Harry Reid is a putz

Harry Reid’s Pipe DREAM
September 15, 2010 11:59 A.M.
By Mark Krikorian

Senator Reid announced yesterday that next week he’ll present the DREAM Act amnesty as an amendment to the defense spending bill. This is the bill that already includes the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and allows elective abortions at military hospitals. Maybe you could use “support the troops” as a cudgel to get one of these things through; but to pack amnesty, gay rights, and abortion into a single defense bill and expect critics to be intimidated into voting for it strains credulity. I assume this is just a desperate attempt by him to motivate demoralized left-wing constituencies to help drag his sorry carcass over the finish line on November 2. But, as one writer observes, it is fodder for his opponent:

But Reid also sets a potential trap for himself, opening the door for Republican opponents — specifically Nevada challenger Sharron Angle — to emphasize his Washington insider habit of manipulating legislation so as to further his own political ambitions. “Harry Reid,” one can imagine the voice-over actor intoning, “would rather cater to interest groups than give our troops the support they need.”

And for those who say the DREAM Act would be a small amnesty, for just a handful of “kids,” the Migration Policy Institute, a pro-amnesty outfit, has estimated that 2.1 million illegal immigrants could benefit from it — not that much smaller than the 2.8 million who were legalized under the 1986 amnesty.