Sunday, February 26, 2006

Denver to host 2008 Democratic convention? Western Democrat: "Wouldn't it be great to see our next Democratic presidential nominee (oh, I don't know, maybe Bill Richardson?) speaking at the national convention in Denver. National pundits talking about the fresh mountain air wafting from the Democrats, the wide open spaces before them... the toughness shown by delegates..." Political Wire: "Howard Dean's Democratic National Committee this week will formally solicit bids from cities eager to host the 2008 presidential convention August 25 to 28. We hear that the party would like it in the West or Southwest. Dean's unusually early announcement has irked the GOP, and there are rumors that the Republicans might try to spoil the Democratic event by choosing the same dates. But Republicans insist that's unlikely." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 9:19:30 AM

Immigration Here's an article from today's Denver Post about U.S. Senator Arlen Specter's proposed immigration bill. From the article, "In a draft bill that runs more than 300 pages, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., called for the creation of a guest-worker program that would temporarily legalize the status of millions of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. "Bush has said a guest-worker program is needed to ensure a supply of workers for jobs that Americans will not take. "Specter's plan includes tough law enforcement and border- security measures and would allow for an increase in some categories of legal immigration. "The plan will be considered by the Judiciary Committee on Thursday and could be debated by the full Senate before the end of March. "It immediately drew criticism from both advocates of a crackdown on illegal immigration and groups pushing for the government to provide illegal workers with a way to earn citizenship... "[Jack] Martin said Specter's proposal would lead to amnesty for millions of illegal workers and would increase legal immigration. "Under Specter's proposal, an estimated 8 million to 9 million illegal immigrants who entered the United States before Jan. 4, 2004, and are employed could apply to temporarily legalize their status through the guest-worker program. "Qualified applicants could apply for a three-year work visa and one three-year extension before being required to return to their home countries. In addition, would-be immigrants would be allowed to apply for the program from their home countries... "But Kevin Appleby of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Specter's plan could 'create a permanent underclass' of foreign workers with no hope of gaining U.S. citizenship." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 8:16:13 AM

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