Bush Pulls Off Shrewd Stroke (Immigration strategery is a coup de main)

The United Press International ^ | January 8, 2004 | Martin Sieff

[quidnunc]

President George W. Bush's proposed immigration reform plan may prove to be a masterstroke from a maestro political strategist playing at the top of his game. It may backfire on him, but it probably won't.

The reform plan has already provoked strong attacks from Democrats and Latino activists who say it does not go far enough and the critical voices have been particularly loud in crucial California. It will also increase strains the president's policies have already generated in the Rocky Mountain libertarian West, his archrival John McCain's stronghold in the 2000 Republican primary race.

But at the end of the day, unless the two huge decisive issues of the economy and national security turn catastrophically sour on the president, these critiques will probably bounce off him like any criticism off the Teflon back of Ronald Reagan.

-snip-

[FITZ]

Either way -it will backfire on America.

Possibly not --- we'll see what Congress does. I can see how this could be a brilliant political move --- time will tell. For one Bush's proposals are so vague --- they mean almost nothing and they appear to just be suggestions. The next move will have to be made by the Democratic front-runners --- they will have to pander harder --- and less vaguely. They'll have to criticize Bush's plan by saying it doesn't go far enough, doesn't give President Fox or the citizens of his country enough, and start saying how much farther they'll go. Meanwhile Congress will have to hash out the vague proposals --- will come up with something that doesn't give much. Bush gets the votes of the Mexican citizens, doesn't lose too many votes of the Americans.

[JackelopeBreeder]

My local congresscritter is Jim Kolbe; he helped author the McCain bill. My county is just a small part of his constituency and he can safely ignore us.

Meanwhile almost 20% of all illegal immigration on the southern border passes right through us. How long do you think we should be patient?

[mercy]

Can't wait for his second term. I expect him to disolve the Constitution of the United States and form the Universal Federation of Earth.

[hedgetrimmer]

Bush says, amnesty Congress says no.

But, while the American people are patting themselves on the back because they think their voice has been heard:

1. The INS continues to allow an unfettered influx of illegals into the country.

2. Federal state and local government officials spend taxpayer dollars to give the illegals low income housing, medical care, schooling and legal advice about how to stay in America.

3. Criminal employers still hire illegals, knowingly, yet suffer no criminal or civil penalties for doing so.

4. Illegals continue to send money out of the country to the tune of $20 billion a year, a form of foreign aid that completely usurps the power of the Constitution and Congress to regulate it.

5. Multinational corporations use cash donations and other influence peddaling to get the US dept of treasury to publish a policy statment saying its OK to accept the matricula consular phony ID. They jockey for position when it becomes policy to reduce the price of sending the remittances out of country so that they can have a monoply over managing illegals money.

5. Bush goes to the Summit of the Americas next week and informs them that two of their policy goals from the 1998 summit have been implemented, illegal alien social security and reduced fees for sending remittances for foreign countries.

Where is the balance of power? Congress has no power at all in any of the anti Consitutional policies that have been implemented in the last 12 years.

Who has ultimate authority over our immigration policy? It appears member countries in the Summit of the Americas. They have figured out a way to completely skirt the Constitution, the Congress and the will of the American people. The balance of power is completely out of kilter with the president answering to a collective of foreign countries and multinational cooperatives instead of Congress and the American people.

[Jodi]

sorry, I haven't read any of the posts following yours. But, I'm sure they all proclaim they are never voting for W. again. btw, this christian approves of the Prez's plan.

[rintense]

I like the idea of three years and you're gone. But that's about it. Nothing on how to tackle the current illegal situation, or how to round the ones who choose to stay illegal. I'll wait and see the fighting within Congress to see how this pans out. And I don't think it will.

[Jorge]

And they'll be stupid enough to vote for him.

And I suppose the smart people will vote for the UN butt kissing, terrorist appeasing Howard Dean. Right?

[Jodi]

That picture is killin' me. will you please ask my husband if I can have another puppy?

[quidnunc]

mercy wrote: Can't wait for his second term. I expect him to disolve the Constitution of the United States and form the Universal Federation of Earth.

Some of the so-called conservatives on Free Republic are beginning to sound as uninged as the most crazed of the Democratic-Underground head cases.

Get a grip, people!

[MJY1288]

I feel this is an issue that deserves more than 2% of attention. We can be the stupid party as usual and self destruct on this issue like we did in 1992 over "Read My Lips" and elect Howard Dean or maybe even Dennis Kucinich.

Or we can debate this issue and formulate several suggestions that are rational and worthy of serious consideration by our elected Representatives. This is huge forum and we could probably offer some really good suggestions if we could depart from the usual flame wars that draw lots of chuckles from those ignorant trolls over at DU.

I suggest we try and organize teams of people who differ on this issue and make a serious effort to make a difference. Free Republic is not just a gathering of kooks, there are very smart people here who can make a real difference.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Maybe other parts of the country don't care what happens on the border. But then again, I care more about where I live.

[SerpentDove]

>>I can see how this could be a brilliant political move --- time will tell. <<

Maybe. Maybe not. I know that CFR didn't turn out to be quite the "stroke of genius" a few FReepers thought it would be.

[FITZ]

That grass don't have very deep roots.

Apparently jobs and the economy are hot topics --- and the news on the number of new jobs was not good today. It's going to be hard for Bush to justify matching Mexicans to those few jobs being created.

[ArneFufkin]

BINGO... And it's usually the ones who start the name calling who twist it

Gephardt AFL-CIO Democrats masquerading as conservatives.

[FITZ]

Only 3 topics got more than 4 --- jobs and the economy are way at the top --- jobs and the economy are one big factor in the problem of having massive immigration while free trade is sending all the jobs out of this country.

[PuNcH]

To think we can deport all of these people is not possible, 8 to 12 million Deportee's would require at least 100,000 buses, and possible 500,000 troops or Nat'l Guardsman to round them up. And then consider what this kind of mass deportation would look like around the world, the liberals would have a field day portraying all of us as Nazi's.

UH oh, theres that nazi word again.

Migrants sent home 6.3 billion dollars in 2003. Mexico made 5 billion in tourism for comparison. The key word here is "home".

If we enforced current laws and went after employers and stopped the handouts, we wouldnt need to round them up, bus them and put them in refugee camps. They would go home.

It would be easier to enforce current laws than the guest worker proposal btw.

[quidnunc]

Jodi wrote: sorry, I haven't read any of the posts following yours. But, I'm sure they all proclaim they are never voting for W. again. btw, this christian approves of the Prez's plan.

A lot of them do.

There are a lot of Freepers wading hip-deep in the fetid muck of the Buchananland fever swamps tonight.

[Missouri]

The speaker and guest of honor is Tom Tancredo.

Tell him for all of us that were behind him.

BTW. Glad your back.

[RLK]

PA went to Gore by only 200,000 votes out of 5 million. Only 82% of our conservatives voted for Bush.

----------------------------

The 18% who did't were the ones smart enough to know they were being sucker-punched.

[FITZ]

True about the maybe not --- I'm just trying to imagine how it possibly could be.

Really the proposals are too vague for any of us to be sure --- and Bush seemed to only mention matching workers to jobs and he didn't spell out what would happen to illegals who don't have jobs now but are here. He didn't mention who was going to pay for the health care costs of the blue carders. Would this be a way to get the employers to start paying the costs of their guest workers? The employers would pay their hospital bills?