‘I wanted was witnesses who agree with me, not disagree with me’

August 21, 2006

As a rule, I’ve been largely ignoring the immigration “field hearings” congressional Republicans have been hosting across the country this summer, in large part because they’re ultimately pointless. It gives some lawmakers a chance to rail against “amnesty,” rally the GOP base, and pressure the White House to accept an immigration bill favored by House Republicans. When it comes to newsworthy political theater, this doesn’t much qualify.

But this item in the WaPo leads to an important point.

Last week, House Republican field hearings in San Diego explored the societal and governmental costs of illegal immigrants’ use of health-care facilities and welfare. Another in Houston looked at “the criminal consequences of illegal immigration.” One near here, in Sierra Vista, examined the nation’s strained technical capacity to monitor “the efforts of terrorists and drug cartels” trying to “infiltrate American soil.”

At a field hearing Tuesday in Gainesville, Ga., Rep. Charles Whitlow Norwood Jr. (R-Ga.) brushed off complaints by those who wanted a more balanced witness list. “What I wanted was witnesses who agree with me, not disagree with me,” he told reporters.

Now, on a certain level, this is a classic Republican line. These “hearings” are supposed to be an exploration of the issue, aimed at better understanding what communities need, which policies work, and how best to shape legislation. Norwood, whose approach is far to the right of the White House, summarized GOP thinking in 2006 quite well: an appropriate hearing is one in which everyone thinks exactly the same way.

But Kevin Drum touches on an even more important point.

These aren’t “field hearings.” They’re campaign rallies. They should be paid for by the RNC, not the taxpayers.

That’s right, folks, we’re paying for Charlie Norwood and congressional Republicans to hold “official” hearings, in order take “testimony” exclusively from people who’ll tell them exactly what they want to hear, and nothing else.

Had enough?

Then the Republican’ts go back to Washington and say “I heard no one take a position against our bill.”

Republican’ts, can’t lead America for all Americans.

  • “The Fleecing of America: The Charlie Norwood Branch of the Fourth Reich.”

    This is why Republicans have no business discussing immigration. The next thing will be some sort of “test” to determine whether a potential immigrant will remain faithfully loyal to the Reich. If there’s the least bit a doubt—even a smidgen of a doubt—that the potential immigrant will ever vote anything other than “the right kind of Republican way,” then its back to wherever with them.”

    Charlie Norwood needs to have a brightly-colored US Flag tattooed on his forehead—and dropped in the mountains of Pakistan.

    From really high up.

    In broad daylight.

    The parachute is optional, by the way. They do, after all, cost money—and I’m not advocating giving the Taliban a perfectly good parachute….

  • We’ve all had more than enough. These “hearing” are no less political that the Regal Moron’s “town meetings” during the last campaign. Theft from the people to pad the campaign chests of those in power.

  • I can’t say I understand this one either. House Republicans swore they wouldn’t compromise on their harsh immigration bill before they left Washington. There’s a very slim chance the Senate will take up such a punitive bill this late in an election year. And even if it passes, Bush may just use the veto a second time. In the short-term, this drives a deeper wedge between Latino voters and the Republican Party.

    The damn thing has no chance of passing. Immigration reform has gone the way of the Dubai Ports deal. These “field hearings” just rile up the ignorant rednecks, who haven’t got the cash for meaningful campaign contributions anyway. That’s a lot wasted effort for nothing in return.

  • “the short-term, this drives a deeper wedge between Latino voters and the Republican Party.” – prm

    Short and long-Term as far as I can tell. The Republican’ts are trying to retain a majority in the house for two more years and risking losing any possibility of being a majority party.

    Not that the Unholy Alliance deserves to be a majority party.

  • Standard operating procedure for these guys.

    Stake out your position and then tailor the facts to substantiate it.

    Ideology over reality.

  • The NC Repubs are about to hold a similar gathering later this week at Sue Myrick’s office.

    So much for fiscal conservatism … does anyone remember whether the pre-’94 Dems, at their worst, ever held what amounted to campaign rallies at taxpayer expense?

  • Not that I condone the practice, but grandstanding/factitious Congressional “hearings” such as this have been going on at least since the dawn of electric media, esp. television. In the ’40s and ’50s, there was quite the roadshow of Congressional organized-crime hearings, much of which were essentially targeted at crushing labor movements.

  • I would not be quite so fast to go around saying that the GOP tactic on immigration won’t work.

    For the past three weeks now, we have been living the nightmare of every “minute man” out there. We live in a “diverse” neighborhood as regards social class an ethnicity, “lower-middle class/working class” probably defines it best.

    There is a pair of houses (on the same property) next door. A total of 9 bedrooms between them (and one doesn’t have either a kitchen or a bathroom, making it a “barracks” at best). After six months spent trying to sell this monstrosity after building that idiotic rear thing, the owner finally put it up for rent. I’m not sure exactly what moved in, other than they are either Mexican or Central American. At first I thought it was an extended family, but now am not so sure. This past weekend, the “Banda serenade” was a bit much to take. I went out and talked to the one guy there who spoke English, pointing out politely that everyone else in the neighborhood manages to play music without entertaining the whole neighborhood, and could they comply? Twenty minutes later, no change. I ask again and it turns out this person doesn’t live there, but is a visitor. Why don’t I come over and talk to the people in the back house?

    I do.

    A month before the rental was signed, we actually walked the property when it was vacant, and it was not a mess. When I went in, the only thing that wasn’t there was rusted-out pickup hulks on concrete blocks. Broken TVs, trash everywhere, I was careful where I walked in my sandals. The place is now a village, with enough cars one is glad there is room on the property for them to be parked all over what used to be gardens, since they’d take all the on-street parking otherwise. The Banda Serenade was coming from one of the cars, unoccupied, with the radio turned up to maximum. The woman who was cooking tortillas over an open fire by the rear house turned it off when I pointed at it, since we didn’t share a common language.

    I hate saying this, because it will sound racist, but the only words that describe this situation are “Tijuana colonia.” It looks like the favelas you see in south America! There are three storage sheds that have been brought in, and they’re not storing things there, they’re more “bedrooms.”

    This is, as I say, a nice quiet neighborhood. Nobody’s going to complain about people keeping their work implements around – the lots are deep and there are at least three movie technical people I know who have their work vehicles and equipment on their properties (which don’t look like slums).

    And then, of course, later there was the now-de rigeur statement made while I was taking out my trash for pickup that I was complaining because it’s Mexican music, since I must not like Mexicans. To which I replied that I dislike German oom-pah-pah music (which is what “Banda” is), whoever is playing it, when I can hear it in my house with the windows closed.

    This situation is not making me think of voting Republican, but it is the kind of thing that upsets enough people (and there are more than a few, as I have discovered when I take my walks around here), to where a political party making the kinds of points the Republicans are making would get support. And this is southern California, ground-zero for illegal immigration now for 26 years – I can only wonder what it’s like in places where the “culture shock” is even greater.

    For all of you, this thing is very easy to view dispassionately when it isn’t next door to you. Upper middle class and upper class Democrats (who probably hire more than a few of these people themselves since they “work cheap”) who don’t pay attention to what is happening in neighborhoods like mine are going to wake up and wonder where all the voters went if they’re not a bit more observant of the fact that maintaining control of a country’s borders is something all countries are supposed to do.

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