Giving lawmakers added motivation on immigration

[ProSense]

Giving lawmakers added motivation on immigration

By Steve Benen

Shortly before he left for an eight-day vacation, President Obama hosted a White House press conference and fielded an interesting question about immigration. "Part of the political logic behind immigration reform was the strong showing by Latino voters last November," NPR's Scott Horsley said. "That doesn't seem to resonate with a lot of House Republicans who represent overwhelmingly white districts. What other political leverage can you bring to bear to help move a bill in the House?"

It was a fair question, based on an important premise: when it comes to persuading congressional Republicans, the first argument is electoral. GOP lawmakers need to hear why supporting an idea will generate more votes for them on Election Day. If that argument falls flat, the next argument should be ... well, it's not altogether clear what else congressional Republicans care about.

But if other considerations matter at all to GOP lawmakers, news like this should resonate.

The Senate's immigration bill would add nearly 14,000 new jobs on average in each congressional district over the next decade, according to a new report.

The new analysis is from the center-right American Action Network (AAN), which backs an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws. It's being distributed to lawmakers' offices as pro-reform groups seek to convince GOP congressmen to vote for immigration reform proposals this fall.

District-by-district data is available through this web tool. No district would see fewer than 7,000 jobs created by 2023, and an average of 13,992 new jobs would be created in each. The figures were compiled using data from a Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) study of economic data and new worker visas and a Congressional Budget Office report on the impact of the Senate bill.Remember, the report wasn't punished by Lefty Liberals for Liberalism; it was released by a center-right organization interested in helping Republican officials.

The larger point, of course, is that opponents of immigration reform really don't have any excuses -- and if they're looking for cover to justify a "yes" vote on a popular, bipartisan bill, they have plenty of it.

- more -

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/20/20105537-giving-lawmakers-added-motivation-on-immigration

[pampango]

1. The anti-"amnesty" tea party contingent in the House could not care less about 'studies'.

Their base has been trained to care about fear and emotion, not 'studies'.

Incidentally, the Centerfor American Progress reached the same conclusion with respect to overall job creation under the Senate version of immigration reform.

[ProSense]

2. Thanks for the link. n/t