Posted on 06/05/2007 9:09:18 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called President Bush very courageous Tuesday for pressing ahead with a contentious immigration reform plan, a welcome boost from a fellow Republican on an issue that has split the party.
Schwarzenegger rebuked those he described as partisan critics for trying to torpedo the bipartisan immigration deal struck by the Senate. It would allow 12 million illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. while they took steps to gain citizenship.
I think it's inexcusable that we have had this system, and that people are fighting from the far right and the far left over this issue, rather than coming together in the center and really coming up with a compromise that works, the governor told several hundred members of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
I have to say President Bush is very courageous to push this immigration bill, he said. I am very pleased that Congress is working very hard and negotiating so they can solve this issue once and for all.
The negotiations on Capitol Hill are fragile because broad swaths of both parties oppose the Senate bill, which Bush supports. Democrats want to give family connections higher priority in the measure, which for the first time places greater emphasis on the education, skills and job experience of immigrants than on blood ties. Conservatives want tougher border security and favor an immigration system based more on the country's economic needs than on family connections.
Some of the most vocal conservative opponents oppose any attempt to legalize the status of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
Schwarzenegger, an Austrian immigrant who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, told the chamber members gathered in the auditorium of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. headquarters that immigration reform is smart business.
I believe very strongly that we must secure our borders, we must build the fence, we must have the best-trained border patrol there at the border, he said.
But at the same time, I feel very strongly we should be able to bring guest workers into the United States (who) can work here. Our farms need it, our construction businesses need it, he said. They can't find the work force here in California.
Schwarzenegger's views on immigration have largely aligned with Bush's for some time. But the support he expressed Tuesday, in response to an audience member's question, came at a sensitive time for the president.
Bush has been pilloried by conservatives who oppose what they see as the immigration proposal's amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Of the 10 Republican presidential candidates who gathered in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday night for a debate, only one, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, backs the bipartisan bill.
The governor's prepared remarks focused on political and infrastructure challenges he is trying to tackle, such as redistricting and the state's water needs.
On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger planned to host an evening fundraiser at his Brentwood home for some of the same causes. He and first lady Maria Shriver will entertain donors willing to give large sums to his main ballot committee, the California Recovery Team. Some are expected to give as much as $250,000.
The event is aimed at the governor's stable of big-money donors who pledge to contribute or raise large amounts of money to help finance his political operations, whether through ballot measures or promoting his policy initiatives.
The network of financial backers is similar to candidate Bush's Rangers or Pioneers business leaders or wealthy individuals from the Silicon Valley to Wall Street who can provide a steady stream of cash for Schwarzenegger's political committees, sometimes in amounts that reach seven figures.
Government records show Schwarzenegger's top donors include developer Alex Spanos, DLH courier service founder William Robinson and Jerry Perenchio, former chief of the Univision television network, who each have donated more than $2 million.
AP Political Writer Michael R. Blood contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
Geeze. The country-club set are gonna ram their “we need cheap yard work” bill up our butts if it’s the last damn thing they do.
Have you seen the ads that Texas farm group is running now? I’m seeing them here in Michigan so apparently the poor starving factory farmers have millions to run a national ad campaign threatening us.
This should be enough to convince any fence sitters that this is a terrible bill.
And there ya go.
Huh, that’s not what I call him.
ok, arnold, i’m donewith you
The elite need their slaves.
What a maroon.
As for migrant labor, there’s a zillion programs for that, to handle the needs of every US farm over and over again, and those permits are going to other countries because Mexicans don’t bother filling out the forms - why apply when you can just walk across the border.
Just like last time, this will be yet another failed amnesty that will result in few additional Americans, and a more entrenched illegal population that will simply view this as yet another victory, and cause to demand even more from the country they don’t respect and instead choose to leech upon.
I was done with this charlatan while he was campaigning in the first round. The fix was in from day one. We are doomed.
Courageous?
No, Arnold, other words come to mind.
Delusional,empty-headed,moronic,treacherous,mind boggling stupidity—those are better words.
It is amazing to me that the Governors and Senators from the border states seem to be most infect with the mad-immigration disease.
Well not surprisingly, Maria’s opinion is similar to her uncle’s.
Arnold becomes more of a puppet for her with every passing day.
My goodness...anyone needing the help of a California Republican has something amiss in his policies IMO. The White House has lost their marbles.
Oops. Ahnold better check his sock. I think he just pooped in it...
Shouldnt the GOP nationally be following that Arnold Schwarzenegger example in California?
REP. HUNTER: No. (Laughter.) And let me just say, you know, I look at Governor Romney, Mayor Giuliani, my good friend John McCain. Governor Romney joined with Bill Clinton for the 1994 gun ban when I was fighting that. Mayor Giuliani stood with him at the White House on that. Governor Romney has passed what I consider to be a major step toward socialism with respect to his mandated health care bill. John McCain is standing strong with Ted Kennedy on this Kennedy- McCain-Bush border enforcement bill.
I think the guy whos got the most influence right here with these three gentlemen is Ted Kennedy. And I think we need to move away from the Kennedy Wing of the Republican Party. (Applause.)
Schwarzy backing Bush on liberal immigration reform.
No surprise.
The Governator has turned ultra-liberal leftist. Illegal Mexican lover since he has the state with the worst illegal concentration in the nation...pander, pander, pander. So ugly.
Here ya go FReepers. You all that ranted on us for supporting McClintock. Yeh, you old pragmatic fools got a taste of stupidity.
I hate this idea of “because it’s bi-partisan, it HAS to be good.” This mentality has GOT to stop!!
Love the Hunter quote!! Duncan should be our president, he really should!
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