Posted on 04/26/2006 5:20:12 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
President Bush generally favors plans to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at U.S. citizenship without leaving the country, but does not want to be more publicly supportive because of opposition among conservative House Republicans, according to senators who attended a recent White House meeting.
Several officials familiar with the meeting also said Democrats protested radio commercials that blamed them for Republican-written legislation that passed the House and would make illegal immigrants vulnerable to felony charges.
Bush said he was unfamiliar with the ads, which were financed by the Republican National Committee, according to officials familiar with the discussions.
At another point, Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other members of his party pressed the president about their concern that any Senate-passed bill would be made unpalatable in final talks with the House.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat, said the lawmaker who would lead House negotiators, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, had been "intractable" in negotiations on other high-profile bills in the past. Bush did not directly respond to the remark, officials said.
The Republican and Democratic officials who described the conversation did so Wednesday on condition of anonymity, saying they had not been authorized to disclose details.
Bush convened the session to give momentum to the drive for election-year immigration legislation, a contentious issue that has triggered large street demonstrations and produced divisions in both political parties. Senators of both parties emerged from the session praising the president's involvement and said the timetable was achievable.
"Yes, he thinks people should be given a path to citizenship," said Sen. Mel Martinez., R-Fla., a leading supporter of immigration legislation in the Senate.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Oh yeah --- Condi got a whole stampede of her own!
LOL - - - We sure had fun.
In all seriousness, the thing that suprises me is how low Gas is on the list. I suppose, however, that people may lump that in with the economy.
But it is a truly stunning poll.
Thanks, but I'm very happy that we have Justice Roberts and Alito on the Supreme court right now. (I'm not sure your Independent President would have accomplished that.)
I'm very happy that the Middle East looks quite a bit different than it did in 2000 with emerging democracies, and I very pleased with the reduction in income tax.
Now if that's all liberal to you, than go find a country that's more conservative.
You voided your vote.
Let me see if I have this straight:
Leaving aside the fact that the goalposts move more than Beyonce, are you now saying that until the border is secure and employers don't hire illegals, you're fine with them staying here illegally?
Good gosh, I want to know WHO they are and WHERE they are.
You know, I think we agree on a lot. There is a lot of yelling about this issue, but we're closer than we think.
Anyway, I appreciate the conversation. Sleep tight.
I guess many of his base are just plan stupid. They must have had some dumb idea he would do the will of the people. A lot of us didn't vote for Bush in 2000, we voted against Gore.
I would so love to somehow leak a story to Drudge saying that Governor Jeb Bush was in secret negotiations with Condi Rice about a run for the White House.
If Drudge put it up it would be here in seconds and the exploding heads would be hilarious.
FOTFLOL! You're truly evil...lol.
Are we in the Twilight Zone? What's wrong with quoting a newspaper?
????? Poppy was VP from 1980-1988. He was POTUS 1989-early 2003. Perot ran in the 2002 election cycle against GHW Bush. BTW I didn't and wouldn't have voted for Perot. Dole was my last GOP POTUS vote and I was disgusted doing so. The 1996 GOP Convention looked like a Freak Show. After that I started listening to what ALL candidates had to say.
Who did I lie about?
Thanks! Very clarifying.
There are lots of us who are really trying to get our own pensions sorted out. Ticks me off that the President got stymied on this, but until the boomer generation gets less powerful, I don't think much can be done.
I worry about security over liberty...or what I tell my kids, security over opportunity. To me that is a bigger threat than anything else we face from within.
Anyway, thanks again.
Apparently you think that the only "Free" here applies to you and your beliefs.
When you threaten the party by saying you'll stay home or vote 3rd party, are we suppose to say nothing? Wave? Forward your mail?
Just remember, if you stay home and don't vote, or you vote third party, the Democrats are going to win.
And two things are going to happen:
You'll be all over FR for years to come carping about how much you've REALLY lost
and two)
You won't have to worry about whether your vote counts or not, because the first thing the Democrats are going to do is dismantle the Electoral College.
And we'll all be right here, waiting to "thank" you for your participation in destroying this country.
The real freak show came with the last Reform Party convention...another person who ran out of a personal hatred for anyone named "Bush".
YOu said people who don't agree with you are supporting open borders.
Nite, CWO!
See you tomorry I hope.
That's an...interesting analysis.
Ain't that the truth
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