Posted on 05/16/2006 10:36:52 AM PDT by NotchJohnson
THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH
First .. the email. I reviewed a couple of pages of emails from listeners this morning. Truth be told, I didn't find one single email from anyone who actually liked the president's speech last night. (transcript & video) I just checked again as I was writing this paragraph ... still not one positive comment.
Well ... as it happens, I thought that the speech went rather well, though I don't particularly agree with all of the steps the president wants to take. My main point of contention with Bush is that he says that any immigration bill or immigration reform right now has to be "comprehensive." By that Bush means that we have to have a bill that both deals with the porous border between the U.S. and Mexico, and deals with the 12 million invaders who are here already.
Nonsense.
Nowhere is it written that both issues have to be tackled at the same time. Here's an analogy. Let's say that you have some pipes burst in your house. You wake up in the middle of the night to hear water flowing out of the ceiling onto your furniture, your carpeting ... everywhere. Now you have two problems here. One is how to stop the water. The other problem is how you're going to fix up the damage the water has already done. So ... are you going to sit there and tell me that you just can't go outside and turn off the water until after you've decided which pieces of furniture you're going to save, and which you're going to throw away and how you're going to clean the carpeting and fix the rest of the water damage? Pardon me, but only a complete idiot would take that approach. Your first step is going to be to run to the water shut-off valve for the entire house and stop the flow of water! Then, and only then, will you start to worry about how to clean up the mess.
Well ... not President Bush! Oh .. and not the Democrats in the Senate either! They don't want the flow of water shut off until you have developed a detailed plan on just what you're going to save, what you're going to throw away, and how you're going to fix the rest of the damage. This is pure idiocy! The only people who could benefit from a plan like this are those who get paid to clean up the mess!
Bush's plan for comprehensive immigration reform has five elements.
First ... he says that the U.S. must secure its borders. This is his offering to the 8 out of 10 Americans who want the invasion to stop ... now! And that includes a majority of Hispanics living legally in this country. Bush says he will deploy up to 6000 members will be deployed, but they'll generally be pushing pencils and buttons, and not involved in direct law enforcement duties. Bush says that the U.S. is not going to militarize the southern border and that Mexico is our friend. Sorry .. this invasion is being promoted by the Mexican government. Any government that promotes an invasion of our country is not our friend. By the way, does anyone remember Vicente Fox ever saying that it is wrong for some of these gate-crashers to call themselves "reconquistadores" and that Mexico does not, in fact, place any claim on Los Angeles?
Bush wants to create a temporary worker program. He says he wants to create a legal path for foreign workers to enter our country in an orderly way for a limited period of time. Temporary workers must return to their homelands at the end of their stay. First of all, I'm not convinced that a temporary worker program is necessary ... but if one is needed, permission to enter this country to participate in this program should be granted to those who have played by the rules, not those who have broken the law by coming here uninvited. There are millions of Mexicans who are waiting patiently for their approval to enter this country. Give them precedence. Those that are here should be required to register for the temporary worker program IN MEXICO!
Bush wants to hold employers to account for the workers they hire. Yeah? Let's see how harsh the penalties will be. He wants a new ID card for every legal foreign worker. Good idea. Here's a better one. Those ID cards can ONLY be issued by American embassies and consulates outside of this country.
The president says that we need to face the reality that millions are here already. Face the reality? Does he think that we somehow missed those threatening marches with all of those Mexican flags waving a few weeks back? Bush says that they should not be given an automatic path to citizenship, that this would be amnesty. Sorry ... allowing them to stay here is amnesty. Giving them an automatic path to citizenship would be something much worse than amnesty. How about a nice slap in the face to every single immigrant in this country who played by the rules to get here? He says that deportation is not wise or realistic. Sure, it would be wise .. but it would be unrealistic. Any attempt to deport 12 million illegals would be met with violence. There is a way. Look to yesterday's Nealz Nuze. Bush also says that we should recognize the differences between illegals who crossed border recently and the ones who have been here for many years. Yeah .. I can see the difference. Those who have been here for many years just have been getting away with it longer. Bush says that his plan is not amnesty. Sorry, Mr. President, it most certainly is. When you do not punish those who have violated the law, when you legitimize them .. that's amnesty.
Bush then said that we should honor American tradition of the melting pot. Good words. There is also an American tradition of legal immigration. How about honoring that tradition also! A few more points:
Georgia Republican Senator Johnny Isakson is said to be ready to introduce an amendment to any immigration reform bill that would require that the Department of Homeland Security certify that our borders are secure before a guest worker program can be instituted. Pundits say that this would chase the Democrats away. Why? This one is easy. It's because Democrats don't want secure borders. Democrats see the invasion force as a ready source of future Democratic votes.
What did you think of Bush's speech on immigration May 15th? Right on! They delayed my tv shows for that? What speech?
Now ... as for the guest worker program. This idea is certainly not original with me, but I have presented it here before. There is a way to insure that anyone in this country to participate in such a guest worker program would not stay here once their time is up. It's really very simple. You don't pay them. You pay the agency that arranged for them to be here. When their time is up, the money is gone.
Here .. let me explain. There is necessarily going to be some government involvement in this program, but we can keep it to a minimum. You set up some employment agencies that specialize in obtaining Mexican guest workers for U.S. businesses that need the extra or seasonal help. These employment agencies are hired by and paid by the private businesses who need the workers. They obtain the workers from Mexico and provide for their transportation to their place of employment in the U.S. The employer pays the agency for the workers, and then the agency pays the workers. When the temporary guest worker assignment is over, the employer stops payment to the agencies and the money to the guest worker dries up. We would need harsh -- extremely harsh -- penalties for any employer that tries to pay a guest worker directly. Under this system the agencies are responsible for transportation to and from the U.S. and making sure the workers get paid. These agencies, of course, would work under strict federal regulatory supervision.
The key to this ... and the key to removing any suggestion of amnesty ... is that all guest workers in this country must sign up for the program in their home country, not here. All ID cards for guest workers must be issued ONLY in that worker's country. If you want American dinero, you go home to sign up. For the rest who chose to stay here ... yank out the welcome mat.
No ... I don't want to run for president.
Bush got all the liberal votes in the Senate. Just think, he will get Maxine Waters vote in the House. LOL
CNN has a poll just up, and the results are staggeringly in the president's favor. 79 percent of those who watched had a very favorable or favorable view of the speech, and those who support the president's policies rose in number from 42 to 67 percent.
From the Corner:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmY4Y2MxOGM1OWY2Njk1ZWM2NGNlN2ViNjhmMzU2OTQ
Posted by Peach to SittinYonder
On News/Activism 05/16/2006 3:27:36 PM EDT · 7 of 7
For those who can't open a PDF file, I've written down what the link from CNN says. I don't know how to print out a PDF file on this forum so here is what the link details:
Do you favor or opposed putting the National Guard on the border?
Favor: 75%
Oppose: 21%
No opinion: 2%
Do you favor or oppose Bush policies on immigration:
Pre Speech:
Positive: 42%
Negative: 38%
No opinion: 2%
After the speech:
Positive: 67%
Oppose: 27%
No opinion: 6%
What was your impression of the speech:
Very positive: 40%
Somewhat positive: 39%
Somewhat negative: 11%
Very negative: 7%
Both: 2%
No opinion: 2%
Do you consider immigration important to the fall elections:
Most important issue: 7%
Very important: 47%
SOmewhat important: 37%
Not important: 7%
No opinion: 2%
Do you favor or oppose the proposal regarding illegals already here for a number of years and the plan for them to stay and earn citizenship:
Favor: 74%
Oppose: 20%
No opinion: 6%
Do you favor or oppose the proposal Bush made to allow foreign people to enter the US to work temporarily?
Favor: 69%
Oppose: 27%
No opinion: 4%
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/images/05/15/top13-may15-2006.pdf
Truth be told, I didn't find one single email from anyone who actually liked the president's speech last night.
No, they were too busy giving him and his family death threats for him reading the "Da Vinci Code".
Kudos to you for your attempt, but this ray of light in regard to the public's response cannot dispell the gloom on these FR immigration threads.
"I'm beginning to believe that Vicente Fox has some 8x10 glossies of Bush in some verrrrry compromising positions."
I've always wondered about that -- with no LOL. It's the only scenario that makes sense, really.
well we know for a fact that the Clintons have what I call a "J.Edgar Hoover" insurance policy(copies of the F.B.I. files)...only reason why neither the Clintons or any of their subordinates have been jailed.
When you boil it all down, conservatives are an amalgam of goofballs.
Me too.
true...but his audience VOTES REPUBLICAN
review
Where do you live, exactly ???
Here in SoCal, it certainly looks like a house with a lot of water damage and getting worse every day. The analogy is right on point.
True, but how many emails did he receive this morning? The total, which could have been in the hundreds, would be a number considered "statistically insignificant" when considering his total audience. And of course he's going to hear from the hotheads.
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