Sunday Morning "Talking Heads" Cheat Sheet

George Wenschhof

Expect discussion centered on the decision by President Obama to speak publicly on the Trayvon Martin decision.

Also, sure to be discussed will be the deal crafted in the senate to avoid Democrats moving on filibuster reform in return for  Republicans agreeing to up or down votes on President Obama's nominees.

The bankruptcy filling by the City of Detroit will be coverfed when Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder appears on CBS "Face The Nation" and Detroit mayor Dave Bing is a guest on ABC "This Week".

Senator John McCain (R-Az.), who is credited with negotiating the agreement, will appear on CNN "State of The Union".

Where immigration reform stands in the House will be covered when House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) appears on CBS "Face The Nation" and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calf.) appears on CNN "State of The Union".

The scheduled guests follow below.

NBC "Meet The Press" - in addition to a discussion on race with reps. Peter King (R-NY), Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) and Steve king (R-Iowa) , David Gregory talks to two members of the president’s inner circle - former Chief Speechwriter Jon Favreau and National Security Spokesman Tommy Vietor – on the challenges the Obama administration now faces at home and abroad.

CBS "Face The Nation" - House speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Gov. Rick Snyder (R)

Roundtable with The Wall Street Journal's Gerald Seib, Washington Post's David Ignatius, USA Today's Susan Page, TIME's Michael Scherer, PBS Newshour's Gwen Ifill and CBS News Political Director John Dickerson

ABC "This Week" - Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calf.)

Roundtable with former Obama White House Green Jobs Adviser and co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire” Van Jones; former Bush White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, a Fox News contributor and co-host of Fox News Channel’s “The Five”; ABC News’ Cokie Roberts; ABC News Political Analyst and Special Correspondent Matthew Dowd; ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl; and ABC News Senior Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas.

CNN "State of The Union" - Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-Calf.) and Cedric Richmond (D-La.)

Roundtable with New York Times columnist Charles Blow, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill and conservative commentator Crystal Wright.

Fox News Sunday - Dr. Ben Carson, Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr

Roundtable with Bill Kristol, Kirsten Powers, Scott Brown and Evan Bayh

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Obama Weekly Address

George Wenschhof



In this week’s address, President Obama said that two weeks ago, a large bipartisan majority in the Senate voted to pass commonsense immigration reform, which would add a big boost to our economy, strengthen Social Security, and modernize our legal immigration system to make it more consistent with our values. The President urges Congress to quickly take action to fix our broken immigration system and keep America strong for years to come.

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Obama Weekly Address

George Wenschhof



President Obama in his weekly address called for the public to encourage Congress to pass immigration reform.

President Obama on Saturday called for the public to encourage Congress to pass immigration reform as the Senate is poised to hold a key vote on the Gang of Eight bill this week.
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Obama Weekly Address

George Wenschhof



Obama says in his weekly address that the immigration reform bill would offer a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally provided they meet certain criteria, strengthen border security and generally "modernize" the nation's immigration system.

"That’s what immigration reform looks like. Smarter enforcement. A pathway to earned citizenship," Obama said. "Improvements to the legal immigration system. They’re all commonsense steps. They’ve got broad support – from Republicans and Democrats, CEOs and labor leaders, law enforcement and clergy. So there is no reason that Congress can’t work together to send a bill to my desk by the end of the summer.

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Pathway to Citizenship Should Include Community Service

George Wenschhof

Insistence on fines, payment of back taxes and a long waiting period by undocumented workers as part of a pathway to citizenship is a non starter and is why the last effort at immigration reform failed.

Instead, what is needed is a win-win scenario that would require an undocumented worker to provide a minimum of 2,000 hours in community service in the government/nonprofit sector over a four year period.

Upon registering and passing a background check, the undocumented worker would receive a temporary status allowing them to remain and work in the U.S. over a four year period, provided they perform a minimum of 10 hours of community service per week.

Local, state and federal government, along with nonprofits have been severely impacted by the economic downturn and a massive influx of an estimated 11 million workers contributing work a minimum of ten hours per week over the next four years at no cost would be a major plus and help to grow the U.S. out of the lingering sluggish economy.

The federal minimum wage, as of 2009, was $7.25 per hour.  So, doing the math, the value of 2,000 hours of community service would be a minimum of $14,500.  A much higher figure than is currently being discussed for a proposed fine.

The added plus would be the gain of taxes received from 11 million workers now paying taxes. This would significantly help to reduce the national debt.

It is encouraging to see the momentum build as President Obama and a bipartisan group of eight U.S. Senators came forward this week with proposals for comprehensive immigration reform.

Even, Republican leaders of Congress are grudgingly voicing support, due to the realization they received little support from Hispanic/Latino voters in the 2012 election, won easily by President Obama.

However, it is the forthcoming details that could still derail passage of a bill by Congress or result in a “more blow” than “go” bill.

The areas which need to be addressed in regard to illegal immigration are not difficult to identify.  An update of the current immigration procedures, securing borders, cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers and providing a reasonable pathway to citizenship is what is needed.

In 2007, Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Az.) worked together to propose the “Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007”.

It failed, in large part, due to the convoluted manner for an undocumented worker to obtain citizenship.

The bill called for an undocumented worker to pay a fine, return to their country and then pay thousands to be able to return to the United States, an onerous requirement which would have produced few “takers”.

Requiring a fine and/or payment of back taxes will never result in illegal immigrants coming forward and is an unreasonable demand.  They are here in the first place due to underemployment in their native countries and currently exist on low wages from undesirable jobs in America.

In addition to requiring a 2,000 hour community service component, learning the English language could be included, if necessary to win support of conservative members of Congress.  Of course, a background check would be conducted and any illegal immigrant with a criminal record would not be eligible for the program and be deported to their native country.

Securing the borders, updating immigration law, and severely cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers are the easier areas to reach agreement on, in a divided congress.

A community service component to earn a pathway to citizenship makes sense in so many ways and requiring an undocumented worker to apply within six months of the bill being passed to be eligible for the program would help ensure compliance in a timely fashion.

Let’s hope Congress seizes this opportunity to pass comprehensive immigration reform that will be successful. 

Now, is the time.

 

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Democratic News Chatter 4-9-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama starts off busy day with economic roundtable discussion - they will be discussing low interest rates and the roundtable discussion meeting in the Roosevelt room will include some homeowners who have recently refinanced their mortgages.

At 11:45 PM ET, the President joined by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Eric Shinseki will present a plan to improve the health care of veterans. Reuters.com has more here.

Later, Obama will meet with Treasury Secretary Robert Gates, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke and FDIC Chair Sheila Bair. They will be reviewing an update on the "stress test" of the 19 largest banks in the country. The reports are due the end of this month and will help measure the impact of recent government action and determine the need for addition moves by the government. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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Wells Fargo Bank revenue rises 16% in first quarter - in a report out today, a three billion profit was realized in the first three months of this year. J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., Citigroup and Bank of America will all be reporting their first quarter earnings within the next two weeks. CNN.com has more here.

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Immigration reform on the table for the President - many pundits felt with the economy being the number one issue, any discussion on immigration reform would be put off by the White House. Fortunately, they were wrong as the president intends to speak publicly on this contentious issue in May, followed by workshop over the summer. There is hope legislation could be introduced in the Fall of this year. Included in the discussion will be a path to citizenship. The NY Times has more here.

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Karl Rove op-ed attacks Obama - thank goodness the former White House Senior adviser to George W. Bush is no longer there. After eight years of fear mongering and attacks on individuals patriotism, Rove now writes op-eds for the Wall Street Journal. You can read his latest piece here.

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Absentee ballots being counted today in NY District 20 race - Republican Jim Tedisco holds a 17 vote lead over Democrat Scott Murphy. The Republican absentee ballots received are 3,111 and the Democratic absentee ballots number 2394. This would indicate an advantage to Tedisco. This district has a majority of Republican registered voters, but Obama won the district with 51% and Kirsten Hillibrand, a moderate Democrat had previously held the Congressional seat before being chosen to fill the vacant Hillary Clinton U.S. Senate seat. The absentee count can take some time as both campaigns can challenge ballots. You can read more here.

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