Update: The DREAM Act: Estimating the Impact – Now There is a New Version
Michelle Malkin has the latest machinations in passing the DREAM Act.
I told you this morning that the Dems were cooking up a new version of the DREAM Act to lure squishy Republicans and fence-sitting Democrats.
Here it is in full. Note: There are now four versions of the bill on the legislative calendar. None have been reviewed in the Senate judiciary committee. Once again, the Dems are rushing to cram ill-conceived entitlements down Americans’ throats and subverting the deliberative process.
In this version, they’ve extended the conditional residency period from six to ten years to make the amnesty look more palatable (see Section 5). They also have added an obligatory health exclusion (which will no doubt be abandoned as soon as the DHS Secretary starts issuing “public-interest” waivers built into the legislation). The waiver authority has also been expanded in this version of the bill. This bill also expands what qualifies as an “educational institution.” Bottom line: They can tweak all they want, but this warped-priority political pay-off is still a reckless, tone-deaf down payment on a broader illegal alien amnesty at a time of near-double-digit unemployment and border chaos.
Read it all and download a pdf file here.
I understand (a rumor) that Democrat Senator Harry Reid is holding up CBO Scoring of the DREAM Act due to the fact it would cost taxpayers $20-30 Billion. In any case, with the GOP Caucus refusing to take up any matter until the Bush Tax Rates and the Continuing Resolution (to keep the government running) are disposed of, I doubt, with only 18 days reamining before the Christmas recess, the DREAM Act will be brought up for a vote.
But, I could be wrong and we should remain vigilant to melt the phones to assure the DREAM Act does not become law.