Posted on 05/21/2007 11:07:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The U.S. Senate's compromise immigration bill offers something for everyone to hate, including presidential candidates forced to confront the divisive issue.
Unlike the war in Iraq, which separates lawmakers mainly along party lines, immigration fractures Republican and Democratic ranks from within: splitting business interests from social conservatives, dividing labor from Hispanic groups.
"The issue is fraught with danger," said John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster. "It's one where it's tough to please everybody within your base or coalition."
For that reason, perhaps, the only major candidate who embraced the bipartisan proposal announced Thursday was Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., -- which was not surprising, given his role in helping negotiate the agreement.
However, McCain's decision to step off the campaign trail and appear at a Capitol Hill press conference with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., raised more than a few GOP eyebrows.
"The American people want solutions to major problems," said John Weaver, a McCain strategist. "He's running for president to do the tough things, and he's doing them now."
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson also praised the immigration bill.
"This legislation makes a good start toward resecuring our southern border," Richardson said Friday.
But, like other Democratic candidates, he expressed concern about a temporary worker program and rules governing family unification.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., offered a cautious, wait-and-see response.
"I will scrutinize carefully the proposed compromise to see if it honors our nation's principles and proud immigrant heritage, while also respecting the rule of law," Clinton said.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani offered no direct comment. Rather, the GOP presidential hopeful reiterated his support for tough border enforcement and establishment of a tamper-proof ID and nationwide immigrant database "so that we can make the determination of who's good, who's average, and who's bad." Then, he said, "I can see a lot of flexibility" for bipartisan negotiations on broader legislation.
Many other candidates condemned the compromise.
The Senate agreement "falls short of the actions needed to both solve our country's illegal immigration problem and also strengthen our legal immigration system," said Republican former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Arkansas' former GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee said the bill "offers amnesty" to the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants and undercuts "those who are patiently following the rules to become citizens."
Former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who is weighing a run for president, said lawmakers "should scrap this bill and the whole debate until we can convince the American people that we have secured the borders, or at least have made great headway."
On the Democratic side, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina joined criticism of the legislation's guest-worker provision.
Problem; 12-20 million illegal aliens
Solution; Make them all legal
Brilliant bunch of bastards!
Suggested new name for Dems=Parti Socialista de Los Estados de Mexico del Norte.
Suggested new name for the Republicans....
McCain & Richardson are both toast anyway
I understand Richardson was born in the US and “immediately” taken back to Mexico by his mother (I could be wrong!!!)
An instant “anchor baby”
That needs to be further explored
“Suggested new name for the Republicans....”
The Know Nothings, The Meximerica Party, The K Street Gang, Got Our Payoff? (GOP).
I like what Fred Thompson says about illegal immigration
http://jednet207.tripod.com/PoliticalLinks.html#youtube
This is going to be a major deciding issue in the GOP nomination.
No one is going to be nominated who supports this corrupt bill.
Duncan Hunter.
“New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson also praised the immigration bill.”
Good he will be toast, Bill could have been a problem in the long run, he my still get VP.
I see than no Dim said they would vote agenist the bill, just lie about it.
More MSM crap.
Politician: “(It) falls short of the actions needed to both solve our country’s illegal immigration problem and also strengthen our legal immigration system”
Leader: “(We) should scrap this bill and the whole debate until we can convince the American people that we have secured the borders, or at least have made great headway.”
(See article for identities.)
WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! TILL YOU RUN OUT OF INK IN YOUR PEN!
Bombard the Democrats as well, especially the ones that ran on an anti immigration plank and the ones in marginal districts who could be vulnerable. keep pounding on them.
Now the estimate has been raised to 12-20 million. Do the math. Using INS figures for the last decade, and allowing for a large margin of error, there are easily 34-38 million illegal aliens now in the U.S.
The parties are split over the immigration bill because more and more the individual politicians are realizing that they will not keep their seat if they don’t take positive action to protect Americans from the illegal alien invasion coming from Mexico.
Democrats have arrived at the point where they will lose more votes from Americans than to make illegal alien voters legal.
A comprehensive plan would be to:
1. Deport all illegal aliens as they can be rounded up.
2. Cut off all jobs, welfare benefits and constitutional protections.
3. Build a Tall Wall along the border behind a strip of land mines.
4. Declare an immigration moratorium of 50 to 100 years
6. Impose congressional term limits.
You’re being logical. Unfortunately, the pols want this so badly that they keep trying different ways of packaging, but just can’t understand that we just plain don’t want it.
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