Apparently, and unfortunately, the House takes up consideration of the Kennedy-Bush Amnesty/Immigration Acceleration bill tomorrow, and the MSM Treason Lobby is unlimbering the big guns. Bloomberg News has activated Washington managing editor Al Hunt.

Bush-Kennedy Alliance May Win the Day on Immigration - July 17 2006 is basically a shoddy specimen of what Peter Brimelow this morning called a template or “stereotype” Omnibus Immigration article, complete with cliches like reverential genuflections to the Statue of Liberty, references to the “No Irish need apply” myth, and the usual denigration of the patriots who ultimately succeeded in stemming the immigration flood in the 1920s.

And of course Hunt fails to present the economic or demographic facts accurately- for instance he notes

About 12 percent of the U.S. population today is foreign born; in 1910, it was 15 percent.

but fails to disclose that, back then, the birth rate of the native born was similar to the immigrants- unlike now, which accounts for the rapidity of the country�s present transformation.

As often the case with these advocacy-disguised-as-Journalism pieces, much effort is devoted to flattering an important ally, in this case Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a true martyr to the cause:

Lindsey Graham, a pro-immigration American politician, knows the ugly side of this issue: Some of his constituents derisively call him Lindsey “Gomez.”

Quite a good deal could be said about Graham, who otherwise distinguished himself by helping the Washington Establishment side-track opposition to China’s egregious exchange rate policy, but all those experienced in the Immigration Wars need to hear is:

“I can’t tell you how impressed I am with Senator Kennedy’s willingness to try to solve this problem,” Graham says.

Yes, that Senator Kennedy–the legislator more responsible for the current mess than any other.

I doubt this remark will do Graham much good. Al Hunt was careless–he must have been anxious to get back to the beach. Tell him.

Note to all who might donate ["Your gift today, will provide hope and relief tomorrow."] to the American Red Cross(here for Spanish language Cruz Roja Americana< /a>)

According to the Herald Tribune in Southwest Florida (Think: Sarasota - for now, a beautiful area that we have visited often) the Red Cross has arranged to use some of your donated money - for the third year in a row- to arrange for the “undocumented” to …get documents.

Namely - the Mexican issued matricula consular photo ID.

As happens all over the nation (this nation) the mobile Mexican “consulate” was in Sarasota Saturday to dispense the matricula consular to illegal aliens from that paradise to our south who are here replacing American workers. [People line up for hours for chance to get Mexican ID card, July 16, 2006, By Christina E. Sanchez And Michael A. Scarcella]

Red Cross rush hour

On Saturday, the Manatee County chapter of the American Red Cross hosted a mobile Mexican Consulate program to issue official Mexican “matricula consular” IDs.

The matricula consular is not a driver’s license, although it has similar features. The person’s photo, name, date of birth and address appear on the ID.

The mobile consulate program only comes to the Manatee County area once every six to nine months.

And on Saturday, there was a hitch: time and staff limitations meant it was on a first-come, first-served basis. That meant only 250 people could get the ID.

It seems that even the Mexican government cannot keep up with documenting the horde that it sends here because it cannot feed educate or employ them - only 250 illegals could get un-undocumented this trip.

Well…there is always next time.

This quote from Darlene Monroe, health services director for the Red Cross stuck with me.

“Imagine you are in a country that was not your own, and you had no identification to prove who you are,” said Monroe. “If you want to do anything in our society, you have to prove who you are.”

Note to Darlene: Many of these same people don’t feel the need to prove who they are when they are marching in the streets of a country that is not their own demanding “citizenship now.”

“I sent quite a few home,” Monroe said Saturday as she flipped through government papers a woman brought in a folder.”

We wish that Darlene meant “home” to Mexico and we are sure that the “government documents” are not American government documents.The president is trying to change that fact, Darlene.

This little vignette in Sarasota would be outrageous in any case, but more so since Disneyworld, a relatively short drive away is considered a “racist” organization by others in the illegal alien promotion business. I wonder how Darlene is going to feel when she learns that “this is not her continent”?

Most journalists work with template stories - a “stereotype” was originally non-pejorative jargon for phrases that were used so often that they were left in standing type - and MSM immigration coverage notoriously doesn’t get past the immigrant-valedictorian-holds-sixteen-jobs cliche. But an exemplary article by the Contra Costa Times’ George Avalos (Pay dips in jobs held by immigrants, July 16 2006) breaks the mold and creates a new model.

Avalos not merely does original reporting (no!) to show that immigrant-heavy occupations in the East Bay pay sub-par wages - in other words, a wage depression effect is appearing - but he also adds the point, quoting me, that

“The economy is getting addicted to cheap labor, and the cheap labor here in part because it is being subsidized by the taxpayers,” Brimelow said. “Illegal immigration is imposing a heavier and heavier burden on the taxpayers. The economy and the nation are being transformed for nothing.”

Of course, it’s a fundamental economic principle that increasing supply must drive down price, ceteris paribus, but establishment economists have been scandalously reluctant to admit it. Avalos dutifully quotes a specimen.

Congratulate Avalos.

Coincidentally, an old Contra Costa Times article I wrote on the economics of immigration (Immigration policy stupid, evil and hurting Americans, December 4,1999) is still one of our most regularly emailed-out.

Recently Project Censored, a left leaning organization, awarded two stories covering the Kennedy/McCain immigration proposal an award as one of top 25 censored stories of 2006. The stories are How U.S. Corporations Won the Debate Over Immigration and Migrants No More. The perspectives in these stories tends to ignore a lot of the issues important to VDARE.COM readers-but simply the fact that immigration is getting substantial attention in the press is news.

The Christian Science Monitor recently ran a story on state legislative efforts to deal with immigration.

In the past six months, at least 30 states have considered more than 75 bills targeting companies that hire undocumented immigrants. So far, 44 have been enacted, while a handful have been vetoed and several are awaiting a governor’s pen, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In applying pressure to employers, the individual measures are spotty: They lay out hiring requirements for public agencies, for example, or for businesses with state contracts. But collectively, they signal Washington that many states are impatient for reform. Such enforcement efforts add up to the broadest assault on employers in years, experts agre

Traditionally, the attitude has been that immigration is a federal issue and doesn’t belong in discussion of state issues. These legislative efforts are changing that traditional wisdom.