11-09-2024  11:31 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

In Portland, Political Outsider Keith Wilson Elected Mayor After Homelessness-focused Race

Wilson, a Portland native and CEO of a trucking company, ran on an ambitious pledge to end unsheltered homelessness within a year of taking office.

‘Black Friday’ Screening Honors Black Portlanders, Encourages Sense of Belonging

The second annual event will be held Nov. 8 at the Hollywood Theatre.

Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson Wins Governor’s Race in Washington

Ferguson came to national prominence by repeatedly suing the administration of former President Donald Trump, including bringing the lawsuit that blocked Trump’s initial travel ban on citizens of several majority Muslim nations. 

African American Alliance On Homeownership Turns 25, Honors The Skanner Cofounder Bernie Foster

AAAH's executive director Cheryl Roberts recalls how the efforts of Bernie Foster led to an organization that now offers one-on-one counseling for prospective home buyers, homebuyer education, foreclosure prevention services, estate planning, assistance with down payments and more.

NEWS BRIEFS

Volunteers of America Oregon Announces Retirement CEO, Kay Toran

Toran's tenure at VOA Oregon is marked by decades of dedicated public service in the State of Oregon and unwavering commitment to...

NAACP Launches Innovative $200 Million Fund of Funds to Transform the Venture Capital Landscape

The fund will invest in fund managers and startups that are focused on closing gaps facing communities of color. ...

Legal Services Corporation Announces 2025 Grant Awards for Civil Legal Services

The grants are part of LSC's ongoing effort to support legal aid organizations in providing essential services to underserved...

Maxine Dexter Elected to Fill Earl Blumenauer's Seat

Blumenauer: “I can think of no person I would rather have take my place” ...

Dan Rayfield Elected Oregon’s Next Attorney General

Rayfield thanks AG Ellen Rosenblum and is honored "to follow her footsteps." ...

Police arrest a man after 9 people are stabbed over 2 days in Seattle

SEATTLE (AP) — A man has been arrested in connection with a spate of random stabbings over two days in Seattle, in which nine people were injured -- five of them on Friday afternoon, police said. “This incident was apparently one individual over a 38-hour period of time committing...

Democrat Andrea Salinas wins reelection in Oregon’s 6th District

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas has won reelection in Oregon’s 6th Congressional District, beating Republican Mike Erickson to earn a second term in Congress after outraising him by millions of dollars. Oregon’s newest congressional district, the 6th...

Memphis visits UNLV after Haggerty's 25-point outing

Memphis Tigers (1-0) at UNLV Rebels (1-0) Las Vegas; Saturday, 6 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -1.5; over/under is 158 BOTTOM LINE: Memphis faces UNLV after PJ Haggerty scored 25 points in Memphis' 83-75 victory against the Missouri Tigers. ...

Davis scores 22, Southern Illinois defeats Missouri S&T 86-64

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — Kennard Davis scored 22 points as Southern Illinois beat Missouri S&T 86-64 on Friday night. Davis also had five rebounds, eight assists, and seven steals for the Salukis (1-1). Elijah Elliott scored 14 points, going 5 of 10 from the floor, including 1...

OPINION

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

The Skanner News 2024 Presidential Endorsement

It will come as no surprise that we strongly endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. ...

Black Retirees Growing Older and Poorer: 2025 Social Security COLA lowest in 10 years

As Americans live longer, the ability to remain financially independent is an ongoing struggle. Especially for Black and other people of color whose lifetime incomes are often lower than that of other contemporaries, finding money to save for ‘old age’ is...

The Skanner Endorsements: Oregon State and Local Ballot Measures

Ballots are now being mailed out for this very important election. Election Day is November 5. Ballots must be received or mailed with a valid postmark by 8 p.m. Election Day. View The Skanner's ballot measure endorsements. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Actor Tony Todd, known for his role in the movie 'Candyman' and other films, dies at 69

Actor Tony Todd, known for his haunting portrayal of a killer in the horror film “Candyman” and roles in many other films and television shows, has died, his longtime manager confirmed. He was 69. Todd died Wednesday at his home in the Los Angeles area, his manager Jeffrey...

Man charged with participating in march with flaming torch has pleaded guilty to lesser charge

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Another man charged with carrying a flaming torch with the intent to intimidate during a 2017 rally at the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville has agreed to a plea deal. Dallas Jerome Nicholas Medina, 32, of Ravenna, Ohio, was originally...

Trump’s gains with Latinos could reshape American politics. Democrats are struggling to respond

MIAMI (AP) — From Pennsylvania to Florida to Texas, areas with high numbers of Hispanics often had little in common on Election Day other than backing Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris for president. Trump, the president-elect, made inroads in heavily Puerto Rican...

ENTERTAINMENT

Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will feature Ariana Madix, T-Pain, 'Gabby’s Dollhouse' and pasta

NEW YORK (AP) — A eclectic group of stars — including reality TV's Ariana Madix, Broadway belter Idina Menzel, hip-hop's T-Pain, members of the WNBA champions New York Liberty and country duo Dan + Shay — will feature in this year's Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Music...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 10-16

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 10-16: Nov. 10: Blues singer Bobby Rush is 90. Actor Albert Hall (“Ally McBeal,” ″Beloved”) is 87. Country singer Donna Fargo is 83. Lyricist Tim Rice is 80. Actor Jack Scalia is 74. Director Roland Emmerich (“The Patriot,”...

Music Review: State Champs’ self-titled album is enjoyable, quintessential, predictable pop-punk

New York pop-punk band State Champs’ self-titled album is one fans of the genre have heard before — a band musing about awkward interactions at parties, overthinking their romantic relationships and scorning the mundane. Across 12 tracks, the album is charming, but unchallenging. ...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Famine is likely imminent in northern Gaza, hunger experts say

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — There is a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza, where...

Japanese ace Roki Sasaki to become available to MLB teams this offseason

CHIBA, Japan (AP) — Japanese ace Roki Sasaki will be available to Major League Baseball teams this offseason. ...

Anti-abortion advocates press Trump for more restrictions as abortion pill sales spike

WASHINGTON (AP) — Anti-abortion advocates say there is still work to be done to further restrict access to...

North Korean GPS manipulation disrupted dozens of planes and vessels, South Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military said North Korea disrupted GPS signals from border areas for...

A Ukrainian medic fell in love with a soldier on the front. They died together in a Russian attack

A crowd of mourners lit torches and intoned a military chant to honor a Ukrainian medic and a soldier who fell in...

100-year-old Royal Air Force veteran will join UK memorial service for the first time

LONDON (AP) — Michael Woods has visited his wife, Mary, every day since she moved into a nursing home two years...

By Alan Silverleib and Tom Cohen CNN

Two weeks ago, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill on a 68-32 vote, with 14 Republicans joining the Democratic majority to send the measure drafted by a bipartisan "Gang of Eight" to the GOP-controlled House.

President Barack Obama pushed for the House to quickly take up the measure that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants living illegally in the country while bolstering security along the Mexican border.

The proposal also includes stronger worker eligibility verification standards and overall border entry-exit controls.

However, House Republicans made clear Wednesday they opposed the comprehensive approach of the Senate and intended to consider the issue in a series of bills that will take months to reach final votes.

In addition, the House GOP caucus was deeply divided on the question of eventual citizenship for undocumented immigrants, with some calling for a path to legal status while others opposed any kind of what they labeled amnesty for those who broke the law.

While House leaders warned the party faced political harm if it failed to act on immigration legislation, a vital issue for Hispanic Americans who comprise the nation's largest minority demographic, the piecemeal approach and divisions over the legalization issue portend a messy and uncertain future for the issue.

 

Here are five reasons why:

 

Bipartisanship necessary in Senate but not House.

A 60-vote majority is needed to push major legislation through the 100-member Senate, which means Senate Democrats and Republicans usually have to work together to get anything substantive accomplished.

The House, however, does not often require such a super-majority. As long as a simple majority sticks together, it can do virtually anything it pleases.

Mix that rule with increasing ideological orthodoxy and a decreasing willingness to compromise -- particularly within the conservative ranks of the majority House GOP -- and you have a recipe for stalemate with the Democratic-controlled Senate.

"Passing any version of the Gang of Eight's bill would be worse public policy than passing nothing," conservative pundits Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry argued Tuesday in National Review Online. "House Republicans can do the country a service by putting a stake through its heart."

In today's hyper-partisan political climate, doing nothing is the easiest path for House Republicans to take and even a bragging point for tea party conservatives who came to Washington to shake up the status quo.

While moderate House GOP leaders call for passing some kind of immigration legislation to avoid a potential political backlash, conservatives in the rank-and-file say such fears are unfounded as voters will reward Republicans for opposing what they call a bad Senate bill.

 

Republicans don't trust Obama on border security.

Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp might have said it best. The two-term conservative Republican tweeted Wednesday that "trusting Obama (with) border security is like trusting Bill Clinton (with) your daughter."

Ouch.

Virtually every congressional Republican says the Mexican border needs to be properly enforced before Democrats get their priority -- a path to citizenship for America's 11 million undocumented residents. Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, and John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, added billions for Mexican border security to the "Gang of Eight" bill.

For a lot of Republicans, though, the issue involves trust, not money. They remember the last major immigration reform effort, in 1986 under GOP President Ronald Reagan, that also called for tightened immigration controls while giving three million undocumented immigrants legal status.

They say the amnesty occurred but the tougher border controls didn't, leading to the much-worse situation today.

Now they don't trust Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to secure the border. They also claim Obama's recent decision to delay implementation of part of health care reform showed the administration can't be counted on to fully enforce any law.

By taking a piecemeal approach, House Republicans hope to secure the tougher border security they seek before acting on a separate plan that could provide legal status for at least some undocumented immigrants.

In short, pass a border security bill now, and then come back to the legalization issue once everyone agrees the border is sealed. Democrats reject such an approach.

 

The conundrum of citizenship/legalization

While the Senate measure provides a multi-year path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants, House Republicans made clear Wednesday they remained split about 50-50 on the matter.

Reasons for opposing any kind of legalization range from punishing lawbreakers to political protectionism, with conservatives fearing that most immigrants given what they call amnesty and the eventual right to vote will lean Democratic.

However, the issue of legalizing immigrants is broad and complex, creating lots of uncertainty.

For example, the Senate bill would automatically give immigrants living illegally in the United States temporary legal status as "registered provisional immigrants." Only when certain border security steps had been taken could they apply for permanent residency, or green cards, as a step toward potential citizenship in process that would take more than a decade.

Many House Republicans made clear they don't want any kind of legal status for undocumented immigrants until the borders are secure. Even those open to legalization don't want it to include a path to full citizenship.

The labels and definitions of legal status will be a major sticking point in the continuing debate, but also could be a source of compromise.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia told Wednesday's GOP caucus meeting that children of undocumented immigrants brought illegally to America through no fault of their own should be provided a path to legal status, a position strongly favored by Democrats.

The backing of Cantor and other House Republicans for such a provision showed room for maneuvering exists.

After meeting with Obama at the White House on Thursday, GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona called on House Republicans to negotiate an immigration bill.

"We are ready to sit down with you and negotiate and bring this issue to a conclusion," said McCain, part of the bipartisan Senate "Gang of Eight."

 

Sweeping reform isn't popular with GOP in either chamber.

There may be more Senate GOP support for comprehensive immigration reform, but not that much. Only 14 of 46 GOP senators backed the "Gang of Eight" bill heralded in its creation as a triumph of bipartisanship in a sharply divided Congress. Why should House Republicans be more in favor?

Remember that all politics is still local -- especially in the House. Many House Republicans represent ruby red districts with few Hispanics, where any path to citizenship is unpopular and the big fear is a primary challenge from the right.

Which leads us to ...

 

The Hastert rule

House Speaker John Boehner has made clear that the House will only take up immigration reform that is backed by a majority of its Republican members. That is keeping with the maxim of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert that prevented votes on legislation that lacked strong support from the controlling party.

Democrats contend the Senate version would pass the House with a few dozen Republicans joining them to overcome opposition by most of the GOP caucus.

While it is unclear if that's true, permitting it to happen would antagonize many of Boehner's fellow Republicans.

"If the speaker allows a vote on any immigration bill that results in passage despite a majority of the Republican conference voting against it, then it will be interesting to see if he can muster the votes to get re-elected after the next election," Alabama GOP Rep. Mo Brooks recently told CNN.

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