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It's clear that Rep. Steve King is no fan of immigration reform, or amnesty as he calls it. It's also clear that he and other wingnuts in congress should be really leery of using foreign concepts to them such as "statistical analysis" when they're speaking, as evidenced by the bewildered expressions in the room to King's theory.

via The Hill

The Iowa Republican said immigrants that Ronald Reagan legalized by signing a 1986 "amnesty" bill were responsible for Obama's election.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said Thursday that President Obama would not be president if it weren't for the 1986 amnesty bill that Ronald Reagan signed into law.

King is a leading GOP critic of efforts to pass an immigration reform bill, and has often said on the House floor that Republicans are overreacting to the 2012 election, which some Republicans saw as a sign that the GOP needs to get behind a reform bill.

In an effort to dissuade Republicans, King argued that the 1986 immigration bill that Reagan signed into law is estimated to have brought amnesty to three million illegal immigrants.

He said conservative estimates show that, on average, each of these people brought in five others, leading to 15 million more people in the country, most of whom voted for Obama.

"[T]hey have to admit that Ronald Reagan's signature on the '86 amnesty act brought about Barack Obama's election," King concluded on the House floor.

"[I]t's clear to anybody that can do any kind of statistical analysis that Barack Obama wouldn't be President of the United States without Ronald Reagan's 1986 amnesty act."

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Stephen Colbert took on the Heritage Foundation and Jason Richwine, the author of their racist so-called "immigration study" -- which made the claim that "the average IQ of immigrants in the United States is substantially lower than that of the white native population, and the difference is likely to persist over several generations" -- as only he can on his show this Tuesday evening.

As Stephen noted, Heritage is attempting to put some distance between themselves and Richwine now that he's resigned. Case in point being their VP of communications, Mike Gonzales, who put up a blog post stating:

Dr. Richwine did not shape the methodology or the policy recommendations in the Heritage paper... The dissertation was written while Dr. Richwine was a student at Harvard, supervised and approved by a committee of respected scholars... Its findings do not reflect the positions of The Heritage Foundation or the conclusions of our study...

Colbert wrapped things up by explaining how they're attempting to have it both ways with that ridiculous statement:

COLBERT: Now, Heritage is saying they find no credence in Richwine's dissertation, which they are careful to point out was "supervised and approved by respected scholars" at Harvard. In other words, Richwine's paper, which says that today's Hispanic immigrants have low IQs and will for several generations, dooming them to failure is reprehensible.

And had no influence on this paper, co-written by the same guy, which says Hispanic immigrants are a burdensome underclass and will be for several generations, because they're doomed to failure.

Because this one is based on hard numbers, unlike this one, which is an offensive screed with no credibility, approved by Harvard, so it must be pretty good.

These two papers are totally different. It's like apple pickers and orange pickers... which by the way, we desperately need.

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Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint on Monday said that he opposed a bipartisan plan for comprehensive immigration reform because "unlawful immigrants" could live "another 50 years" and take advantage of government benefits that they earned by paying taxes.

At a press conference on Monday, the Heritage Foundation released a report that claimed the immigration reform bill offered by the "Gang of Eight" senators would cost Americans $6.3 trillion.

"The number over the 50-year lifespan of an amnesty for unlawful immigrants, it's $6.3 trillion to the American taxpayer," DeMint told Fox News host Martha MacCallum prior to the press conference. "And we know over time that this is going to increase more debt, increase taxes. That has a depressing effect on our economy. And we know that unlawful immigrants -- once that they have amnesty -- are going to replace the jobs of many Americans and depress their salaries."

"So there is no way you can look at this and conclude that it's good for the American taxpayer, and that includes immigrants who are here lawfully."

MacCallum noted that most benefits would not be available to immigrants for 13 years under the proposed plan.

"I'll believe that when I see it," the former South Carolina senator quipped. "Even if they follow through, unlawful immigrants are already receiving many benefits. A lot of their children are legal American citizens, whether its public education or Medicaid. But if you just look at a 13-year window when the life expectancy of unlawful immigrants goes another 50 years and once they get on Social Security and Medicare -- I mean, the average cost of an unlawful immigrant is hundreds of thousands of dollars."

DeMint added that he was all for immigration reform as long as "lower-skilled, less-educated" immigrants were excluded from the plan.

"In 1960, the average immigrant had about the same education and skill level of an American citizen. Today, immigrants have -- they're four times less likely to even have a high school diploma. And now with all of our welfare benefits, the arithmetic for immigration is totally different."

(h/t: Twitter/@igorvolsky)

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who calls himself a "proud wacko bird," told CBS News that President Barack Obama was plotting to make immigration reform fail so that Democrats could campaign on it in 2014 and 2016.

In an interview that aired on Wednesday, Cruz explained to CBS reporter Jan Crawford that Obama was playing a political game on Republicans by pushing a path to citizenship as a part of comprehensive immigration reform.

"President Obama does not want an immigration bill to pass," he stated confidently. "I think the president wants to campaign on immigration reform in 2014 and 2016. And I think the reason the White House is insisting on a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is because the White House knows that insisting on that is very likely to scuttle the bill."

Crawford pressed Cruz one what he would do with the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants who were already living in the United States.

"I think there could probably could be a compromise on that if a path to citizenship was taken off the table," he insisted.

Earlier this year, fellow Republican Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), one of eight senators helping to craft the immigration reform proposal, called Cruz a "wacko bird" for filibustering the nomination of CIA Director John Brennan over the administration's use of drones.

"If standing for liberty and standing for the Constitution makes you a wacko bird then I am a very, very proud wacko bird," Cruz quipped to Crawford.

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Republican Michigan Congresswoman Candice Miller this week criticized the Obama administration for failing to provide better border security, insisting that it was "not rocket scientry."

A bipartisan group of senators known as the "Gang of Eight" -- led by Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) -- announced Tuesday a comprehensive immigration reform bill that was expected to include a 13-year pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and $5.5 billion in increased spending on border security over 10 years.

Although the bill would reportedly require border security operations to be fully functional before any of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants could apply for permanent residency or citizenship, many conservative Republicans say the bill doesn't go far enough.

In a Tuesday segment on NPR's Morning Edition, several Republican lawmakers said that they flatly opposed comprehensive immigration reform at this time.

"My position would be if you're serious about securing the border, go secure it and then come back and talk to us," Rep. Steve King (R-IA) quipped.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said that some conservatives could be using concerns about the border as an excuse to perpetually oppose reform.

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From ABC's This Week, Sen. Jeff Sessions was happy to do a little fearmongering over the effect of more legal immigration on our economy and cites a flawed study from a right-wing anti-immigration group while doing it. Republican Senator Blatantly Lies and Claims More Legal Immigration Is Bad for the Economy :

The conflict within the Republican Party on immigration was fully exposed when Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) made the opposite point on Fox News Sunday, “When with we reform our legal immigration system, we get these people that are already here now paying their taxes and not taking anything out of the system, this will be a net positive for the country economically now and in the future.”

Rubio was making the argument to his fellow Republicans that they can get something for nothing by increasing legal immigration, but both liberal and conservative analysts agree that adding more legal immigrants will be good for the economy.

Sen. Sessions was relying on a paper from the anti-immigrant Center For Immigration Studies (CIS). The right wing group arrived at their conclusion that immigration reform would have a net negative impact by not counting the 11 million immigrants that already illegally in the country.

Republicans like Jeff Sessions are preaching to a vanishing choir. Read on...

As Sen. Chuck Schumer rightfully explained during the segment, what's driving down wages are those working in the shadows right now. Republicans like Sessions don't want a path to legalization for these immigrants because they don't want them voting and they like the cheap labor for business. I don't pretend to know what the legislation is going to look like that comes out of the Senate this week, but I do have no doubt that whatever their starting point is, Republicans will do their part to muck up the works and make it worse.

Full transcript below the fold.

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It looks like the Anchor Baby isn't too happy with Republicans like Lindsey Graham for working with Senate Democrats on the immigration bill he was touting over the weekend. Michelle Malkin and her ilk seem determined to make sure that the GOP ends up as popular with Hispanic voters as they are with African Americans right now.

From the Fox News Insider site: Michelle Malkin Calls Out Republicans for Supporting “Shamnesty” Immigration Bill:

On Your World this afternoon, Michelle Malkin called out “deluded” Republicans for joining with Democrats to craft legislation that she equates to amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country.

“There are many self-deluded Republicans who feel that this kind of ‘shamnesty’ is a salvation for a party that is in shambles. [...] At the same time that they are talking out of one side of their mouth to grassroots conservatives and people of all political persuasions who believe that it is the government’s constitutionally-mandated role to secure the borders,” said Malkin, referring to a TownHall.com report indicating that border crossings are rapidly increasing since talks on an immigration deal began recently.

Good luck with that "minority outreach" program of yours, Republicans!

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Despite Sen. Lindsey Graham's optimism regarding a deal on immigration being passed by Congress, now that labor and the Chamber of Commerce have resolved a dispute over a low-skilled worker program, I'll believe they're going to get something done when I see the House actually vote for it.

Graham: Immigration reform deal could be ‘rolled out next week’:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C), one of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” senators working on an immigration-reform bill, said Sunday the group had agreed on a deal to be unveiled soon and that he was confident the bill would eventually be signed into law by President Obama.

“We’ve got a deal,” said Graham on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “2013 I hope will be the year we pass bipartisan immigration reform, signed into law.”

Graham said lawmakers still needed to finish writing the legislation.

“It has to be drafted, it will be rolled out next week,” he said.

The bipartisan group first unveiled their framework in January and has been negotiating over the details, including a path to citizenship and tougher border security measures.

There is growing momentum on Capitol Hill to pass immigration reform this year, with a bipartisan House group also working on unveiling their own proposal, which has already secured the general support of leaders from both parties. [...]

“I believe it will pass the House because it secures our borders and controls who gets a job,” Graham said Sunday of the forthcoming Senate plan. “I think it will pass both houses, we’re going to need the president’s support. I’m proud of the work product and look forward to rolling it out.” [...]

“Conceptually we have an agreement between business and labor and between ourselves,” Graham said. “As to the 11 million [existing illegal immigrants], they will have a pathway to citizenship but it will be earned, it will be long, it will be hard, but I think it is fair.”

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I don't know if Jeb Bush is going to run for president in 2016 or if he's just out there hawking his book, but if he is running, as Digby noted, it appears he's a little out of practice, or overrated to begin with, in part due to the contrast with his brother. If he is running, he's doing his best to give Mittens some competition in the flip-flopping department right out of the gate.

TPM's Benjy Sarlin has been keeping track for us here: TIMELINE: How Jeb Bush Pulled A 360 On Immigration Reform:

Jeb Bush completed a whirlwind one-week journey on immigration on Sunday, praising a Senate proposal to grant eventual citizenship for undocumented immigrants after attacking the idea in a newly released book he co-authored that was itself a reversal of his past position.

Bush’s experimental turn as a border hawk was so quick you could blink and miss it. Here’s a quick timeline of how the flip-flop-flip went down.

June 12, 2012
In an interview with Charlie Rose, Jeb Bush explains his support for eventual citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

“You have to deal with this issue. You can’t ignore it,” Bush said. “And so, either a path to citizenship, which I would support and that does put me probably out of the mainstream of most conservatives; Or a path to legalization, a path to residency of some kind, which now hopefully will become — I would accept that in a heartbeat as well if that’s the path to get us to where we need to be which is on a positive basis using immigration to create sustained growth.”

Go read the rest but here's more just from this Sunday where Bush was out there doing a full Ginsburg.

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Heaven forbid we're ever going to see John McCain admit that there might just be a problem with the nativist base of his party -- that they've been whipping hatred in for years now over the immigration issue -- that McCain found himself confronted with at his recent series of town hall meetings.

McCain ‘Proud’ Of Debate At Town Hall Meeting:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Sunday defended a confrontation with an angry voter at a town hall meeting over immigration reform, saying, "that's what town halls are supposed to be about -- that's why they're always packed."

"We don't screen anyone who comes to our town hall meetings," McCain said on CNN's "State of the Union." "Now I didn't believe that person was correct with his facts so I fired back at him. And people said, 'Good, that's what we want to hear, this is a debate we want to hear.' So I'm proud of that, and if anybody doesn't like it, then you don't have to come to the town hall meeting."

The tensions in McCain's town hall meeting provoked speculation about whether opposition from the conservative base of the GOP would make it impossible for lawmakers to reach a deal on immigration reform. McCain denied Sunday that this was the case.

She didn't ask him if he was also proud of calling one of his constituents a jerk or not.

Sadly no amount of bad behavior with holding up cabinet appointments out of spite or their fake Benghazi outrage is going to keep Senator Hothead from being given another appearance on the Sunday shows.