Tony: Immigration complex and who went to the briefing today got an appreciation of that. House members have expressed concerns. President looking for a practical way to handle border and interior security and deal iwth number of immigration problems we've always had.
Lots of talk about border security - he will commit more border patrol agents and assets than even the House proposal. The president was speaking last night to the American people about an issue of enormous importance to him. He will demonstrate leadership.
? These aren't new issues, Tony. It's a path toward citizenship for those who are here illegally. That's amnesty. The definition hasn't changed over time.
TonY: I don't leap to conclusions about what the House is going to do. Amnesty - all sins are forgiven. In this case, the president is taking issue with it being called amnesty. They will pay fines, criminal penalty, stay clean, stay employed, learn ENglish, have tamper proof identification and then go to the end of the line to become citizen.
In addition, the people who would qualify for that have to pay all the fees and go through the steps.
Jim: It still doesn't address the issue that these people are here illegally according to people in the House.
Tony: The president acknowledged that.
Jim: Reac ching out to both wings in this debate. Hasn't he attached all his political capital on an issue that will be doa?
Tony: It's a leadership course. He gave a speech he believes outlines the proper parameters of a reasonable and practical solution.
God bless you, Peach.
Oh Lord, here's Helen on wire taps.
You are the absolute greatest.
Thanks for all the cubicle bound, though I am not one of them.
:)
Helen: The president denied he ever broke the law with regard to wiretaps and that calls had a foreign aspect. Are all the stories untrue that millions of Americans have been wiretapped.
Tony: What he said about the terrorist surveillance program - they are done in accordance with the law. He's done everything within the confines of the law. The USA Today story - the administration hasno comment but the story says that there is no wiretapping about individual calls or information like address, name, no description of who is on the call.
You are interpretting about a program we will neither confirm nor deny. The president has talked about one surveillance program and now you think we have to make intel gathering transparent. There's a WOT. AQ does not believe in transparency. AQ believes in mahem and the president has a constitutional duty...
Helen keeps interrupting.
? : Why not declassify this. The president talked about it and affects far more poeple. It did sound like the president was confirming this.
Tony: I'm not going to stand up here and declassify some program. The president has to make that decision. He wasn't confirming or denying.
Go back to the USA Today story. Look at the poll that occurred the following day. If there's a roster of phone numbers, do you feel comfortable with that, 64% of Americans didn't have a problem with that.
? : Other polls show Americans are concerned.
Tony: Can't run national security on poll numbers. As pres of the US you have to make decisions in the country's best interest. When people were given the specifics of that story, they weren't terribly troubled.
Helen: We are now.
Tony: That might be because of the way it's spun.