 'robust' public option, the Blue Dogs who cared mainly about deficits, the pro-lifers who made abortion their make-or-break issue, and on and on. She gave away just enough to each group to keep reform alive -- without sacrificing her own bottom line of near-universal coverage."
In further appreciation of her abilities Konacki adds, "Since Obama's inauguration, Pelosi has racked up an impressive list of achievements. She pushed the stimulus bill through, then cap-and-trade, and now healthcare. And those are just the headline items. For a woman who supposedly hails from her party's left-wing fringe, she sure has a knack for winning over moderates when it matters."
However, her impressive successes have also made her a target of the wild-eyed ire not merely of the rightwing crazies but also of the Republican National Committee which has launched a website calling for the ouster of the Speaker. The aforementioned website of the RNC urges people to "Fire Pelosi…40 Seats Means No More Madam Speaker" and has a picture of Nancy Pelosi in flames! While a reader wrote to the Metro newspaper, "…Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi have perpetrated a sneak attack on the U.S. Constitution on March 21, 2010. This is a day which will live in infamy…"
These extreme reactions perhaps more than adequately articulate the measure of her success and triumph over those who would rather defend and protect the interests of the few as opposed to the interests of the majority. Also, now more than ever before both President Obama and the Democratic leadership as well as the more inclusive supporters of the reform policies of this administration realise how pivotal has been the role played by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in advancing the cause of essential reforms. In coming days her acumen will certainly be essential in passing the bill on reforming the immigration system, and in the process her mettle will be tested further.
Finally, however, this piece would not be complete without a few quotes from some Republicans and rightwing fanatics, which demonstrate both the silly and the sinister in their reactions. Rightwing radio commentator Rush Limbaugh said, among various other outrageous stuff, "We need to defeat these bastards, we need to throw them out." Senator John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, warned, "There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year." And though millions will be benefited from this law the Republican leader in the House of Representatives claimed that "the devastating consequences of this legislation will be felt in broken promises, higher costs, lost jobs and fewer freedoms," even though the facts fail to point in that direction.
Fazal Kamal fmk222@gmail.com