Friday, October 25, 2013

WH Meets with Business Groups on Immigration After Obama Speech



WH Meets with Business Groups on Immigration After Obama Speech
by Tony Lee 24 Oct 2013
On Thursday, business leaders met with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough hours after President Barack Obama gave a speech pressing for comprehensive immigration reform.

According to The Hill, groups like the Chamber of Commerce, which has indicated it will target Republicans opposed to immigration reform, and the National Association of Manufacturers were represented. The meeting, according to a White House official, was "intended to continue conversations with folks — inside and outside the government — supportive of advancing common-sense immigration reform. This is a top priority for the president and we'll continue to do everything we can to get this done."

Business groups have been a driving factor behind the push for immigration reform legislation. Industry leaders and groups like the Chamber of Commerce have donated heavily to both sides so they could expand the pool of labor coming into the United States to do jobs they have claimed "Americans will not do," even though the unemployment rate has only decreased because Americans who cannot find work are leaving the workforce. The unemployment rate specifically among black Americans has consistently been above 10%.

Yet, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) indicated on Wednesday that he may bring up immigration reform legislation this year. House Republicans have reportedly been working on piecemeal bills with the goal of getting to conference with the Senate, where a provision for a pathway to citizenship would most likely prevail.

Though President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he has not heard of one good reason why anyone would oppose comprehensive immigration reform, opponents, as Breitbart News has reported, have stressed the Congressional Budget Office report that determined that comprehensive immigration reform legislation would lower the wages of working class Americans of all backgrounds without even solving the illegal immigration problem.

Denis McDonough
Denis McDonough is the chief of staff; former deputy national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Note: Melody C. Barnes was the domestic policy council, director for the Barack Obama administration, the EVP for the Center for American Progress, and is Barack Obama’s golf partner.
George Soros was a supporter for the Center for American Progress, and is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Richard C. Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Dianne Feinstein is married to Richard C. Blum, a U.S. Senate senator, and a member of the Alfalfa Club.
George H.W. Bush is a member of the Alfalfa Club, a member of the Burning Tree Club, and Jeb Bush’s father.
John A. Boehner is a member of the Burning Tree Club, and the speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Jeb Bush is George H.W. Bush’s son, a member of the Alfalfa Club, and an advisory committee member for the Hispanic Leadership Network.
Jennifer Sevilla Korn was an executive director for the Hispanic Leadership Network, and the director of Hispanic & women’s affairs, director of Hispanic & women's affairs for the George W. Bush administration.
George W. Bush was the president of the George W. Bush administration, George H.W. Bush’s son, Jeb Bush’s brother, and a member of the Alfalfa Club.
Hispanic Leadership Network is an offshoot of the American Action Network.
James A. Nussle was the director at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for the George W. Bush administration, is a board member for the American Action Network, and the U.S. program advisory panel member for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Ezekiel Emanuel was the health care policy adviser at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for the Barack Obama administration, is Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Center for American Progress, and Brookings Institution (think tank).
Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a co-chair for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future.
Klaus Kleinfeld is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Christopher C. Womack is a director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an executive committee member for the National Association of Manufacturers, and the EVP for the Southern Company.
Larry D. Thompson was a director at the Southern Company, a director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

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