Harry Reid Predicts Immigration Reform Will Pass...Must Include Protections For Same-Sex Families

[ProSense]

Harry Reid Predicts Immigration Reform Will Pass, Says It Must Include Protections For Same-Sex Families

By Igor Volsky

Senate Majority Leader Harry (D-NV) expressed support for including gay and lesbian families in comprehensive immigration reform, during an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, insisting that they should have the same protections as everyone else.

The United States is home to at least 28,500 same-sex couples in which one partner is a citizen and the other is not, but federal law does not recognize these relationships and prohibits gay and lesbian couples and their children from seeking visas on the basis of same-sex unions. The Obama administration’s framework would allow families to apply for visas on the basis of their permanent unions, while the bipartisan senate principles do not. Reid characterized the GOP resistance to including the equality amendment as an excuse to avoid supporting comprehensive reform:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (HOST): One of the other big issues, the President said he wants gay and lesbians to be able to have a family preference. Senator McCain has said we shouldn’t come up with legislation for what he calls social issues.

REID: If we have gay folks in this country who have children, or they come from some other place they should be protected just like any other child.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s the position the Republicans are saying that’s too heavy to lift.

REID: If they’re looking for an excuse not to support this legislation, this is another one, but the American people are past excuses. They want this legislation passed.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), one of the 8 bipartisan senators, has characterized equality for gay and lesbian families in immigration reform as a “red herring” and compared it to supporting tax payer funding for abortion services.

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http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/02/03/1533131/harry-reid-predicts-immigration-reform-will-pass-says-it-must-include-protections-for-same-sex-families/

You must know, Senator Reid.

This Is How Filibuster Reform Comes Back To Life

Brian Beutler

In the spirit of the bipartisan, but toothless rules reforms the Senate passed last week, Senate Minority Mitch McConnell and over 40 of his members are vowing to block confirmation of a permanent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director unless Democrats agree to pass legislation dramatically weakening the agency.

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For now, Richard Cordray remains CFPB director, thanks to a recess appointment. But that appointment expires at the end of the year, and could come to an end earlier thanks to the DC circuit court, which ruled that similar appointments to a different regulatory body were unconstitutional.

This is a real problem. Without a director, the CFPB loses a lot of its power. But the milquetoast rules reforms that passed last week give Harry Reid no parliamentary tools to pry the GOP off its position. Short of battling it out with Republicans in the public sphere and hoping they crack, President Obama will see one of his signature accomplishments neutered by what amounts to an ad hoc legislative line item veto…by a congressional minority.

Unless Reid decides to play hardball. The court decision, and McConnell’s renewed filibuster threat seem to have caught him by surprise somehow. But if at some point later this year it becomes clear Republicans will continue to block Cordray past the end of his recess appointment, Reid could in theory revisit the filibuster reform fight.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/this_is_how_filibuster_reform_comes_back_to_life.php

[rsmith6621]

1. Harry Reid........??

.........YAWN

I dont care anymore what he says, he will soon change his mind once his corporate handlers talk to him.

[LonePirate]

2. Those protections need to be included. Let the Republicans filibuster it at their peril.