Posted on 05/26/2007 5:02:52 AM PDT by Hadean
WASHINGTON: Having won his fight with congressional Democrats on an Iraq war spending bill, President George W. Bush is now waging an equally aggressive battle with Republican senators as he tries to persuade them to support an immigration bill that he hopes will be a signature domestic achievement.
As the Senate debated the immigration measure, Bush spent the past week lobbying behind the scenes to build support for it. A dozen Republican senators, including some of the staunchest opponents of the bill, were summoned to Oval Office meetings to hear the president deliver an impassioned appeal for the legislation.
In return, participants said, they gave Bush an earful about complaints from their constituents.
"He may have this legacy thing in mind - he may think that it's Nixon going to China, that only he can get this done," said Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama. Describing the meeting as positive, Sessions said Bush "took it well" when he told the president pointedly that he did not intend to vote for the measure.
"I think he's made a big mistake," Sessions added. "I think he put himself in a position of weakness by making this something that he desperately wants."
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
The cost they put on our services for outstrip any benefits from their consumerism. Using your logic ,welfare recipients are a great boom for our economy.
All of the financial forces associates with illegal immigration -- particularly the latent demand for cheap and unregulated labor (I believe the latter is more important to employers, based on the fact that illegal aliens can actually command pretty high cash wages where I live) will still be in place even if 10-20 million illegal immigrants are "legalized" in this country. Once employers are forced to incur things like payroll taxes for these people, the whole process is going to start all over again with another generation of illegal immigrants.
The burden they place on our services may exceed the taxes they pay, but they provide an enormous financial benefit that is very difficult to quantify.
For example . . . I would make the case that real estate values in this country would collapse if all of our illegal aliens were to disappear tomorrow.
Good comparison. I should have paid more attention to this issue. At the moment I am shocked. Bush will not able to woo those who are looking out for this country. If Bush woos successfully, it is only because those Senators want to be wooed.
That kind of blows a hole in the "low wage workers" argument doesn't it.
Bush and a lot of Senators will not be back after the 08 election.
Their cash wages may be pretty high, but their overall compensation is probably still a lot lower than their "legal" counterparts -- mainly because the employer doesn't have to incur additional costs like payroll taxes, and avoids the hidden costs associated with regulatory compliance, etc.
There is always going to be parts of the economy that benefit from anything illegal i.e. if we solved the illegal drug trade tomorrow the drug therapy business would be devastated.There’s a reason employers want cheap labor but at what price. They get cheap labor and we get to pay for medical benefits and a host of other welfare services. The same argument can be made for real estate.
This amnesty bill is a perfect example of why senators should be appointed by each state’s governor instead of being popularly elected.
If the s.o.b. doesn’t listen to the people of his/her state then just bring ‘em home and put in someone who will.
I hate to say it, but on immigration Bush has always put the interests of Mexico first.
Right. But the difference with real estate is that in a country like ours where a high percentage of the population owns their homes, the “real estate” benefit affects a lot more people than the “employer” benefit does.
Then you will soon be losing your freedom, my friend. We are on the fast-track to serfdom thanks to this globalist bastard and his pals from both parties that you love so much. Treason is treason, regardless of party affiliation. The North American Union is upon you and with that, the complete erosion of your freedom.
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Actually, Jeb Bush’s wife’s name is Columba. She was born in Leon, Mexico.
The cheap labor explanation still makes sense even if they are all legalized. Yes, the minimum wage laws would then apply, but all that would do is set a floor level to which wages could fall. There would likely still be downward pressure on wages even if there was a limit as to how far they could fall.
And how do you feel about Cornyn's amendment, Mr. President?
But not as much as the health care industry does and illegal immigrants are bankrupting that industry. Check out the true costs you are paying for health care. Cost of insurance, co-pays etc. Illegals and welfare recipients are the only people we offer free health care to. I’m in favor of supporting people on welfare but I fail to see the logic in importing them.
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