Gang of Eight Want NO Amendments
“All the members of the bipartisan ‘Gang of Eight’ pushing immigration reform in the U.S. Senate will band together to block any efforts by other senators to offer amendments to their legislation once it is introduced, the Washington Post reported on Sunday,” according to Breitbart.com.
“‘A bipartisan Senate group on immigration legislation is attempting to craft an agreement so secure that the eight members will oppose amendments to its core provisions, an arrangement that could delay the introduction of a bill, people familiar with the negotiations said,’ the Post’s David Nakamura wrote.
“In response to Nakamura’s article on Monday, Gang of Eight member Sen. Marco Rubio’s spokesman Alex Conant told Breitbart News that his description of the process being worked on is not correct.”
Would Immigration Raise GDP Growth?
“Conservative champions of opening the flow of legal immigration into the United States are invoking economics in hopes of winning Republican lawmakers’ support — specifically, the idea that more immigration will increase growth and cut the federal budget deficit,” the Washington Post writes.
“The American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, will release an analysis on Tuesday that projects that an overhaul of immigration laws could boost gross domestic product growth by a percentage point each year over the next decade. That growth would produce tax revenue that would reduce federal deficits by a combined $2.5 trillion, according to the group’s president, the economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin.”
“Other conservative groups say expanded immigration will hurt the economy and the budget. In a 2007 analysis, the Heritage Foundation think tank said an immigration bill that was pending at the time would cost the government $2.6 trillion over the long run — beginning in 25 to 30 years — because of an increased demand for social services, particularly retirement benefits.”
“‘If the net benefits taken by amnesty recipients and their families exceed the Social Security and other taxes paid,’ Heritage’s Robert Rector wrote in the analysis, ‘the amnesty recipients will undermine rather than strengthen the financial support for U.S. retirees, even before they reach retirement age themselves.'”
Timeline for Bill Slipping
“Under pressure from pro-immigration advocates, Schumer is pushing hard to finalize an immigration deal by the end of this week. But several Senate aides familiar with the talks said Monday that it’s far more likely that the group will announce its proposal next week at the earliest. Rubio alluded to the latter prospect in the private conference call Monday, saying he planned to read ‘every’ page of the comprehensive overhaul, meaning it may take a ‘few’ weeks until the legislation can be unveiled, the source said. A Rubio spokesman declined to comment,” Politico reports.