Obama wants Dream Act passed during lame duck session

Politico: President Barack Obama told Democratic members of Congress Tuesday he wants the DREAM Act passed in the lame duck session as a “down payment” on substantial immigration reform, according to members at the meeting.

And, he said, he’d call resistant senators to get them on board.

The president told Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Reps. Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) in a meeting at the White House that he would call members holding out on approving the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants who complete two years of college or military service. […]

In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week she plans to bring the measure to the floor before the end of the year. [MORE]

Everyone knows that the Dream Act is basically backdoor amnesty.  I think we can pretty much assume from this that Obama has no intention of doing a pivot like Bill Clinton.  With 23 Democrat senators up for reelection in 2012, I am not sure how successful Obama will be getting this passed. 

The Dream Act’s passage or failure will reveal just how much faith Democrats still have in Obama.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Politico

Harry Reid’s lame attempt to pass The Dream Act and repeal DADT

Yesterday, Harry Reid’s silly political theater fell flat on the Senate floor. Reid had attempted to piggy back a small piece of amnesty called The Dream Act and the repeal of Don’t, Ask Don’t Tell on a defense authorization bill.  The bill was defeated 56-43.

Politico has a story up today saying how both illegal immigration supporters and gay rights activists are now unhappy with how Reid handled the two issues.  Some are accusing Reid of bringing up the two issues to help with is floundering reelection campaign in Nevada.

To me, it looks like Reid is playing with yesterday’s playbook.  The ploy of amending important and necessary legislation with partisan issues is an old one used by both the right and the left.  However, after the way ObamaCare was handled, the public now sees these old ploys as more dirty backroom dealing.  In the end, I don’t think Reid will get the desired effect he wanted (getting Republicans to vote against defense spending and then using that to bash them as not supporting the troops). I think he did more to zap the enthusiasm from his own base as both The Dream Act and DADT may have to wait for the next congress.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Politico

Via: The Hill