22 MEMBERS OF ANTI-IMMIGRANT CAUCUS IN HOUSE WON'T BE BACK IN 2009

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Here is the list of casualties:

Richard Baker (R-La.), 60, 11 terms
Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.), 53, 1 term
Bud Cramer (D-Ala.), 61, 9 terms
Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.), 61, 7 terms
David Davis (R-Tenn.), 48, 1 term
John Doolittle (R-Calif.), 58, 9 terms

Thelma Drake (R-Va.), 59, 2 terms

Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), 50, 3 terms
Virgil Goode (R-VA), 62, 6 terms
Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), 63, 5 terms
Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), 60, 14 terms
Ric Keller (R-Fla.), 44, 4 terms
Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.), 65, 2 terms

Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.), 59, 3 terms
Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), 45, 6 terms
Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), 62, 9 terms
Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), 50, 3 terms
Bill Sali (R-Idaho), 54, 1 term
Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), 62, 5 terms
Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), 51, 1 term

Dave Weldon (R-Fla.), 55, 7 terms

Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), 57, 7 terms

Comments

[George Chell]

Is the new congress more pro-immigrant than the past? Yes, it is. You can argue about individual congressmen such as Griffiths and Cramer. I rode with Cramer and some of the others such as Blackburn, Musgrave, Wamp and Deal on a flight to Atlanta in 2006 right after the Tom Foley fiasco. Blackburn and Musgrave along with Deal were clear racists, white skin worshippers..kind who wanted whiteness in their families to go on for generations and were plain afraid of the non-white hordes particularly the "smart" Asians, felt that Cramer and Wamp only pandered to the likes of Blackburn and Musgrave. Now I can tell you unequivocally that Musgrave has been replaced by a pro, Pierce in NM has been replaced by a pro, Shays has been replaced by a pro, Kuhl has been replaced by a pro, Keller has been replaced by a pro, among at least ten others out of the 24.

In 2007, had the Senate passed the CIR, House would have passed it as well. The key was the Senate races. Allard has been replaced by a pro, Sununu by a pro, Dominici by pro and Warner by pro. Panderers of white skin worshippers such as DeMint, Sessions and Vitter are still around..however, their numbers have been reduced. They will need to try to knock of Chambliss but it will be a tall order. One big issue however,
is the economy.

Overall, a better congress. If they put their mind to it, the House should not have too many problems, the Senate is on the edge..filibuster is still possible. But, the prospects are a bit brighter.

[Greg Siskind]

House Jud - You can accuse me of being an amateur observer, but I've been monitoring Congress' immigration activities for nearly 20 years (which I suspect is longer than any one working on immigration issues on any of the committees). You can read nearly 15 years of those reports on my web site at www.visalaw.com which was the first immigration law web site on the Internet when it went live in the spring of 1994. I'm sure there are plenty of people to blame, but it is a fact that the 110th Congress got less done on immigration than any Congress I've observed - even less than in the years the GOP controlled the House.

The Democrats have added nearly 50 seats to their ranks in the last four years. At some point, the party needs to start acting accordingly and stop worrying about a tiny, well organized vocal minority that can light up the switchboards and send a lot of faxes and emails. The voters couldn't have sent a clearer message this election that they want problems solved. One of the benefits those of us outside the beltway have is that we see a reality that sometimes isn't always apparent on the Hill. My posts are intended to prod you guys out of the fog of fear that has resulted in the paralysis that we now see. Sorry if that sounds simplistic, but I'm going to keep hammering on this.

[House Jud]

Um, it's pretty clear Griffith is just as "anti-immigrant" as Cramer, and we don't need to see him cast any votes to tell that. Again, your analysis is incomplete. On the Hill we have a pretty good idea of where the replacements stand, and we're not as blindly optimistic as you are. Plus, some of the GOP members who will be leaving, in the House and in the Senate, were actually very reasonable on a lot of issues more important than immigration, so that "don't let the door hit you" comment is just stupid. As others have pointed out here, it's all not as simple as you make it out to be.

[George Chell]

Nancy Boyda tried to out GOP the GOP..and see what it got her. Shades of Harold Ford!

[Greg Siskind]

Well of course we don't know whether there replacements are better until they actually start casting votes. But these are the most hard core anti-immigrants in Congress and its pretty unlikely that their replacements will be the same or worse. And as I posted earlier, virtually no candidate who made an anti-immigration position one of their main issues succeeded in the election.

[House Jud]

The analysis is incomplete until you determine whether their replacements are actually an improvement, from your perspective. For example, is Griffith really an improvement, for your cause, over Cramer in Alabama's 5th? You need to do more research.

[good guy]

What comes around goes around :) .. Best Wishes to ex senators anyways !!