
President Obama called Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) from Air Force One today to tell the Republican that immigration reform was coming in a matter of weeks -- and to encourage Brown to get involved with the legislation.
Obama, who's been under pressure from reform advocates to act on immigration, urged Brown to consider legislation being proposed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Charles Schumer (D-NY). According to the Wall Street Journal, Obama told Brown Democrats would move forward with immigration reform in a month.
"Senator Brown told the president that he would review any legislation if it came before the Senate, but he believes that the immediate focus should be on fixing the economy and creating jobs," Brown spokesman Colin Reed told TPM.
As a state senator in Massachusetts, Brown co-sponsored a bill that required employers with state contracts to check that their workers had valid social security numbers.


dtOZONE
April 20, 2010 6:25 PM
Immmigration reform is going to be a disaster. It's going to do to the Democrats what NAFTA did to them in 1994.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Andreams
April 20, 2010 6:53 PM in reply to dtOZONE
Not to worry - it will get stalled in the senate just like everything else.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Ethan
April 20, 2010 7:00 PM in reply to dtOZONE
Um, what? This ain't NAFTA, it just creates an easy path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants here.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
dtOZONE
April 20, 2010 9:29 PM in reply to Ethan
Which is exactly why it's going to turn off like every demographic EXCEPT Latinos.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Lord Mike
April 20, 2010 8:34 PM in reply to dtOZONE
Yes and no. I know where you are coming from, DTO. It doesn't help in the Midwest and upstate New York, but it could be a lifesaver in the Southwest and CA. It could save several seats in the Senate and put McCain's seat in play. We could also win the Texas governorship.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
dtOZONE
April 20, 2010 9:33 PM in reply to Lord Mike
While losing like every other contested Senate seat and Democratic strongholds in the Midwest, rust Belt and Northeast.
Is that worth it? I mean we always have a pretty strong stranglehold on the Southwest and CA.
Also, the odds of it passing are slim to none and if it dies in Congress, that's not going to turn out Latinos and we'd just have turned off just about everyone else.
I'm totally in support of immigration reform, I was totally in suppotr of it when Bush proposed it, but I'm realistic...illegal immigrants are whipping boys in time of high unemployment, this is just asking for trouble. Do this when the economy improves.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ru4862
April 20, 2010 9:08 PM in reply to dtOZONE
dtoOZONE,
Don't be a cynic. Seriously.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
MCHowdy
April 20, 2010 6:30 PM
Obama playing Brown like a fiddle. Sorry, but Brown, my senator, is just not big league material.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
chameleon
April 21, 2010 9:31 AM in reply to MCHowdy
Wow, that's an understatement This guy doesn't even have a clue what's going on in Washington. He's already started distorting facts. He was pitiful on Face The Nation and when Bob Schieffer calls out a thug, you know you are in trouble. A reporter asked him recently about reform and he couldn't answer so he asked the reporter what do you think I should do - tell me and I'll take it under consideration.
This guy is a phony and a fraud and shame on the folks of Massachusetts who elected this guy .
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
roxsteady
April 20, 2010 7:00 PM
I don't believe he said that to the President. I think his spokesperson is full of shit. This sleazy little pin up is already past his prime. I'm sure Brown soiled himself when the President called him from Air Force One. This male version of Palin is really stupid. Oh, and Immigration reform will likely help the Dems smackdown the GOP in November because the teabaggers arent'the fastest growing group in the Unites States. That would be Hispanics!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
chameleon
April 20, 2010 8:06 PM in reply to roxsteady
Indeed,. I agree, Let's see the repukes' position on this one. They will lose the entire hispanic vote.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
dtOZONE
April 20, 2010 9:52 PM in reply to chameleon
and win everyone else. They've already lost almost all the Hispanic vote they're going to lose.
I mean not every Hispanic supports a path to citizenship.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
svrkevi
April 20, 2010 7:39 PM
Those two have a strange relationship..I bet people were hoping Scott would be Obama's least fav person, but doesnt seem to be that way.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
midnight rambler
April 20, 2010 9:25 PM in reply to svrkevi
I think Obama sees Brown as a gettable, pressurable vote because he's a) a freshman Republican in a deep blue state, b) relatively moderate, and most importantly, c) a fool. It's kind of like leading a little kid into a car with candy.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
truth > spin
April 20, 2010 8:07 PM
So all you above posters don't want Brown and Obama to work together? Who is hoping for failure now?
Come on people.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
dtOZONE
April 20, 2010 9:30 PM in reply to truth > spin
I would LOVE for Brown and Obama to work together, but that's up to Brown.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
truth > spin
April 20, 2010 10:35 PM in reply to dtOZONE
I'd say it's up to both of them. And it is up to the public on both sides too. Calling him a sell out from the right as soon as he talks with Democrats is clearly counterproductive, but so is calling him a party-line hack the moment he votes with his own party.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
dtOZONE
April 20, 2010 11:00 PM in reply to truth > spin
Well he is a party-line hack if he never even attempts to work with the President and comes out criticizing the moment a policy is first released. Clearly Obama wants to work with them, he has held up legislation for months, to the dismay of his own supporters, to do it. They won't reciporcate. After months of wanting to work with them, only to have them vote no and criticize, in Brown's case on a healthcare bill very close to what he voted for in his own state in the state legislation, that's being a party hack.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
truth > spin
April 21, 2010 4:27 PM in reply to dtOZONE
But of course Brown did work with the president on the jobs bill, but I understand that is an inconvenient matter.
And, as you no doubt know, he was sent to Washington largely on his pledge to oppose the HCR bill. Would you have him flip-flop on it?
I have no idea what he'll do on immigration. The nature of MA is that it takes in a large number of visa workers (H1Bs, H2As, etc.) for special workforce reasons. And there certainly isn't the illegal problem that the border states and NY face. So he may well go for something that the president proposes. But if he doesn't, he doesn't.
He can't be a no good hack when he agrees with you and at the same time a thoughtful centrist when he agrees.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
dtOZONE
April 21, 2010 8:28 PM in reply to truth > spin
A HCR bill similar to the one HE supported in Massachusetts. He, like all political hacks, saw a way to get elected an exploited it.
I'm glad he worked with the President on the jobs bill, would have been nice to not have him attack the President on financial reform the day Dodd released his bill (after working for months with a deal with Republicans). Remember "Shame on the President" from Brown.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
truth > spin
April 21, 2010 8:36 PM in reply to dtOZONE
There are plenty of policies that are good ideas at the state level, but which should not be adopted federally.
I don't know why Brown should conceded a media cycle if he opposes a bill. Would you expect the WH or the Dems to give Brown a full day without response when he did make his views know?
As it's turned out, a deal is going to be reached and everyone will get to support or oppose the bill.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
WillAct723
April 20, 2010 8:33 PM
I think everyone is just a little jaded due to the illusion of bi-partisanship that Republicans have created. We WANT to believe we can get something done that is meaningful, but all we've seen is road-blocking.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Rick Shreiner
April 20, 2010 10:57 PM
Does S. Brown not understand the correlation between immigration reform and jobs ?
How dense can a US Senator be ?
Why did he sponsor a bill requiring SS numbers to be checked by employers if jobs were not the issue?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
chameleon
April 21, 2010 9:33 AM in reply to Rick Shreiner
Just google his name in the news and you will find out how dunce this guy is. This guys is worse than a lightweight - he is a buffoon. He just happens to be nice looking which is how he probably got elected.
Shame on the people of Massachussetts. You need to kick his ass out in the next election
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Leftflank
April 21, 2010 12:44 AM
Maybe Barack should offer him pink hot pants or a few covers on Newsweek. Don't overcomplicate things with this guy.
T-shirts, trucks & tea-bags, that's Scott Brown's speed.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
chameleon
April 21, 2010 9:36 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/19/scott-brown-struggles-to_n_543177.html
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Brittanicus
April 21, 2010 1:03 PM
Illegal Immigration Tax-Dollar Drain
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) Lamar Smith is the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee.
Outside of the usual articles from Blogger's like myself and other opponents of illegal immigration, here is a very eye-opening correspondence by an insider of the Washington beltway. While others fudge the truth or downright lie or release rancid propaganda to the masses. Here are some bitter truths that this Representative from Texas is availing of the ugly truth of the calamitous situation sending us to a black bottomless pit of American bankruptcy.
President Obama and Congressional Democrats have been talking about giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Tax Day seems like a good time to examine the impact that such a policy would have on your wallet.
Start with education. Using the average annual American public school elementary and secondary education costs, the Federation for American Immigration Reform has estimated that the total cost of K-12 education for illegal immigrant minors and the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants is $28.6 billion a year.
Then there’s health care. If illegal immigrants are covered in the health care bill (there is not a strong verification mechanism to ensure they won’t get benefits), it would increase the bill’s costs between $10-$30 billion. Of course, it won’t matter if illegal immigrants receive amnesty since the new law requires health care coverage for everyone.
Social Security is another area of great concern. Claims by amnesty advocates that illegal immigration can “save” Social Security are false.
Last year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) ran the numbers at my request. Here’s what they found: For a single 25-year old male with very low earnings, today’s value of his and his employer’s contributions to the Trust Fund will fall $15,596 short of the value of the Social Security retirement benefits he will eventually receive. A single female will receive $20,936 more in benefits than she pays into Social Security. If the immigrant is married but the sole wage-earner, the couple will eventually drain the Trust Fund by $52,460; if the immigrant is married to another very low earner, the drain on the trust fund will be $39,037. The legalization of one million illegal immigrant couples who work for very low wages would be a $101 billion blow to taxpayers. And amnesty for all illegal immigrants would multiply this figure many times!
When it comes to taxes, amnesty supporters like to say that illegal immigrants will pay their “fair share” of taxes after being granted amnesty. This is deceptive.
Low-skilled workers often pay no taxes and receive a check from the Internal Revenue Service in the form of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Putting illegal immigrants on the IRS rolls will actually cost the federal government money.
Since most illegal immigrants have less than a high school education and have well below average incomes, even those illegal immigrants who pay taxes pay far less in taxes than they (and their families) consume in taxpayer-supported benefits. Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation found that the average immigrant household headed by an immigrant without a high school degree receives over $19,000 more in total government benefits each year than it pays in federal, state and local taxes!
But the impact goes far beyond these direct costs.
There are nearly 16 million Americans out of work, and about 8 million jobs are held by illegal immigrants. By simply enforcing immigration laws already on the books, we could create millions of job opportunities for American citizens and legal immigrants who played by the rules and entered the U.S. the right way.
Instead, the Obama administration has all but abandoned worksite enforcement efforts. Administrative arrests are down 87 percent; criminal arrests of employees are down 83 percent; criminal arrests of employers are down 73 percent; the number of criminal indictments are down 86 percent; and the number of criminal convictions is down 83 percent since 2008. This insults unemployed and underemployed American workers who need the jobs held by illegal immigrants.
The hit is on your wallet! Illegal immigrants are a fiscal drain on American taxpayers. And the Obama administration’s policies only make it worse.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Tosh
May 13, 2010 8:10 AM
Well he is a party-line hack if he never even attempts to work with the President and comes out criticizing the moment a policy is first released. Clearly Obama wants to work with them, he has held up legislation for months, to the dismay of his own supporters, to do it. They won't reciporcate. After months of wanting to work with them, only to have them vote no and criticize, in Brown's case on a healthcare bill very close to what he voted for in his own state in the state legislation, that's being a party hack.
jacket lovegra
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?