Dobbs: President and Senate allied with 'corporate supremacists'
By Lou Dobbs
Tuesday, June 13, 2006; Posted: 9:44 p.m. EDT (01:44 GMT)
Editor's note: Lou Dobbs' commentary appears every Wednesday on CNN.com.NEW YORK (CNN) -- The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are set to take action on legislation that could determine the financial and social fate of nearly every American for the next 20 years.
The Senate and House are scheduled to go into conference later this month to reconcile the significant differences between each chamber's so-called comprehensive immigration reform legislation. If President Bush, the Republican leadership of the Senate and Senate Democrats have their way, 11 million to 20 million illegal aliens will receive amnesty, and at least 60 million new immigrants will be allowed into the country over the next two decades.
In addition, the long-term fiscal impact of the Senate legislation will be around $50 billion per year in administrative, social and healthcare costs, according to Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation. The Congressional Budget Office has just released its own analysis of the legislation, and it concludes that nothing in the Senate bill will end the overwhelming torrent of illegal immigration.
It is far too early to tell whether the House of Representatives has the political will and courage to stand against the upper chamber of Congress and President Bush. If the House fails in its duty to represent the will of American citizens, our nation will be forever changed.
"The will of the people," Thomas Jefferson said, "is the only legitimate foundation of any government." But if President Bush and the Senate prevail, it will be a clear victory for corporate supremacists, advocacy groups and dominant special interests and a historical defeat for our middle-class working men and women and their families.
Our largest and least represented group of citizens in Washington cannot even be assured that our elected representatives in both the House and the Senate will pursue the national interest and secure our borders and ports. And that is a travesty. What is the will of the people? Ask any member of Congress who has returned from his or her district and there is no doubt their constituents demand border security and an end to illegal immigration.
In the last week, the Lou Dobbs Tonight broadcast commissioned a poll to gauge the will of the people on the issues of illegal immigration and border security. As far as I know, it is the most comprehensive national poll that has been conducted in decades on these issues. Polling company Opinion Research Corporation interviewed 1,031 adult Americans representing every region of the country and all walks of life.
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