Thread: Greenspan to testify at Schumer's immigration hearing

Greenspan to testify at Schumer's immigration hearing
BY TOM BRUNE

9:33 PM EDT, April 22, 2009

WASHINGTON - In his debut as the Senate's point man on immigration, Sen. Charles Schumer announced Wednesday that his first hearing next week on "comprehensive immigration reform" will feature former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan to talk about its benefits to economic recovery.

Greenspan is one of at least six witnesses scheduled to testify April 30 about whether a sweeping immigration overhaul is possible this year, given the economy and Congress' focus on health care, energy and education.

"The big question: Can we get major immigration reform?" Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Wednesday. "I don't know. We're just at the beginning. It's too early to tell."

Schumer became chairman of the Senate immigration subcommittee after an ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) gave up the job to focus on revamping the health care system.

As subcommittee chair, Kennedy led unsuccessful efforts in recent years to pass a bill that included tougher immigration enforcement and a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented workers already here.

Schumer said he favors continuing with the same comprehensive approach, rather than piecemeal bills.

But some say it might be tough to sell a bill to the American people this year that lets undocumented immigrants remain working here while the financial meltdown throws millions of U.S. citizens out of work.

President Barack Obama raised hopes among immigrant advocates when he said a month ago he would keep his campaign vow to push for comprehensive reform this year.

Advocacy groups responded by gearing up. La Raza, for instance, Wednesday said it is organizing house parties to make phone calls to lawmakers between now and May 1.

But Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, who is an opponent of comprehensive reform, said, "I think there is going to be a lot of noise, but there isn't going to be a bill on the president's desk."

Douglas Rivlin of the National Immigration Forum and other advocates hailed Schumer's first immigration hearing.

"Nobody is talking about passing an immigration bill next week," he said. "You've got to start somewhere."

The most powerful argument could be that reform helps the economy by taking illegal workers from the shadows and making them pay taxes, estimated at $6.6 billion over a decade, said Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy at the Center for American Progress.

Greenspan is expected to make an argument along those lines. Also set to testify are a former Clinton immigration chief, a labor leader, a Hispanic advocate and a local police chief.

The immigration subcommittee's ranking Republican, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, also may invite witnesses, Schumer said Wednesday.

www.newsday.com

"WASHINGTON - In his debut as the Senate's point man on immigration, Sen. Charles Schumer announced Wednesday that his first hearing next week on "comprehensive immigration reform" will feature former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan to talk about its benefits to economic recovery. "



And what, praytell, would Alan Greenspan know about what is good for the US Economy? He is largely responsible for the present mess--with his lax lending policies precipitating an overheated real estate boom and the subsequent overcooled contraction.

http://congress.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/ ... migration/

April 22, 2009
Alan Greenspan talks…Immigration?
That’s right.

The former Fed Chairman, who once commanded the world’s ear when he uttered even one word, will travel to Capitol Hill next week not to talk about the economy (he’s done that), but to talk about comprehensive immigration reform.

The Obama Administration has not seemed anxious to deal with this political hot potato, at least not this year, but recently Congressional Democrats committed to trying, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, asking for a bill to be ready by September.

Greenspan will testify before the immigration subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, who took over this year from Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-MA, tireless champion of a comprehsive reform effort that put illegals on a path to citizenship.

It’s important, no doubt, in the midst of an economic crisis, that you prove why bringing in a whole new work force would not make a bad situation worse. Who better to talk about this than someone like Greenspan, asked one aide to the subcommittee.

A Schumer aide tells Fox that the new chairman wants to see if it’s even possible to do the reform this year. Greenspan has said he supports an increase in visas for highly-skilled workers.

Also appearing before the committee, a representative from the powerful union - SEIU (Service Employees International Union), which recently announced an agreement with a coalition of liberal groups to legalize the approximately 12 million illegals currently in the U.S. Among the principles agreed to, that temporary worker programs be improved but not expanded and not made permanent.

The subcommittee will also hear from a local sherrif, a pastor in Obama’s faith-based council, and a representative from the pro-immigrant group, National Council of La Raza (the former spokeswoman is now serving in the Obama Administration).

The fate of immigration reform seems doomed, at least for this year, despite the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, D-NV, being up for re-election in a state heavily populated by Hispanics. There are conservative Democrats, like Sen. Ben Nelson, D-NE, who still do not support it, so the votes just don’t add up, especially when anything difficult needs 60 votes for passage these days (Dems only have 58 seats).

This radioactive topic always lights the Republican fires, as well, a dangerous political weapon against Democrats, with most calling it “amnesty.â€

The most powerful argument could be that reform helps the economy by taking illegal workers from the shadows and making them pay taxes, estimated at $6.6 billion over a decade, said Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy at the Center for American Progress.

LOL! Meanwhile the IA's and thier anchors cost the state of CA alone 13 Billion PER year.

Gee, now THAT sounds like a fair trade!! :P

The subcommittee will also hear from a local sherrif, a pastor in Obama’s faith-based council, and a representative from the pro-immigrant group, National Council of La Raza (the former spokeswoman is now serving in the Obama Administration).

Sounds like a meeting stacked with pro-illegal alien advocates. No doubt the sheriff will speak on how enforcement builds distrust among the Hispanic community.

WASHINGTON - In his debut as the Senate's point man on immigration, Sen. Charles Schumer announced Wednesday that his first hearing next week on "comprehensive immigration reform" will feature former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan to talk about its benefits to economic recovery.

This is about par for the course, Greenspan's advice has already wrecked our economy. Schumer sure picked a good one to be an expert on the economy.

This is going to be a huge joke...going to be interesting to see just how much input this idiot allows from the opposing position.

Something tells me this is going to be one sided...and I would rather not have Cornyn on my side please, he is not a true Republican...we want Sessions, Vitter or DeMint inviting the other sides guests Please.

This is going to be a joke but then all of there hearing are

The illegal immigrants will stimulate the economy by taking out NEW subprime mortgages--even more houses will be built, creating a need for even more illegals to build the houses and apartments for those that are already here collecting paychecks froom the jobs they STOLE from Americans.
What kind of idiots are they that they expect us to be idiots too???

The insanity and lacl of knowledge when insisting that the illegals add to the economy is absolutely, incredibly STUPID. Why the next thing you know they will have a committee on why we should export more of our manufacturing to China.. Oh, they already did that????

If we open the borders to all countries of the world and allow 20 milion a year to come here--just imagine--we won't be able to keep up with the economiv demand--we will all be rich!!! Except those 30 or 40 million natural Americans who lose their jobs.

This is a major joke. How can these idiots possibly correct deficiencies in the immigration system when there are still thousands of immigrants a day illegally entering the U.S. In just this one essential category, the BORDER FENCE is not working because it is unfinished and in many parts a totally worthless row of concrete logs and barbed wire and with gaps the size of Connecticut.

See ALIPAC story by U.S. Rep Mike Coffman
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... c&t=153947

Contrary to recent statements from the Department of Homeland Security, the border fence is far from finished and the Border Patrol is still woefully short of manpower.

For this reason, I will soon introduce legislation to complete the border fence.

I looked at a 25-mile segment of the border between Naco and Douglas, Ariz., and the port-of-entry operations at Douglas. This region in southeast Arizona is considered "ground zero" of the border security problem. The Border Patrol catches an average of 900 people each day along the 262 miles of this sector, and more than 40 percent of all Border Patrol apprehensions occurred in this sector from 2005 to 2008.

While 65 percent of those apprehended are Mexican nationals, in 2007, 68,016 came from 150 other countries, including 4,297 from Cuba, 837 from China, and 156 from Middle Eastern countries such as Iran and Pakistan. In this Arizona sector in the first six months of this fiscal year, almost 5,000 people have been caught from countries other than Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security has not been honest in its public statements about the border fence. Beginning in January, DHS spokesmen have claimed that 670 miles of "tactical infrastructure" have been finished on the 1,950-mile border with Mexico. Even Fox News repeats that number regularly. But half of that "tactical infrastructure" consists of vehicle barriers, not fences to stop human trafficking. True border fencing to curtail people traffic can be found on only 375 miles of our border with Mexico — and none of that fencing exists on more than 100 miles of open public lands in Arizona managed by the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

I saw everything from an impressive 15-foot metal fence to a 4-foot system of metal rails meant to stop only vehicles. It's a patchwork system with many gaps; we can and must do better.