Ugh…

Perhaps the one bright spot is that a number of conservative Republican senators who support the bill have made statements suggesting that they want to give themselves “wiggle room” to vote against it if the Senate’s open-borders majority acts to make the legislation even more objectionable—a virtual certainty given the current composition of that chamber. Two of the worst ideas could be voted on as early as tomorrow. One, Senate Amendment 1183, introduced by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat; along with Sens. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican, and Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat; would perpetuate and expand the current destructive practice of “chain migration”—that is allowing someone who has already immigrated to the United States to bring many of his relatives into the United States—regardless of whether these people can support themselves. Senate Amendment 1194, introduced by Mr. Menendez along with Mrs. Clinton; Sen. Chris Dodd, Connecticut Democrat; and Sens. Barack Obama and Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrats; and Mr. Hagel would reduce the “backlog” of family-sponsored immigration applicants by increasing the number of green cards beyond the 600,000 additional ones agreed to by negotiators of the “compromise”—who included Mr. Menendez.

Do not be surprised if these amendments are accepted by Sen. Edward Kennedy—the Massachusetts Democrat whose fingerprints are all over the bill—and are rammed through the Senate. Then those Republicans who had thought they could vote with Messrs. Bush and Kennedy and spin their way out of trouble with their angry constituents by talking tough about “enforcement” will have an even more difficult political decision to make.

Personally, I’m not against increasing the number of green cards available for immigrants.  I’m not even sure that we should have immigration limits.  I say let ‘em all in as long as they can pass basic health and criminal background checks.

But chain migration?  Letting people in simply because they have a relative here with no consideration as to whether or not they plan to be productive once they get here?  No way.  Bad idea.

So why is this happening?  Because Bush has put conservative Republicans between a rock and a hard place, and Democrats are now leaning on that rock.  They’re pressing their advantage.  The know that Bush and his soft-conservative supporters are going to eat up anything they give them on illegal immigration, and that their support for all this amnesty nonsense is eroding their base.  So why not erode it even more?  The Democrats get to bully the Republicans, alienate them from their base all while doing exactly what their base wants.

It’s a win-win-win for them.