Macaca
07-23 07:32 PM
Reid's Anti-Reform Maneuvers (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/22/AR2007072200881.html?nav=hcmodule) By Robert D. Novak (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/robert+d.+novak/) Washington Post, July 23, 2007
When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid picked up his ball and went home after his staged all-night session last week, he saved from possible embarrassment one of the least regular members of his Democratic caucus: Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Reform Republican Tom Coburn had ready an amendment to the defense authorization bill removing Nelson's earmark funding a Nebraska-based company whose officials include Nelson's son. Such an effort became impossible when Reid pulled the bill.
That Reid's action had this effect was mere coincidence. He knew that Sen. Carl Levin's amendment to the defense bill mandating a troop withdrawal from Iraq would fall short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate, and Reid planned from the start to pull the bill after the all-night session, designed to satisfy antiwar zealots, was completed. But Reid is also working behind the scenes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to undermine earmark transparency and prevent open debate on spending proposals such as Nelson's.
These antics fit the continuing decline of the Senate, including an unwritten rules change requiring 60 votes to pass any meaningful bill. When I arrived on Capitol Hill 50 years ago, Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson (like Reid today) had a slim Democratic majority and faced a Republican president, but he was not burdened with the 60-vote rule. While Johnson did use chicanery, Reid resorts to brute force that shatters the Senate's facade of civilized discourse. Reid is plotting to strip anti-earmark transparency from the final version of ethics legislation passed by the Senate and House, with tacit support from Republican senators and the GOP leadership.
At stake is the fate of Coburn's "Reid amendment," previously passed by the Senate and so called because it would bar earmarks benefiting a senator's family members such as Reid's four lobbyist sons and son-in-law. Nelson's current $7.5 million earmark for software helps 21st Century Systems Inc. (21CSI), which employs the senator's son, Patrick Nelson, as its marketing director. The company gets 80 percent of its funds from federal grants, mostly through earmarks. With nine offices scattered among states represented by appropriators in Congress, the company has in recent years spent $1.1 million to lobby Congress and $160,000 in congressional campaign contributions. "As of April," the Omaha World-Herald reported, "only one piece of [the company's] software has been used -- to help guard a single Marine camp in Iraq -- and it was no longer in use."
In requesting the 21CSI earmark, Nelson did not disclose his son's employment. "There's no requirement that he disclose that," a Nelson spokesman told this column. "But frankly, in this case, we didn't disclose it because it's so public." An April 24 letter from Levin giving senators instructions on how to request an earmark made no mention of the "Reid amendment" that had been passed by the Senate three months earlier but that required only certification that no senator's spouse would benefit from an earmark. Inclusion of Nelson's son, however, would be required if the ethics bill provision passes.
When the defense authorization bill came up last week, Coburn prepared amendments to eliminate the Nelson earmark and the most notorious earmark pending in Congress: Democratic Rep. John Murtha's proposed $23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center in his Pennsylvania district. Reid's plan to satisfy antiwar activists with an all-night debate averted debate, for now, on those two earmarks.
Reid, the soft-spoken trial lawyer from Searchlight, Nev., has tended to suppress free expression in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body in his tumultuous 6 1/2 months as majority leader. Last week, he cut off an attempt by Sen. Arlen Specter, the veteran moderate Republican, to respond to him with an abruptness that I had not witnessed in a half-century of Senate watching. When Specter finally got the floor, he declared: "Nothing is done here until the majority leader decides to exercise his power to keep the Senate in all night on a meaningless, insulting session. . . . Last night's performance made us the laughingstock of the world." It may get worse if plans to eviscerate ethics legislation are pursued.
When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid picked up his ball and went home after his staged all-night session last week, he saved from possible embarrassment one of the least regular members of his Democratic caucus: Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Reform Republican Tom Coburn had ready an amendment to the defense authorization bill removing Nelson's earmark funding a Nebraska-based company whose officials include Nelson's son. Such an effort became impossible when Reid pulled the bill.
That Reid's action had this effect was mere coincidence. He knew that Sen. Carl Levin's amendment to the defense bill mandating a troop withdrawal from Iraq would fall short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate, and Reid planned from the start to pull the bill after the all-night session, designed to satisfy antiwar zealots, was completed. But Reid is also working behind the scenes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to undermine earmark transparency and prevent open debate on spending proposals such as Nelson's.
These antics fit the continuing decline of the Senate, including an unwritten rules change requiring 60 votes to pass any meaningful bill. When I arrived on Capitol Hill 50 years ago, Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson (like Reid today) had a slim Democratic majority and faced a Republican president, but he was not burdened with the 60-vote rule. While Johnson did use chicanery, Reid resorts to brute force that shatters the Senate's facade of civilized discourse. Reid is plotting to strip anti-earmark transparency from the final version of ethics legislation passed by the Senate and House, with tacit support from Republican senators and the GOP leadership.
At stake is the fate of Coburn's "Reid amendment," previously passed by the Senate and so called because it would bar earmarks benefiting a senator's family members such as Reid's four lobbyist sons and son-in-law. Nelson's current $7.5 million earmark for software helps 21st Century Systems Inc. (21CSI), which employs the senator's son, Patrick Nelson, as its marketing director. The company gets 80 percent of its funds from federal grants, mostly through earmarks. With nine offices scattered among states represented by appropriators in Congress, the company has in recent years spent $1.1 million to lobby Congress and $160,000 in congressional campaign contributions. "As of April," the Omaha World-Herald reported, "only one piece of [the company's] software has been used -- to help guard a single Marine camp in Iraq -- and it was no longer in use."
In requesting the 21CSI earmark, Nelson did not disclose his son's employment. "There's no requirement that he disclose that," a Nelson spokesman told this column. "But frankly, in this case, we didn't disclose it because it's so public." An April 24 letter from Levin giving senators instructions on how to request an earmark made no mention of the "Reid amendment" that had been passed by the Senate three months earlier but that required only certification that no senator's spouse would benefit from an earmark. Inclusion of Nelson's son, however, would be required if the ethics bill provision passes.
When the defense authorization bill came up last week, Coburn prepared amendments to eliminate the Nelson earmark and the most notorious earmark pending in Congress: Democratic Rep. John Murtha's proposed $23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center in his Pennsylvania district. Reid's plan to satisfy antiwar activists with an all-night debate averted debate, for now, on those two earmarks.
Reid, the soft-spoken trial lawyer from Searchlight, Nev., has tended to suppress free expression in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body in his tumultuous 6 1/2 months as majority leader. Last week, he cut off an attempt by Sen. Arlen Specter, the veteran moderate Republican, to respond to him with an abruptness that I had not witnessed in a half-century of Senate watching. When Specter finally got the floor, he declared: "Nothing is done here until the majority leader decides to exercise his power to keep the Senate in all night on a meaningless, insulting session. . . . Last night's performance made us the laughingstock of the world." It may get worse if plans to eviscerate ethics legislation are pursued.
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go_guy123
02-15 01:23 PM
Remember, the worse the grade, the more we love 'em. And where's Jeb Bush? He'd definitely get a D-. Thanks NUSA for making it easy for the pro-immigration folks as well.
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2011/02/numbers-usa-grades-2012-presidential-hopefuls.html)
Jeb Bush D-...pro immigrant. I do see Jeb Bush or his son making a presidencial run in future. But they will only be for the CIR folks.
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2011/02/numbers-usa-grades-2012-presidential-hopefuls.html)
Jeb Bush D-...pro immigrant. I do see Jeb Bush or his son making a presidencial run in future. But they will only be for the CIR folks.
reddymjm
03-12 08:23 AM
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?p=325844 to make IV a stronger case...
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theshiningsun
02-12 07:20 PM
thx aruben.
more...
ashpoor
05-20 11:25 AM
Hi
I want to transfer my H1-b from a consultant company to a non-profilt organization which is offering me a full time job. I haven't resigned my job at consultant company yet. The LCA process is going on with new non-profilt organisation and then they are going to apply for H-1B petition soon. I am worried if the consultant company will cancel my visa as soon as I resign and that would cause issues for the H-1b transfer. Please advice when is it safe time to resign and start my new job.
I want to transfer my H1-b from a consultant company to a non-profilt organization which is offering me a full time job. I haven't resigned my job at consultant company yet. The LCA process is going on with new non-profilt organisation and then they are going to apply for H-1B petition soon. I am worried if the consultant company will cancel my visa as soon as I resign and that would cause issues for the H-1b transfer. Please advice when is it safe time to resign and start my new job.
vaccine
02-07 09:13 AM
Chicago to Delhi
yes we came back on new year and flight was very good, nice food and staff was really cooperative. At POE it took us 2 min to get out of immigration and custom check. Officers were polite and nice. We both used AP and no questions were asked. I would highly recommond this flight.
yes we came back on new year and flight was very good, nice food and staff was really cooperative. At POE it took us 2 min to get out of immigration and custom check. Officers were polite and nice. We both used AP and no questions were asked. I would highly recommond this flight.
more...
Blog Feeds
05-14 01:50 PM
USCIS has announced that for the third week in a row, the H-1B count sits at 45,000 out of 65,000 used. I presume this means that just a few hundred cases are being processed per week which is simply remarkable when you consider that there has been a lottery for H-1B numbers for the past two years. In my view, this is solid evidence that H-1B workers are not cheaper than their American counterparts. When one factors in the government fees, lawyer costs, travel expenses, etc. and the fact that employers are required to pay the prevailing wage for a...
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2009/05/h-1b-visas-barely-getting-used.html)
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2009/05/h-1b-visas-barely-getting-used.html)
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Blog Feeds
08-28 07:50 AM
This is a detail from the June USCIS Ombudsman report I hadn't noticed before, but a BusinessWeek report this week highlights that fact. We immigration lawyers have sensed that this was the case, of course. We regularly warn clients now to simply expect them even if the case is air tight. Businessweek reports The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service says no crackdown is afoot. 'We haven't changed the way that we do our business over the course of the past few years,' says agency spokesman Christopher Bentley. Of course, the statistics show otherwise. One very senior former USCIS confided in...
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2010/08/h-1b-requests-for-evidence-have-doubled-in-the-last-year.html)
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2010/08/h-1b-requests-for-evidence-have-doubled-in-the-last-year.html)
more...
gsrao18
12-06 06:48 PM
Anyone... please advice... I am really curious to know as I dont want to be stuck in India and will reconsider my travel plans if there is any issue.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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keshtwo
07-13 06:03 PM
Does the forum have IB4TL? in that case, here it is!
more...
chimmu
07-12 11:28 PM
folks, with a lot of effort I got to know the case number of my AEC filed during mid 2001 ( P2002-XXXXX ) (EB3 RIR)
my company did not respond to the NOF due to lack of hiring and layoff's in the company... and then their policy is not to share the case number with the employee...
a standard answer that 'the application will be denied and has been denied' is being given by the HR.
what all can I try to get the status of this application... I have tried to email info@dallas BEC address and they wanted more info and currently awaiting their reply..
what would be the result of such an application? when NOF has not been responded to...
if a case has been denied..will there not be any paperwork from the SWA that it has been denied? or can this case get remanded and go as a TR case (non RIR)?
if anybody has faced something similar let me know... thanks!
my company did not respond to the NOF due to lack of hiring and layoff's in the company... and then their policy is not to share the case number with the employee...
a standard answer that 'the application will be denied and has been denied' is being given by the HR.
what all can I try to get the status of this application... I have tried to email info@dallas BEC address and they wanted more info and currently awaiting their reply..
what would be the result of such an application? when NOF has not been responded to...
if a case has been denied..will there not be any paperwork from the SWA that it has been denied? or can this case get remanded and go as a TR case (non RIR)?
if anybody has faced something similar let me know... thanks!
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helcrase
11-16 05:10 PM
Hi All,
I have applied for H1b to F1 visa transfer with an i-20 from a university for the Spring of 2010.
Now, I received an admission from a better university for the same term (Spirng 2010) and I wish to join the Second University.
Could you please tell me the procedure to join second university.
1. Can I let the H1-F1 visa transfe (first university) go through and then apply for change of university or something ? If so, can some one outline the procedure for transfer of university (I am worried about the time it takes for the transfer of university for me to join for Spring 2010).
2. Is it possible to change the transfer application with i-20 and appropriate financial documentation ?
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
hel
I have applied for H1b to F1 visa transfer with an i-20 from a university for the Spring of 2010.
Now, I received an admission from a better university for the same term (Spirng 2010) and I wish to join the Second University.
Could you please tell me the procedure to join second university.
1. Can I let the H1-F1 visa transfe (first university) go through and then apply for change of university or something ? If so, can some one outline the procedure for transfer of university (I am worried about the time it takes for the transfer of university for me to join for Spring 2010).
2. Is it possible to change the transfer application with i-20 and appropriate financial documentation ?
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
hel
more...
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Guy786
06-10 10:28 PM
My I-485 is pending with EB3 Feb 2006 priority date. Invoked AC21 and currently working for a different employer. Have Masters degree and 9+ years of experience.
Is there a way to re-apply for Green Card under EB2 category thru a 3rd employer and retain the old EB3 priority date?
Thanks in advance.
Is there a way to re-apply for Green Card under EB2 category thru a 3rd employer and retain the old EB3 priority date?
Thanks in advance.
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Ramba
05-15 03:47 PM
Thanks for polling. If more people vote, we can analyze how the impact of june visa bullition. Also, we can probabaly estimate how the july and aug visa bulliton will be.
more...
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anuh1
12-28 04:28 PM
Thank You for the valuable information.
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rskanth
07-05 03:14 PM
Yes, the AP is valid for one year and for as many visits as you want. Same thing happened with me. You can travel again with the stamped AP.
more...
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pscdk
01-20 08:35 PM
This is only for TSC...Hope they create similar intiative with NSC too.
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good idea
01-16 12:43 PM
Hi,
I am EB3 candidate, with estimate to get GC in 2032. Since Visa recapture bill is not on table. And is part of Immigration Reform Bill (part of reform for illegal people); considering fact that Health Care opposition, election year, 10% unemployment & other unknown factors; I do not see any hope of changing law for employment base (no hope for visa recapture).
Do seniors or admin team see any hope for EB3 candidate?
:confused:
take care.
I am EB3 candidate, with estimate to get GC in 2032. Since Visa recapture bill is not on table. And is part of Immigration Reform Bill (part of reform for illegal people); considering fact that Health Care opposition, election year, 10% unemployment & other unknown factors; I do not see any hope of changing law for employment base (no hope for visa recapture).
Do seniors or admin team see any hope for EB3 candidate?
:confused:
take care.
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Blog Feeds
09-11 12:00 PM
There has been an interesting alliance of antis in both the health care and immigration arenas to scare people in to believing that illegally present immigrants will be eligible for subsidies to secure health insurance under the health care reform proposal being pushed by President Obama. That claim is patently false. But that did not stop one extremist in the Congress, Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) from screaming "You lie!" when President Obama addressed that myth. This appalling lack of respect has already led the GOP to go in to damage control mode and Wilson issued an apology within minutes of...
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2009/09/president-heckled-by-gop-congressman-over-bogus-claim-that-illegally-present-immigrants-will-be-cove.html)
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2009/09/president-heckled-by-gop-congressman-over-bogus-claim-that-illegally-present-immigrants-will-be-cove.html)
pd_recapturing
04-22 04:39 PM
This is what, I saw on Ron's forum. We would need to continue what IV has been suggesting since long .....
Can USCIS be sued for picking files in random ( the only time they budge is when a federal judge put an order ).
Ron Gotcher: Anyone can be sued for anything. In the absence of a large, well funded group of plaintiffs, however, I don't see this kind of suit going anywhere. For now, the remedy is Congress. Organize a group to initiate a letter writing campaign to Congress. Write to your own Congressman, your two Senators, and the chairs of the Senate (Kennedy) and House (Loftgren) immigration sub-committees. Get the facts straight and offer as much emprical evidence as possible. If Congress were to receive 100,000 such letters, they would definitely do something about this problem.
Can USCIS be sued for picking files in random ( the only time they budge is when a federal judge put an order ).
Ron Gotcher: Anyone can be sued for anything. In the absence of a large, well funded group of plaintiffs, however, I don't see this kind of suit going anywhere. For now, the remedy is Congress. Organize a group to initiate a letter writing campaign to Congress. Write to your own Congressman, your two Senators, and the chairs of the Senate (Kennedy) and House (Loftgren) immigration sub-committees. Get the facts straight and offer as much emprical evidence as possible. If Congress were to receive 100,000 such letters, they would definitely do something about this problem.
baskarvarun
05-24 04:02 PM
i am having cid visa i came usa 18 month ago i went my country dec11 - 2006 i come back u,s jan 20 can i able to apply for z visa my status - illegal
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