McCarthy strays from his roots in bid to be speaker
SAN DIEGO >> I’m a native of the farmland of Central California and it warms my heart to see one of my peeps achieve a victory.
Thus, I should root for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to become House Speaker in the next session, which could happen if the GOP keeps control of the lower chamber despite being hijacked by President Trump.
Yet, I’m ambivalent. McCarthy recently pulled a fast one and betrayed his roots in the process. Despite taking bundles of cash from farmers since entering politics in 2002 — first as a state legislator, then a member of Congress — the Republican from Bakersfield stiffed his benefactors by breaking a promise he made to colleagues in June to hold a vote on a new guest worker program for farmers.
Congress adjourned for the summer without that happening. And it’s not likely to happen after Labor Day either, since most of the members will be home campaigning for re-election.
McCarthy figured out Americans are in no mood to import foreigners from Latin America. In fact, at the moment, we’re only interested in exporting. Uncle Sam’s so adamant about punishing the desperate souls who come to his front door without permission that he’ll snatch their kids and not give them back until the parent signs paperwork allowing their own deportation. And in some cases, he may never give them back.
So it’s the wrong time for Republicans in Congress to weigh the idea of guest workers long fancied by their benefactors in the business community, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
We’re talking about a few hundred thousand people brought into the United States — many as farmhands to help with the harvest — and then leave after the work’s done.
Guest workers were a major sticking point in negotiations over immigration reform in Congress a decade ago. Everyone gets hung up on “amnesty” for illegal immigrants, but guest workers are key to unlocking the stalemate. The concept delivers the votes of a couple dozen business-friendly Republicans, which could offset the couple dozen votes the immigration reformers can expect to lose from pro-labor Democrats.
Organized labor hates the idea of guest workers, because of competition but also pride. Unions argue that foreign labor displaces American workers. They live in an alternate universe where comfy union members are dying to pick peaches in Georgia or cut grapes in Napa Valley or milk cows in Wisconsin.
And since the Democratic Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the unions that bankroll it, some Democrats will vote against any immigration compromise that includes guest workers. That’s why you need the votes of some Republicans, and the way you get them is with guest workers.
McCarthy had a choice: Keep his pledge to farmers — including those back home in Central California who are facing a severe labor shortage — by holding a vote on a guest worker bill that could splinter the party and cost him support within the Republican caucus; or break the promise, drop the issue and keep the GOP intact.
McCarthy chose the latter. He tried to sell his colleagues a lame excuse about how the votes weren’t there to pass a guest worker bill, but we all know what happened here.
McCarthy got sidetracked by his ambition, betrayed his rural roots and proved himself unworthy to lead.