Posted on 08/05/2005 1:04:32 PM PDT by Reaganwuzthebest
The president, in a wide-ranging talk, gives a hint at how he'll pitch reform measures
GRAPEVINE - President Bush told a crowd of state legislators Wednesday that he will push immigration reform as beneficial for U.S. employers as well as foreigners looking for work.
He also made an impassioned pitch for Americans to stay behind the war in Iraq.
"Immigration reform is going to be an interesting subject when we get back to Washington" in September, said Bush, who plans to spend this month at his Crawford ranch.
He argued that his proposal for a "guest worker" program is good for employers and illegal immigrants who want a mutually beneficial relationship.
"If you are a willing employer (and) you have somebody looking for work and you can't find an American, there ought to be a legal way for you to employ that person," he said. "We'd rather have people coming in with a card that said, 'I'm a legal worker,' than trying to sneak across the border."
The president has proposed a system under which immigrants would be granted worker temporary worker status, after which they would have to leave the United States. Critics have called it a thinly veiled amnesty program. Immigration reform plans have stalled in Congress so far this year, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist recently suggested a GOP push on the issue was more likely to happen next year.
Talking hours after the first reports that 14 U.S. Marines were killed in Iraq, Bush said, "The violence in recent days in Iraq is a grim reminder of the enemies we face. These terrorists and insurgents will use brutal tactics because they're trying to shake the will of the United States of America."
With polls showing that public support for continued military involvement in Iraq is eroding in the face of steady casualties, Bush relied on a familiar linkage of the war with the larger struggle against terrorism. He said Americans who died in Iraq and Afghanistan "lost their lives in a noble cause."
Speaking to 1,800 people at the American Legislative Exchange Council conference, Bush basked in recent legislative victories delivered by a GOP majority in Congress, including the Central American Free Trade Agreement and energy and highways legislation.
Bush said his priorities when Congress reconvenes after Labor Day will be immigration reform, making his tax cuts permanent, getting Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts confirmed and resurrecting his Social Security reform initiative.
Bush drew loud cheers by saying he strongly believed in private retirement accounts for workers under 55. "Now is the time to permanently fix Social Security," he said.
The event was held at a mammoth convention center where visiting legislators were introduced to Texas pride, including a large replica of the Alamo, a 10-foot-long space shuttle model and other state symbols.
Open borders and unaccountable corporations that hire illegals ALREADY BENEFIT from the taxpayer's subsidy of illegal workers ---
So what is new Bush? Still the same old amnesty shell game...
Mr. President, listen to DeLay.
I can not believe they are still repeating this. Do they have any idea how much this pisses people off?
But a guest worker program that simply legalizes all the illegals in place is unacceptable. The GOP will implode if it tries to push that on us.
Oh well, a "guest" worker is better than a "guessed" worker, I suppose........
How about a bill that benefits US employee's?
Thank you Mr. President. How about the benefit to the average American who is a worker not an employee? Oh that's right, he gets to watch his wages drop, opportunity decrease and continues to pay for benefits for the illegals and quasi-legals.
Gee, Mr.Bush, can you possibly work any harder to get the Democrap majority back in Congress? Pushing this plan against the wishes of the majority of your own party and the people is nothing short of giving Hitlery victory.
"Here's my solution: Reduce unemployment and welfare benefits. Then people WILL take those jobs."
I'd vote for that candidate!
Why bother? We'll remember those peasants when we start to worry they might vote democrap. Talk about abandoning your base, hard working American conservatives the majority of whom will have their standards of living dropped by this.
We are going to have to put up a solid front against this no matter how nasty it gets. Georgie is not going to give my country away.
I'm beginning to fear that Bush is really another of the "One World" nuts. His failure to secure the borders and continued harping for the "guest worker" program really pisses me off.
Yes, go home fist then come back with a SSN number and pay taxes.
Do away with the contract labor BS so they cannot avoid teh taxman and they will want to stay home.
Just when I thought he couldn't do any worse on this issue..
He's completely forgotten the overwhelmingly negative reaction he received when this scheme was first proposed last year.
We should also repeal clean air, clean water, 40 hour work weeks and child labor and arrest more people for prison factories. Then at last we can properly compete with the Chinese.
And it's not his (country) to give away.
here we go. President Hillary Clinton/2008 is one step closer.
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