Kyl, the lead conservative involved in the immigration negotiations, tried to spin it. “I think because of the influence that I and other conservatives brought to the table this time, the bill is far more conservative, more restrictive than the bill that passed last year,” he told CNN’s Lou Dobbs after the compromise was reached. That’s not saying much, especially since Kyl’s partner last year on immigration legislation, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), was among the first to criticize the compromise. Cornyn expressed hope that senators would have an opportunity to amend the bill once it reached the Senate floor. But with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) eager to pass it before senators leave town for their week-long Memorial Day vacation, conservatives face an uphill battle. That’s one reason 15 conservative senators began demanding last month that they have at least a week to review the bill before it’s brought up for debate. They also wanted it posted online in order to give the public an opportunity to critique and analyze it before a vote. Almost as bad as what’s in the 1,000-page bill is the way Reid plans to ram it through the Senate, skirting any semblance of meaningful debate in favor of political expediency. It begs the question: How fast does the average senator read, much less deliberate these days? |