humsuplou
06-10 07:26 PM
So the procedure is suppose to be easy, and very low risk of not getting renewed?
Thanks!
Thanks!
wallpaper Other stories: World#39;s 10
singam
06-19 02:57 PM
http://hyderabad.usconsulate.gov/visa_services.html
The U.S. Consulate � Hyderabad is scheduled to open by the end of 2008.
The U.S. Consulate � Hyderabad is scheduled to open by the end of 2008.
kirupa
05-13 04:24 PM
Hey guys,
No, you cannot draw anything in Swift3D besides the simple polygons such as spheres, cones, etc. What you can do is create complex 3D shapes and import it into Swift 3D. Swif3D is used primarily for 3D Animation instead of 3D creation.
No, you cannot draw anything in Swift3D besides the simple polygons such as spheres, cones, etc. What you can do is create complex 3D shapes and import it into Swift 3D. Swif3D is used primarily for 3D Animation instead of 3D creation.
2011 google logo
Blog Feeds
08-17 09:30 AM
The USCIS announced that, on September 22, the agency "will launch a vastly improved public Web site to help customers navigate the immigration system and remain up-to-date regarding their case status." See the USCIS Fact Sheet dated August 11 at http://www.shusterman.com/pdf/redesign.pdf Almost 10 years ago, the INS redesigned its website. We were very critical. See our review entitled "INS's New Website Emphasizes Content Over Form(s)" at http://shusterman.com/sep99.html#6 We pointed out that after spending millions of dollars and employing a great many experts, the INS website did not even allow readers to access as many INS forms as our website. The...
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/carlshusterman/2009/08/uscis-redesigned-website.html)
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/carlshusterman/2009/08/uscis-redesigned-website.html)
more...
perm2gc
10-03 04:18 PM
IF visa numbers are available
(there's always a catch)
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
(there's always a catch)
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
anilsal
12-27 11:11 PM
Upto now 5 confirmed for the call. What about the others living in IL?
more...
bp333
07-11 10:57 AM
Folks,
Pretty soon I'll have to relocate to another city (same job). Wondering if I should continue using my H1B (valid till 2010) or should I use AC-21 to relocate ?
My attorney insists that I use AC-21, and she states that if something goes south during my Adjustment of Status I can re-file for my H1 and she did state the refiling H1 will be exempt from Annual Numerical Limits as I have been on Non-Immigrant visa in the past 6 year and haven't stayed outside the country for over an year.
Is this something I can rely on? Also, what happens to pending AOS(485) if I use this option to refile my H1 from EAD status?
FORM I-129
Part C. Numerical Limitation Exemption Information.
"Has the beneficiary of this petition been previously granted status as an H-1B nonimmigrant in the past 6 years and not left the United States for more than one year after attaining such status?"
Pretty soon I'll have to relocate to another city (same job). Wondering if I should continue using my H1B (valid till 2010) or should I use AC-21 to relocate ?
My attorney insists that I use AC-21, and she states that if something goes south during my Adjustment of Status I can re-file for my H1 and she did state the refiling H1 will be exempt from Annual Numerical Limits as I have been on Non-Immigrant visa in the past 6 year and haven't stayed outside the country for over an year.
Is this something I can rely on? Also, what happens to pending AOS(485) if I use this option to refile my H1 from EAD status?
FORM I-129
Part C. Numerical Limitation Exemption Information.
"Has the beneficiary of this petition been previously granted status as an H-1B nonimmigrant in the past 6 years and not left the United States for more than one year after attaining such status?"
2010 Top of the World East
hebbar77
08-28 02:18 PM
I hope its in thousands... Just a guess!
more...
ufo2002
11-13 04:11 PM
And you know what that means for EB processing in the future.
Even more backlogs! Welcome to USA, suckers!
Even more backlogs! Welcome to USA, suckers!
hair Cow World Logo
n.sravan
10-02 12:23 PM
Hi,
Am on H4 and applied for H1B in May 2006. Because of emergency, we need to travel out of US; got the approval on Sept 7th and returned to US on Sept 10th. I lost hopes of Change of Status petition approval(as one of my friend's COS petetion is rejected eventhough she didnot leave US during H1 process), but surprisingly when I received my papers today, it is approved with old I-94 number. Thank God.
Now, Can I go ahead and apply for SSN. Can they ask me to go for stamping as the I-94 on the approval notice is different from the current I-94 in the passport?
Thnx.
Am on H4 and applied for H1B in May 2006. Because of emergency, we need to travel out of US; got the approval on Sept 7th and returned to US on Sept 10th. I lost hopes of Change of Status petition approval(as one of my friend's COS petetion is rejected eventhough she didnot leave US during H1 process), but surprisingly when I received my papers today, it is approved with old I-94 number. Thank God.
Now, Can I go ahead and apply for SSN. Can they ask me to go for stamping as the I-94 on the approval notice is different from the current I-94 in the passport?
Thnx.
more...
tnite
12-05 03:32 PM
I am July 2nd filer and got EAD approved.
My 485 notice has Received Date as July 19th 2007 and Notice Date as October 17th 2007.
Do i need to calculate 180 days from July 19th 2007 OR Oct 17th 2007 if i want to change the jobs?
July 19th..It's always the Receipt date
My 485 notice has Received Date as July 19th 2007 and Notice Date as October 17th 2007.
Do i need to calculate 180 days from July 19th 2007 OR Oct 17th 2007 if i want to change the jobs?
July 19th..It's always the Receipt date
hot is already the world#39;s top
roseball
04-17 05:24 PM
Holding an I-20 doesnt mean anything if you dont enroll for the required minimum credit hrs...You have to enroll....
more...
house World Asia Publishing the
ramus
06-25 12:58 PM
Please please don't create new thred for every question you may have.. There is already one thred with June receipt.. you can post your question there.
Also please contribute now if you haven't done so far..
Thank you so much.
Anyone who filed on 6/7/2007....still waiting for checks to be encashed?
Also please contribute now if you haven't done so far..
Thank you so much.
Anyone who filed on 6/7/2007....still waiting for checks to be encashed?
tattoo and one of the world#39;s top
Blog Feeds
10-23 09:20 AM
Further to one of our more recent posts, it isn�t just the economy driving the �brain drain� associated with the ever-increasing numbers of talented workers opting to leave the U.S. Rather, the unrealistic immigrant visa quotas for employment-based green cards are also to blame as a formidable obstacle contributing to this recent trend. The much-anticipated October visa bulletin issued by the Department of State did little to give new hope to the long line of skilled workers waiting for available immigrant visa numbers. Indeed, with quotas backlogged more than 7 years in the skilled worker category, countless thousands of talented...
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/h1bvisablog/2009/09/the-h1b-brain-drain-its-not-the-economy-stupid.html)
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/h1bvisablog/2009/09/the-h1b-brain-drain-its-not-the-economy-stupid.html)
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life99f
04-28 02:29 AM
I mean, when she/he wants to enroll some classes in local univ?
dresses Flag Against World#39;s Best
raj1982
11-24 11:43 AM
I have filed the H1B(I129) transfer and extension on H4(I539) in the month of June 18th and then upgraded to premimum process in the month of November, after 2 days it got approved and within the next two days they changed the status to RFE and requested to send the paystubs for the past 3 months. I have all the paystubs and our attorney sent the response with the paystubs to USCIS. In between this my wife travelled to India when my I129 and I539 pending.
1) Do you think there will be any problem for my visa to be approved(since my wife is in India)?
2) Can my wife visa gets approved when she was in India?
3) How long do they take to respond to the RFE?
Please advice.
Thanks,
Raj
1) Do you think there will be any problem for my visa to be approved(since my wife is in India)?
2) Can my wife visa gets approved when she was in India?
3) How long do they take to respond to the RFE?
Please advice.
Thanks,
Raj
more...
makeup world#39;s top four
webr
07-02 07:14 PM
Edison residents, officials outraged by Time magazine column about Indian immigrants | NJ.com (http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/07/edison_residents_officials_out.html)
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smartin
04-30 06:02 PM
Hi all,
I had my h1 issued in nov '09 and was laid off from the company in march '10. However, I was able to secure other position in the same company a month later. But now the company wants me to exit/re-enter the country (and get my visa stamped) before starting the new position.
Since I was technically out of status for the month of April (and don't have any paystubs for the same), will it be difficult to get my h1 visa stamped? Also, can I get my stamping done in Canada, or will I have to my home country?
Thanks in advance..
S. M
I had my h1 issued in nov '09 and was laid off from the company in march '10. However, I was able to secure other position in the same company a month later. But now the company wants me to exit/re-enter the country (and get my visa stamped) before starting the new position.
Since I was technically out of status for the month of April (and don't have any paystubs for the same), will it be difficult to get my h1 visa stamped? Also, can I get my stamping done in Canada, or will I have to my home country?
Thanks in advance..
S. M
hairstyles Top 10 FIFA World Cup Logos
Macaca
10-29 07:57 AM
Maryland's Senator Fix-It (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/28/AR2007102801153.html) By Fred Hiatt (fredhiatt@washpost.com) | Washington Post, October 29, 2007
Against the prevailing dismay over partisanship and dysfunction in the U.S. Senate, consider the testimony of one happy senator.
Ben Cardin, freshman Democrat of Maryland, says he has been surprised since his election almost a year ago at how possible it is to make progress in the Senate. It is easier to form bipartisan alliances than it was in the House, he says. Senators who strike deals stick to them and will not be pulled away by pressure from party leaders. And, even despite the 60-vote barrier, real legislative accomplishments are within reach.
Cardin is part of an impressive Senate class of nine Democratic rookies (including Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats), others of whom have gotten more attention than he has during their first year. Virginia's Jim Webb, to name one, has proved more compelling to the national party and media, with his military past, literary achievements and quotable economic populism.
Consider, by contrast, the first sentence of the " About Ben" biography on Cardin's official Web site: "Benjamin L. Cardin has been a national leader on health care, retirement security and fiscal issues since coming to Congress in 1987." No wonder the Democrats chose Webb to respond to President Bush's State of the Union address in January.
No one would accuse Cardin of putting charisma over substance. A legislator's legislator, he served in the Maryland House of Delegates for 20 years, as speaker from 1979 to 1986, and then represented a part of Baltimore and surrounding suburbs in the House of Representatives for 20 more. Now he's delightedly burrowing into the Senate.
During a visit to The Post last week, he ticked off a series of what he called medium-level issues on which he believes something can be achieved: providing incentives for good teachers to work in the neediest schools, getting the Army Corps of Engineers involved in Chesapeake Bay cleanup, establishing a commission to chart a path to energy independence within 10 years and reauthorizing (for the first time in decades) the federal program that provides lawyers for those who can't afford them.
Cardin acknowledged that prospects for progress on the biggest issues are dimmer, but even there he's not discouraged. "Social Security is easy to solve," he says, and achieving energy independence within 10 years is quite doable; both just require more leadership from the White House, which he hopes a new (Democratic) president will provide. He's signed on to the Lieberman-Warner bill on climate change and thinks it could get 60 votes, too, with a little prodding from on high.
The failure of comprehensive immigration reform, he grants, was "an embarrassment." Senators were not prepared for the force and single-mindedness of the opposition to what was perceived as amnesty for illegal immigrants.
"It is an explosive issue," Cardin said. "It crippled our office's ability to get anything else done." The letters he received were well written, not part of an organized campaign, from all corners of the state -- and unequivocal. "They said, 'This is not America. America is the rule of law. How can you let people sneak into the country? If you vote for this, I'll never vote for you again' " -- an argument that tends to seize a politician's attention.
Cardin did not and still does not believe that the bill provided amnesty. It insisted that illegal immigrants atone in a number of ways, including anteing up back taxes, learning English and paying a fine. "If you go much further, people aren't going to come forward" and out of the shadows, he says. "I don't think it makes a lot of sense to be sending troops after them."
But even here, he has faith that the Senate eventually can pass immigration reform. It was a mistake to craft the bill in closed meetings, he said; next time, open debate would create less anxiety. Reform advocates have to communicate better what requirements they're imposing in exchange for legalization. But ultimately, "you can't hide from what needs to be done. You have to deal with the 12 million, with border security and with the fairness issue" for immigrants and would-be immigrants who have played by the rules.
Cardin is not naive about the political obstacles to progress. But unusually for Washington, he seems less focused on blaming the other side for gridlock than on avoiding gridlock in the first place.
"Quite frankly, the solution on immigration is easy, even if it won't be easy to accomplish," he says cheerfully. "You just have to get a bipartisan coalition and get it done."
Against the prevailing dismay over partisanship and dysfunction in the U.S. Senate, consider the testimony of one happy senator.
Ben Cardin, freshman Democrat of Maryland, says he has been surprised since his election almost a year ago at how possible it is to make progress in the Senate. It is easier to form bipartisan alliances than it was in the House, he says. Senators who strike deals stick to them and will not be pulled away by pressure from party leaders. And, even despite the 60-vote barrier, real legislative accomplishments are within reach.
Cardin is part of an impressive Senate class of nine Democratic rookies (including Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats), others of whom have gotten more attention than he has during their first year. Virginia's Jim Webb, to name one, has proved more compelling to the national party and media, with his military past, literary achievements and quotable economic populism.
Consider, by contrast, the first sentence of the " About Ben" biography on Cardin's official Web site: "Benjamin L. Cardin has been a national leader on health care, retirement security and fiscal issues since coming to Congress in 1987." No wonder the Democrats chose Webb to respond to President Bush's State of the Union address in January.
No one would accuse Cardin of putting charisma over substance. A legislator's legislator, he served in the Maryland House of Delegates for 20 years, as speaker from 1979 to 1986, and then represented a part of Baltimore and surrounding suburbs in the House of Representatives for 20 more. Now he's delightedly burrowing into the Senate.
During a visit to The Post last week, he ticked off a series of what he called medium-level issues on which he believes something can be achieved: providing incentives for good teachers to work in the neediest schools, getting the Army Corps of Engineers involved in Chesapeake Bay cleanup, establishing a commission to chart a path to energy independence within 10 years and reauthorizing (for the first time in decades) the federal program that provides lawyers for those who can't afford them.
Cardin acknowledged that prospects for progress on the biggest issues are dimmer, but even there he's not discouraged. "Social Security is easy to solve," he says, and achieving energy independence within 10 years is quite doable; both just require more leadership from the White House, which he hopes a new (Democratic) president will provide. He's signed on to the Lieberman-Warner bill on climate change and thinks it could get 60 votes, too, with a little prodding from on high.
The failure of comprehensive immigration reform, he grants, was "an embarrassment." Senators were not prepared for the force and single-mindedness of the opposition to what was perceived as amnesty for illegal immigrants.
"It is an explosive issue," Cardin said. "It crippled our office's ability to get anything else done." The letters he received were well written, not part of an organized campaign, from all corners of the state -- and unequivocal. "They said, 'This is not America. America is the rule of law. How can you let people sneak into the country? If you vote for this, I'll never vote for you again' " -- an argument that tends to seize a politician's attention.
Cardin did not and still does not believe that the bill provided amnesty. It insisted that illegal immigrants atone in a number of ways, including anteing up back taxes, learning English and paying a fine. "If you go much further, people aren't going to come forward" and out of the shadows, he says. "I don't think it makes a lot of sense to be sending troops after them."
But even here, he has faith that the Senate eventually can pass immigration reform. It was a mistake to craft the bill in closed meetings, he said; next time, open debate would create less anxiety. Reform advocates have to communicate better what requirements they're imposing in exchange for legalization. But ultimately, "you can't hide from what needs to be done. You have to deal with the 12 million, with border security and with the fairness issue" for immigrants and would-be immigrants who have played by the rules.
Cardin is not naive about the political obstacles to progress. But unusually for Washington, he seems less focused on blaming the other side for gridlock than on avoiding gridlock in the first place.
"Quite frankly, the solution on immigration is easy, even if it won't be easy to accomplish," he says cheerfully. "You just have to get a bipartisan coalition and get it done."
Macaca
07-31 05:14 PM
Senate GOP Set for Rebranding Retreat (http://www.rollcall.com/issues/53_15/news/19611-1.html) By Erin P. Billings, ROLL CALL STAFF, July 31 2007
After six months of largely sitting back and watching how the new Democratic Senate performs, Republican leaders this week will hold a special retreat to begin honing their 2008 message and agenda - one that's being privately billed as an 18-month "campaign" to reposition themselves to take on the party in charge.
GOP Senators will huddle Wednesday afternoon behind closed doors for the two-hour, Members-only session at 1:45 in the Capitol's Mansfield Room. Orchestrated by Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the meeting will serve as both a "mid-year review" for the first session of the 110th Congress and as an open exchange of ideas on reformatting a Republican Party that handily lost the House and Senate majorities in November.
"This is about laying the foundation for rebuilding the party," said a Republican Senate leadership aide. "This is a group project. No one person can determine this, we all have to come together and agree on it."
Kyl, in a brief interview Monday, said the session has both a short-term purpose of arming Senators with a message for the upcoming August recess and a broader goal of engaging Senators to game out the party's strategy for the remainder of the year. He added that Republicans likely will come together again next January to take stock of their message and platform heading into what many anticipate will be another bitter test at the ballot box.
"Going into the election year, it's important to know what we stand for, not just what we stand against," he said.
Kyl said that in the first six months of the year, Republicans have had to do little to try to brand the new majority, saying that by pursuing a partisan agenda the Democrats "have returned to form and really defined themselves. We haven't had to do a whole lot to define them."
But Kyl acknowledged that Republicans cannot sit by and simply talk about the Democrats' shortcomings. Senators need to be armed with their own positions and alternatives that reflect the party's long-standing principles, whether it is over the war in Iraq, an expected omnibus spending package or health care policy.
While Wednesday's special Republican Conference meeting will serve as mostly a give-and-take forum for the 49 Senators, sources familiar with the planning say it will also play host to presentations from some outsiders, including GOP pollster and adviser David Winston, who also is a Roll Call contributing writer. Kyl and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also are on tap to speak and are likely to deliver their respective assessments of the GOP's position heading into 2008.
Republican leaders also will urge Senators to use the August recess to further vet ideas - both in policy and message - for how Republicans should approach the remainder of the 110th Congress.
"We were in the majority for pretty much 12 years," noted a senior GOP Senate aide. "It took an adjustment. But after six months, things are working differently and we need to find those hard line stances that got us into power."
The uphill battle Republicans face over the next two years is no secret, even with McConnell publicly acknowledging the GOP will be lucky to hold its own in an unfavorable political climate with nearly twice as many Senate seats to defend. Republicans need to stave off potential challenges to 21 seats, including McConnell's, while Democratic Senate incumbents face re-election in just a dozen seats.
The timing for the the GOP's Wednesday retreat is noteworthy given Congress is about to break for face time with its constituents for the longest period yet this year. The meeting also comes as the Democratic majority ramps up a summer message that it has racked up a series of critical accomplishments that include passing a minimum-wage increase, higher education reforms and stiffer homeland security protections while continuing to keep pressure on President Bush to end the war in Iraq.
Senate Democrats will try to further build on their theme this week both in message and in practice as they look to leave town having enacted another string of domestic items including a lobbying reform package and an expansion of the children's health insurance program.
Intentional or not, the Democrats have begun to trumpet their accomplishments just as Republicans further accusations that the majority party is responsible for leading a "do-nothing" Congress for the first quarter of the two-year session. That's the same message the Democrats found some success in using to rally against the Republicans during the 109th Congress.
Beyond that, however, Republicans have done little to advance a larger message to define who they are as a party and why they should be put back in charge of Congress. Several Republican leadership aides said party leaders wanted to hold off on undergoing any rebranding exercise until after they had adequate time to assess the Democrats' performance during the first half of 2007.
"It was necessary for us as an opposition party to find out exactly where the Democrats were going to go so we could exploit what we perceive as their mistakes," said the GOP leadership aide. "So now we have an opportunity to share with the American people what we would do differently and how it would benefit them."
But Democrats say regardless of how GOP Senators decide to proceed, they aren't worried that the minority party will create a successful message or policy offensive. So far, Democrats say Republicans have shown little interest in changing their Congressional posture - especially as they try to block passage of the very programs the electorate sought from a new Democratic majority.
"They act as though the November 2006 election never happened," a Senate Democratic leadership aide said of the GOP. "I'm not sure if they're tone-deaf or just plain stubborn, but they've spent the first half of this year fighting like hell against making any progress on the issues voters care about."
The Senate GOP's assessment mirrors similar efforts undertaken in by the then-minority Democrats in recent cycles. Congressional Democrats spent the better part of the 2006 cycle working to unify around their "New Direction for America" platform, which included a series of Democratic priorities the party vowed to enact if given the gavel in the 110th Congress.
And while it remains unclear exactly what the Senate GOP's next move will be, Republicans acknowledge they need to get to work now if they are to have success heading into next year.
Already, Senate Republicans have spent recent weeks trying to re-engage with their House counterparts on message and overall policy coordination. Republicans are hoping for new opportunities to synchronize across the Dome in the wake of the latest debates on Iraq and immigration that deeply fractured the party.
As part of that effort, GOP Senate and House leaders last week held rare joint pen-and-pad sessions with reporters and a press conference on taxes and spending, while the leadership has had numerous planning sessions on overall party strategy and is orchestrating lawmakers to head to the Senate and House floors to push similar party themes. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) also is expected to join the Senate Republicans' weekly steering committee lunch this week.
Beyond that, House and Senate leadership offices have sought to coordinate messages on fiscal discipline, the Bush administration's midterm report on the Iraq troop "surge" and on accusations of Democrats leading the "post office Congress," as Republicans argue that Democrats have spent the bulk of their time naming federal post offices.
"It's about strength in numbers - we're working together rather than trying to do things separately," said a senior GOP Senate aide.
After six months of largely sitting back and watching how the new Democratic Senate performs, Republican leaders this week will hold a special retreat to begin honing their 2008 message and agenda - one that's being privately billed as an 18-month "campaign" to reposition themselves to take on the party in charge.
GOP Senators will huddle Wednesday afternoon behind closed doors for the two-hour, Members-only session at 1:45 in the Capitol's Mansfield Room. Orchestrated by Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the meeting will serve as both a "mid-year review" for the first session of the 110th Congress and as an open exchange of ideas on reformatting a Republican Party that handily lost the House and Senate majorities in November.
"This is about laying the foundation for rebuilding the party," said a Republican Senate leadership aide. "This is a group project. No one person can determine this, we all have to come together and agree on it."
Kyl, in a brief interview Monday, said the session has both a short-term purpose of arming Senators with a message for the upcoming August recess and a broader goal of engaging Senators to game out the party's strategy for the remainder of the year. He added that Republicans likely will come together again next January to take stock of their message and platform heading into what many anticipate will be another bitter test at the ballot box.
"Going into the election year, it's important to know what we stand for, not just what we stand against," he said.
Kyl said that in the first six months of the year, Republicans have had to do little to try to brand the new majority, saying that by pursuing a partisan agenda the Democrats "have returned to form and really defined themselves. We haven't had to do a whole lot to define them."
But Kyl acknowledged that Republicans cannot sit by and simply talk about the Democrats' shortcomings. Senators need to be armed with their own positions and alternatives that reflect the party's long-standing principles, whether it is over the war in Iraq, an expected omnibus spending package or health care policy.
While Wednesday's special Republican Conference meeting will serve as mostly a give-and-take forum for the 49 Senators, sources familiar with the planning say it will also play host to presentations from some outsiders, including GOP pollster and adviser David Winston, who also is a Roll Call contributing writer. Kyl and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also are on tap to speak and are likely to deliver their respective assessments of the GOP's position heading into 2008.
Republican leaders also will urge Senators to use the August recess to further vet ideas - both in policy and message - for how Republicans should approach the remainder of the 110th Congress.
"We were in the majority for pretty much 12 years," noted a senior GOP Senate aide. "It took an adjustment. But after six months, things are working differently and we need to find those hard line stances that got us into power."
The uphill battle Republicans face over the next two years is no secret, even with McConnell publicly acknowledging the GOP will be lucky to hold its own in an unfavorable political climate with nearly twice as many Senate seats to defend. Republicans need to stave off potential challenges to 21 seats, including McConnell's, while Democratic Senate incumbents face re-election in just a dozen seats.
The timing for the the GOP's Wednesday retreat is noteworthy given Congress is about to break for face time with its constituents for the longest period yet this year. The meeting also comes as the Democratic majority ramps up a summer message that it has racked up a series of critical accomplishments that include passing a minimum-wage increase, higher education reforms and stiffer homeland security protections while continuing to keep pressure on President Bush to end the war in Iraq.
Senate Democrats will try to further build on their theme this week both in message and in practice as they look to leave town having enacted another string of domestic items including a lobbying reform package and an expansion of the children's health insurance program.
Intentional or not, the Democrats have begun to trumpet their accomplishments just as Republicans further accusations that the majority party is responsible for leading a "do-nothing" Congress for the first quarter of the two-year session. That's the same message the Democrats found some success in using to rally against the Republicans during the 109th Congress.
Beyond that, however, Republicans have done little to advance a larger message to define who they are as a party and why they should be put back in charge of Congress. Several Republican leadership aides said party leaders wanted to hold off on undergoing any rebranding exercise until after they had adequate time to assess the Democrats' performance during the first half of 2007.
"It was necessary for us as an opposition party to find out exactly where the Democrats were going to go so we could exploit what we perceive as their mistakes," said the GOP leadership aide. "So now we have an opportunity to share with the American people what we would do differently and how it would benefit them."
But Democrats say regardless of how GOP Senators decide to proceed, they aren't worried that the minority party will create a successful message or policy offensive. So far, Democrats say Republicans have shown little interest in changing their Congressional posture - especially as they try to block passage of the very programs the electorate sought from a new Democratic majority.
"They act as though the November 2006 election never happened," a Senate Democratic leadership aide said of the GOP. "I'm not sure if they're tone-deaf or just plain stubborn, but they've spent the first half of this year fighting like hell against making any progress on the issues voters care about."
The Senate GOP's assessment mirrors similar efforts undertaken in by the then-minority Democrats in recent cycles. Congressional Democrats spent the better part of the 2006 cycle working to unify around their "New Direction for America" platform, which included a series of Democratic priorities the party vowed to enact if given the gavel in the 110th Congress.
And while it remains unclear exactly what the Senate GOP's next move will be, Republicans acknowledge they need to get to work now if they are to have success heading into next year.
Already, Senate Republicans have spent recent weeks trying to re-engage with their House counterparts on message and overall policy coordination. Republicans are hoping for new opportunities to synchronize across the Dome in the wake of the latest debates on Iraq and immigration that deeply fractured the party.
As part of that effort, GOP Senate and House leaders last week held rare joint pen-and-pad sessions with reporters and a press conference on taxes and spending, while the leadership has had numerous planning sessions on overall party strategy and is orchestrating lawmakers to head to the Senate and House floors to push similar party themes. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) also is expected to join the Senate Republicans' weekly steering committee lunch this week.
Beyond that, House and Senate leadership offices have sought to coordinate messages on fiscal discipline, the Bush administration's midterm report on the Iraq troop "surge" and on accusations of Democrats leading the "post office Congress," as Republicans argue that Democrats have spent the bulk of their time naming federal post offices.
"It's about strength in numbers - we're working together rather than trying to do things separately," said a senior GOP Senate aide.
intheyan
08-12 01:54 PM
What does ADIT processing means any idea is that we need to go to local USCIS office for the interview?
Your new permanent resident card should be mailed within 60 days following this registration or after you complete any ADIT processing referred to in the welcome notice, whichever is later. If you move before you get your new card call customer service. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.
Your new permanent resident card should be mailed within 60 days following this registration or after you complete any ADIT processing referred to in the welcome notice, whichever is later. If you move before you get your new card call customer service. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.
