Posted on 10/09/2006 4:59:59 PM PDT by jrooney
Yesterday I analyzed the possibility that the lack of a presidential signature on the Secure Fence Act (HR 6061) might be an attempt at a pocket veto. President Bush has never given very enthusiastic support to any border solution that didn't include a plan for normalization for illegal immigrants already inside the US. Mickey Kaus started counting the days since Congress passed the bill and wondered whether the White House had decided to simply ignore the bill to death.
I took a few minutes at my lunch break to contact a senior staffer on the Hill who has worked the immigration issue. He told me that, as some CQ commenters had speculated, Congress has not formally sent the bill to the President. That means the clock has not started for his signature. The 10-day period starts only after Congress formally prints and delivers the bill for the President to sign into law.
Why has Congress waited? The Secure Fence Act, which requires that the border barrier be constructed, is a very high priority for Republican leadership in both chambers. They and the White House want to schedule the signing for what they see as the maximum impact to the midterm elections. This means waiting for other stories to fall off the front pages. My source told me that the terrorist detention and interrogation bill will be signed on October 17th, and they want this to come after that.
Expect to see this get signed somewhere between October 24th and November 1st. The White House considers this bill a front-and-center accomplishment and wants the boost to last all the way through Election Day. Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress (especially Bill Frist, I'm told) want this to get as much coverage as possible. After the signing ceremony, expect to see this bill get trumpeted in the final advertising push for all Republican incumbents running for re-election.
No one on the Hill or in the White House has missed the message from the base. Everyone understands the importance of signing this legislation for the midterms. My impression is that they didn't realize that people expected the bill to get signed at the same time as the Homeland Security appropriation, and now they understand the confusion. Bottom line: the Secure Fence Act will get signed into law.
Freepers the BILL IS GOING TO GET SIGNED. For those here at speculate it will not, relax, step back and take a deep breath. It will get signed.
BTT
Rove, you magnificent bastard!
Read the above article. Please, it is not an act. Anyone that believes that might as well vote donk.
Then the Senate will defund it in an "Omnibus We've Got To Pass This Bill For The Kiddies Funding Bill" and voila the money goes someplace else.
L
Vote donk then. Pelosi and Reid will make this top priority. /s
http://www.c-span.org/guide/congress/glossary/pktveto.htm
A Pocket Veto can only take place after Congress adjourns at the end of a session, not during a Recess. Not signing it does not veto it. It would be an incredibly stupid move but it is NOT a veto.
http://www.c-span.org/guide/congress/glossary/pktveto.htm
Thanks. I did not know that. I wonder what the negatives here on FR will say when it is signed, funds are appropriated and the fence is built?
I thought we Conservatives were smarter then that.
Bush has no interest in slowing down the flow of illegals :^(
It is sad. Michelle Malkin and her side kick "Allah", not an appropriate moniker since we are at war with radical muslims IMO, were making a bid deal out of this without doing any research, except listening to slate. Knee jerk reactions and throwing people under the bus, like Hastert, really turns me off but does not weaken my resolve to defeat the donks, the party of jackasses.
MNJohnnie, you have to realize some people still think the Red Press is devoted to accuracy.
Can some explain this to me. The House Republicans defy the White House and the Senate, they refuse for months to compromise 1 inch and then finally get to a point where the Dems do not dare to fillibuster a Border bill cause it is too close to an election. They get the bill thur and NOW the Always Angry say it just a fraud? That after all the struggle and strife the House GOP just sold them out? That makes NO sense. IF the House GOP was going to do that why did they bother killing the Senate bill? There is such a thing as being irrationally paranoid folks.
The explaination is that 20 years of deliberate sabotaging of our immigration laws by both parties has bred a degree of cynicism that people won't believe anything is going to be done about it until they see it.
Also, instead of attacking the source of the article, why not comment on the substance? Is it true that the follow-up legislation allows the money to be spent on other than an actual fence? I notice nobody is disputing that.
Many conservatives won't do that, but if the fence isn't built you can bet we'll be flooding the WH & Congressional phone and fax lines after the election.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.