Posted on 11/27/2006 10:36:38 AM PST by jmc813
The White House is reaching out to leading congressional Democrats on the issue of overhauling immigration, hoping to build a bipartisan coalition to support a "guest worker" program and provide a path to legalized status for many undocumented immigrants, lawmakers and administration officials said. President Bush has expressed an eagerness to work with Democrats on the issue in private meetings with lawmakers and in public statements, as he seeks to strike a new tone with Democrats who will be in control of Congress for the final two years of his presidency. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who is set to take the chairmanship of the subcommittee that oversees immigration issues, has already met with leading Republicans -- including Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Judiciary Committee's top Republican -- to begin crafting a new bill early next year. " They are hoping to have Congress vote on a final immigration bill by mid-2007, according to congressional aides.
Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who leads a group of hard-liners on the immigration issue in the House, said he was dejected in the days after the election and was ready to concede that a comprehensive bill is all but unstoppable. But watching early signs of disunity among Democrats, he said, gives him hope that conservatives can coalesce to defeat anything they view as "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants, despite the formidable power of a White House working in concert with congressional leaders. "Now we've got a fighting chance to stop this," Tancredo said. " They're going to have a tough time constructing a bill that will be able to hold whatever kind of coalition they can put together. You have these various forces pulling at it all ways."
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Spite the GOP House by not voting.
Get blanket amnesty.
The last time Bush did this, we ended up with the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. Bad things happen when Bush negotiates with Dems over the objections of conservatives.
From Bush's press conference afte the election. I listened to it. He almost had an orgasm when the reporter brought up the democrats and his "comprehensive immigration reform":
"Q: On immigration, many Democrats had more positive things to say about your comprehensive proposal than many Republicans did. Do you think a Democratic Congress gives you a better shot at comprehensive immigration reform?
BUSH: You know, I should've brought this up. I do. I think we have a good chance. Thank you. It's an important issue, and I hope we can get something done on it. I meant to put that in my list of things that we need to get done.
I would hope Republicans have recognized that we've taken very strong security measures to address one aspect of comprehensive immigration reform.
And I was talking to Secretary Chertoff today. You know, he thinks that these measures we're taking are beginning to have measurable effects and that catch-and-release has virtually been ended over the last couple of months.
And that's positive, and that's what some members were concerned about prior to advancing a comprehensive bill.
In other words, they said, Show me progress on the border, and then we'll be interested in talking about other aspects. Well, there is progress being made on the border in terms of security, and I would hope we can get something done.
It's a vital issue. It's an issue that there's an issue where I believe we can find some common ground with the Democrats.
Q: What are the odds for a guest-worker provision?
BUSH: Well, that's got to be an integral part of a comprehensive plan.
When you're talking comprehensive immigration reform, one part of it is a guest-worker program, where people can come on a temporary basis to do jobs Americans are not doing.
I've always felt like that's been an important aspect of securing the border. In other words, if somebody's not trying to sneak in in the first place, it decreases the workload on our Border Patrol and lets the Border Patrol focus on drugs and guns and terrorists.
But I appreciate you bringing that up. I should have remembered it.
Listen, thank you all very much for your time. I appreciate your interest."
Exactly, get rid of the guys who were for being tough on immigration and now we have the party in power that's not going to want to do much about illegal immigration.
Gonna be long two years.
Brilliant political strategy!
Our plan has worked!
bush can be stopped on this. He has been stopped before.
LOL! Like it wasn't coming anyway.
The White House is reaching out to leading congressional Democrats on the issue of overhauling immigration, hoping to build a bipartisan coalition to support a "guest worker" program and provide a path to legalized status for many undocumented immigrants
The bush legacy
Somehow I don't think there'll be much "seeking" involved.
paty to ANYTHING for illegals is amnesty.
You can do everything else, the guest worker, immigration reform EVERYTHING without needing to adress the illegals.
ILLEGAL ALIENS ALREADY HAVE THE RIGHT TO PETITION FOR A HARDSHIP VISA!. THIS IS THE LAW NOW!
If an illegal has been here for ten years and has sufficient real ties they can petition to get a permanent visa. RIGHT NOW!
No need for any new amnesty.
The DBM skips that legal data.
But it took Dems to pass it over the objections of GOP conservatives.
Well, President Bush surely does not give a rats patoot about what his Conservative base thinks, and then wonders at the same time why his party lost Congress. He's now setting us up for the fall of his Presidency to the 'Rats in 2008.
I agree about the moderate Republicans. I think that the only immigration bill that Bush should consider is the one that was passed by the House. Our government should try to deport as many illegals as possible, as quickly as possible.
I know of a conservative who might run for President, Senator George Allen. Although he lost this month, he's considering running for President. His ratings from the American Conservative Union and National Right to Life Committee are about 90%, and and his ratings from the AFL-CIO and ACLU are about 10%. He would have a better chance of winning as a former senator than as a senator. Two U.S. senators (Harding and Kennedy) were elected president, and seven former U.S. senators were elected president.
6 + years and W hasn't learned jacksh*t.
Yeas | Nays | PRES | NV | |
Republican | 204 | 25 | ||
Democratic | 16 | 189 | ||
Independent | 1 | |||
TOTALS | 220 | 215 |
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.