TOM TANCREDO for PRESIDENT 2008:"Our Last and Only Hope to Save America."
CLICK>>>Tom Tancredo's CONGRESSIONAL IMMIGRATION REFORM CAUCUS LINK
Posted on 01/05/2005 2:28:17 PM PST by nanak
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Bush faces a major rebellion within his own party if he follows through on a promise to push legislation that would offer millions of illegal immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship. Almost no issue divides Republicans as deeply.
To get the guest-worker initiative through Congress, Bush will need to go against the wishes of many Republicans and forge bipartisan alliances. That's what President Clinton did in 1993 to win approval for a free trade agreement with México and Canada, over objections of a large bloc of congressional Democrats.
The chance seems slim for finding common ground between those in favor of liberalized immigration laws -- Bush, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for example -- and those who want fewer immigrants, tougher border controls and harsher penalties.
Opposition is strongest among House Republicans.
"In our party, this is a deep division that is growing deeper every minute," says Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. He heads a group of 70 lawmakers who are against easing immigration laws.
Tancredo said Bush's guest-worker proposal is "a pig with lipstick" and will not pass.
Bush asserts that he won valuable "political capital" in the election and intends to spend it. It is not clear how much of that he is willing to spend on the immigration measure.
Higher on his list of priorities is overhauling the Social Security system, rewriting the tax laws, limiting lawsuit judgments, and making his first-term tax cuts permanent.
An estimated 10 million immigrants live in the United States illegally; the vast majority are from México, with an additional million arriving every year.
A hint of the trouble ahead for Bush on immigration came last month when proposals to tighten -- not ease -- border restrictions nearly undermined a bill to restructure U.S. intelligence agencies.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee wanted the measure to bar states from giving a driver's license to illegal immigrants. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said some of the Sept. 11 hijackers gained access to U.S. aircraft by using a driver's license as identification.
Sensenbrenner ultimately backed down, but only after House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, promised that the chairman's proposal would be considered in separate legislation in 2005.
Hastert also indicated he would not move ahead on major legislation unless it was supported by a majority of Republicans in the GOP-controlled House -- and that he would not rely on Democratic support to pass a bill.
Immigration overhaul is "an issue that splits both parties, and given the new Hastert rule, may never go anywhere," said William A. Niskanen, chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute. Niskanen was a member of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers.
The president's plan would grant temporary-worker status, for three years to six years, to millions of undocumented workers. It also would it easier for those workers to get permanent U.S. citizenship.
As governor of Texas, Bush was committed to immigration changes.
As president, he came close to making a deal with Mexican President Vicente Fox in the days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Those plans were put on hold as tighter borders took on a higher priority for the United States.
As a presidential candidate, both in 2000 and 2004, Bush eagerly courted Latinos, the fastest-growing ethnic group in the electorate.
"We will keep working to make this nation a welcoming place for Hispanic people, a land of opportunity para todos (for all) who live here in America," Bush told the League of United Latin American Citizens last summer.
Bush claimed 35 percent of Latino voters in 2000 and at least 40 percent last Nov. 2, according to exit polls. That compares with the 21 percent won by Bob Dole in 1996 and the 25 percent that Bush's father got in 1992.
Republican consultants suggest Bush will not make a big push for his immigration bill until he has achieved his goals on Social Security and the tax laws. They also say the president may jettison the immigration bill if it would jeopardize other parts of his agenda.
Inside the administration, nobody is suggesting that passing the immigration plan would be anything other than extremely difficult.
"We don't want to overpromise," Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a visit last November to México City.
Immigration? Call the 800lb gorilla what it really is ILLEGAL INSURGENTS! Tsunami flood of illegals, isn't that against the law? Isnt the government supposed to uphold the law?
TOM TANCREDO for PRESIDENT 2008:"Our Last and Only Hope to Save America."
CLICK>>>Tom Tancredo's CONGRESSIONAL IMMIGRATION REFORM CAUCUS LINK
Bush is wrong!!! I hope the anti-immigration gang kill his stupid plan. God help us if they don't.
Can't figure Bush out on this one.
I didn't realize that Arnold had a vote in Congress. I guess you learn a new thing every day.
It would be nice if he spent it on tax reform (the abolition of the estate and marriage penalty taxes, the IRS, the "progressive" income tax, etc), judicial reform (giving the boot to socialist/activist judges who legislate from the bench), and effective immigration reform (amnesty programs don't qualify).
Bush is dead wrong on this one. He is for granting far more rights to illegals than to those seeking to immigrate legally. It's wrong, very, very wrong.
Dear Mr. President: We have fought for you, defended you and have voted you in for a second term. I still have my Bush/Cheney sticker in my rear window to savor the victory. I generally get "thumbs up", as well as an occastional "middle finger salute" (from sore losers). The War and our determination to win it was our first consideration of our trust and respect for you. We pulled through for you, now is time to seal the borders and stabilize a very serious problem. Thanks - Bob
I cant understand why President Bush would go against Republicans so that he can kiss Vincente Fox on the posterior.
So glad I didn't vote for this fool.
I agree. What I don't understand is why he is pushing such an insane plan when it will help to destroy America. It just doesn't make sense!
Can't figure the dems out either because it is taking jobs away from their base. But there is an answer. It is the "Two-Party Cartel" that's Congress which is bought & owned by the elites. The elites that have NO alligence to America over any other country. They own Congress & will not allow another viable party to counter them. We people are hostage to them. Only when you vote outside of this cartel will we get any response.
Check out the FTAA (Free trade Area of the Americas) and you'll see how the plan is to create an American Union ala the EU which will bring on many changes to our system of governance, law and border enforcement. I'm convinced illegal immigration has been the conditioning method to force us to accept this new paradigm no matter what.
It is true corporate fascism at it's finest......multi-national corps. manipulating their bought and paid for lackeys in Congress and the fedgov to bring this about while their "useful mediots" provide plenty of cover.........(MJ, Scott Peterson, soon - Robert Blake, Martha Stewart, et al.
Many folks in the EU are now waking up to the fact that their individual national sovereignty was relinquished when they signed on to the EU. I've heard there's some real hell raising going on over there regarding the EU Constitution being forced on them.
Wall first the border first, then we can talk about a guest worker program. Until then we have to work on getting initiatives like denying illegal driver's licenses and state benefits on the ballot.
We can't wait till for terrorists to hook up with the smugglers south of the border. Our jails are filling up with illegals and Mexico won't take them back.
How much more do we have to spend on manpower and technology to fight the war on terror and the war on drugs when a simple wall would significantly reduce the flow of drugs and people of unknown origin?
Is it fair for relatively unskilled laborers to just be able to jump in line to reach America before those skilled people who go through?
I want healthy immigration. Ideally we want to do whatever we can to encourage the “brain and skill” dump. We should want the most intelligent and skillful people who want to make America their home(assimilate) and to make America better by using their abilities to their fullest potential. Barring that, we should at least want people here that wish to assimilate and be Americans.
I don't check out the DU much, but how do they feel about this?
bttt
Yaarrrrrrrrrr
"Wall first the border first" = "Wall the border first"
The alternative candidate would have been 100 times worse. Immediate amnesty for all illegals, pull out of Iraq and let the terrorists have their way, etc., etc...
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