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Bush seeks unity on immigration -Reaches out to Democrats to craft new bill (Barf Alert)
Boston Globe ^ | 11-27-2006 | Rick Klein

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 ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government
KEYWORDS: aliens; bush; comprehensive; guestworker; immigrantlist
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1 posted on 11/27/2006 10:36:41 AM PST by jmc813
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To: jmc813

Spite the GOP House by not voting.

Get blanket amnesty.


2 posted on 11/27/2006 10:38:41 AM PST by new yorker 77 (Speaker Pelosi - Three cheers for Amnesty!)
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To: jmc813
The White House is reaching out to leading congressional Democrats

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.

3 posted on 11/27/2006 10:39:00 AM PST by dirtboy (Objects in tagline are closer than they appear)
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To: jmc813
provide a path to legalized status for many undocumented immigrants

That is amnesty for those in Rio Linda.

Bush is like a pit bull. He will not let go of it. He has his jaws locked on amnesy and he is bound and determined to get it through.
4 posted on 11/27/2006 10:41:10 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: jmc813
I am starting to feel a little sick to my stomach of Republican's and how some of us behave.

These Socialist Republican Appeaser's (SRA) are not good for us. They support social spending, bigger government, and all the pork with nary a veto, oh there was one.

I only regret that we didn't have a real conservative to run for POTUS.
5 posted on 11/27/2006 10:42:18 AM PST by stockpirate (John Kerry & FBI files ==> http://www.freerepublic.com/~stockpirate/)
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To: jmc813

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."


6 posted on 11/27/2006 10:42:43 AM PST by raybbr (You think it's bad now - wait till the anchor babies start to vote.)
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To: new yorker 77

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.


7 posted on 11/27/2006 10:42:44 AM PST by psjones (u)
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To: jmc813
Just read that Bush is reaching out to Democrats on Social Security reform, without private accounts. Now its immigration reform, amnesty and a path to citizenship.

Gonna be long two years.

8 posted on 11/27/2006 10:42:51 AM PST by Reagan Man (Conservatives don't support amnesty and conservatives don't vote for liberals!)
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To: new yorker 77

Brilliant political strategy!

Our plan has worked!


9 posted on 11/27/2006 10:42:53 AM PST by roses of sharon
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To: TomGuy

bush can be stopped on this. He has been stopped before.


10 posted on 11/27/2006 10:43:41 AM PST by ckilmer
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To: new yorker 77

LOL! Like it wasn't coming anyway.


11 posted on 11/27/2006 10:45:30 AM PST by L98Fiero (Built to please and raised to rock.)
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To: dirtboy
The White House is reaching out to leading congressional Democrats

The last time Bush did this, we ended up with the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit.


Actually, the Prescription Drug Bill was a House document. Hastert locked the Dems out of the bill drafting, and turned that task over to drug and insurance company representatives.

You can't blame the Dems for that one. They didn't have much to do with it.

In fact, when the House voted, they were supposed to have a 15-minute vote. Nearly 2 hours later, Hastert was still twisting arms and holding the voting period open. There were 5 hold-outs (IIRC) --- on the GOP side. Hastert needed at least 2 of them to get a passing vote.
12 posted on 11/27/2006 10:46:56 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: 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

The bush legacy


13 posted on 11/27/2006 10:46:57 AM PST by WhiteGuy (GO BUCKS 12-0)
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To: jmc813

Somehow I don't think there'll be much "seeking" involved.


14 posted on 11/27/2006 10:46:59 AM PST by Tim Long (Pro-live birth abortion Obama coming to Rick Warren's church Dec. 1st. What purpose is driving that?)
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To: jmc813; All

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.


15 posted on 11/27/2006 10:47:42 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: TomGuy
Actually, the Prescription Drug Bill was a House document. Hastert locked the Dems out of the bill drafting, and turned that task over to drug and insurance company representatives.

But it took Dems to pass it over the objections of GOP conservatives.

16 posted on 11/27/2006 10:48:42 AM PST by dirtboy (Objects in tagline are closer than they appear)
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To: jmc813

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.


17 posted on 11/27/2006 10:50:21 AM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner ("Si vis pacem para bellum")
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To: stockpirate

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.


18 posted on 11/27/2006 10:52:23 AM PST by PhilCollins
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To: dirtboy

6 + years and W hasn't learned jacksh*t.


19 posted on 11/27/2006 10:53:01 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
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To: dirtboy
But it took Dems to pass it over the objections of GOP conservatives.

There were 4 or 5 GOP hold outs. Hastert spent nearly 2 hours arm-twisting to get them to vote Yea.


      H R 1      YEA-AND-NAY      22-Nov-2003      5:53 AM
      QUESTION:  On Agreeing to the Conference Report
      BILL TITLE: Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act

Yeas Nays PRES NV
Republican 204 25    
Democratic 16 189    
Independent   1    
TOTALS 220 215    

20 posted on 11/27/2006 10:54:03 AM PST by TomGuy
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