Guest post by Kenric Ward
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bowing to a flurry of cost-cutting amendments on a bill extending unemployment benefits, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will allow votes on “reasonable” reforms. But he didn’t say when.
Reid’s shuffle comes after Republicans blasted the Nevada Democrat for unilaterally blocking amendments that could yield $70 billion in taxpayer savings.
“I am not surprised that Senator Reid is backtracking,” said David North. The immigration-law expert praised GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., for her amendment to halt IRS child tax-credit refunds going to illegal immigrants.
“Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you could not fail to be impressed by Sen. Ayotte’s move,” North told Watchdog.org.
The policy analyst with the Center for Immigration Studies, called Ayotte’s gambit “a stroke of genius.”
“It provides money to the unemployed while taking undeserved tax refunds away from illegal aliens,” North said.
Ayotte is among a half-dozen Senate Republicans pressuring Reid and majority Democrats to accept cost-cutting reforms in exchange for their votes to extend relief to up to 5.4 million jobless Americans whose benefits are expiring.
Turning up the heat, U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, assailed Reid for flip-flopping on the IRS’ handling of the child tax-credit program.
“Why does Reid now support allowing illegal immigrants to receive billions in taxpayer dollars? That’s just wrong,” Johnson said.