Delay on Immigration Bill: NOT Good

Another blogger seems to think that Hastert's procedural shenanigans are a good thing.

Ain't necessarily so.

Hastert has taken the very unusual step of subjecting the Senate Immigration bill to hearings BEFORE it goes to a joint Committee for work. It's entirely possible that this extra lap around the track will kill the bill this session or (at least) put off passage until late in the calendar year.

Here's an authoritative voice on the question:

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, echoed [Frist's] comments a day later, saying voters should be able to assess when they go to the ballot box in November how their lawmakers did on the issue.

Hastert is NOT an enthusiastic backer of the Sensenbrenner legislation--perhaps because the single largest EMPLOYER false-SSAN-filer is in Illinois. Hastert's sensibilities are "moderate," (which is to say that he likes some of the unpalatable elements in the Senate version.)

Let's get it to Joint Committee, clean it up, and VOTE.