Reintroduction Of The DREAM Act-- And How DSCC "Great Recruit" Joe Donnelly Has Guaranteed It Will Fail In The Senate

[NOTE: I stumbled on this post accidentally this morning. It was scheduled to run last May but never did. In light of the post we looked at this afternoon about the Indiana Senate race, I thought I'd run it this evening.]

The DREAM Act itself isn't really partisan or even controversial. Last time it was polled it was supported by 66% of Americans and when it was last approved by the House (in December), it passed 216-198, 8 Republicans voting with the Democrats. 55 Senators-- from both parties-- supported passing it but a contingent of the worst of the Republican racists filibustered it and it couldn't come to a vote. This week Dick Durbin and Howard Berman reintroduced the bill which provides a path to conditional legal residency for an undocumented immigrant child if he or she:

·         Was 15 years old or younger when brought into America

·         Has lived in the United States for at least five years before enactment of the law

·         Is of good moral character

·         Has earned a high school degree or a graduate equivalent diploma

Eligible people would have six years to earn lawful permanent resident status if they:

·         Successfully complete two years of higher education, or

·         Complete two years of military service and received an honorable discharge if he or she is discharged

Yesterday, Steve Benen pointed to the shame of one of the Senate's supporters, Indiana Republican Dick Lugar. Lugar has changed his mind-- or lost his balls... or soul. As recently as March, Lugar, a co-sponsor of the legislation, was predicting it would pass this year. And then he wound up with a racist teabagger challenging him in the GOP primary. He also has one of the few Democrats to oppose DREAM, another racist, Joe Donnelly, running against him in the general. By recruiting and supporting Donnelly, the DSCC has guaranteed the failure of DREAM this year. But, ssshhhhhhh... they don't want Latino voters to know that. Benen doesn't look past the primaries and doesn't see the impact racist Blue Dogs Donnelly and Jim Matheson (UT), who also opposed DREAM and is probably going to run against DREAM supporter Orrin Hatch, are having in killing the bill's chance to win.




ADDENDUM, May 7, 2012: Matheson chickened out of running against Hatch, but Donnelly is running for Senate, either against Lugar or Mourdock, depending on who wins the Republican primary tomorrow. Lugar would be a show-in in the general election but Donnelly would have a chance against a deranged fascist like Mourdock. In any of these scenarios, though, Indiana will doom itself to backward, right-wing representation steeped ignorance and cowardice. Apparently, it's what most of them want.