I don't wan t you to think that I'm wimping out on H-1B visas when I say that importing skilled immigrants may result in a net gain to the US itself, rather than just their employers. They may do something necessary and useful, and wind up being net taxpayers, with a low crime rate. Compare that with importing an entire new underclass to do farm labor that could be done by machines.

Nancy Pelosi likes both kinds of immigration, but the defeat of the Axis of Amnesty shows that legalizing unknown millions of immigrants isn't going to work, so in the meantime, Pelosi would like to give big business what they want—but she's being blocked by the Latino Caucus in her own party.

Officially, however, Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly welcomed the Bay Area Council letter in a carefully worded statement that did not shut the door on a partial solution.

Pelosi "has been pretty clear that there would be no H-1B or H-2A or H-2B fixes unless there is genuine action on proactive immigration reform," he said.

That statement substitutes the word "proactive" for what she and other democratic leaders had previously called "comprehensive" immigration reform, and with that shift, Pelosi signals a willingness to touch several different political nerves.

To begin with, Capitol Hill insiders say, Pelosi must contend with members of the Latino caucus who are most bitter about the collapse of the comprehensive immigration bill and most leery of cutting any deal with industry that would solve its problems - getting more foreign workers for tech firms, ski resorts and farms - without tackling any of the issues important to their constituents.[Bay Area Council weighs in on immigration policy, By Tom Abate, San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 2007]

I can't tell you how shocked I am that members of the Latino Caucus are putting ethnic grievances ahead of their loyalty to the Democratic Party. Maybe that's what all those people who insist that they're "natural Republicans" mean. Or maybe not.