Posted on 06/14/2007 11:16:52 AM PDT by kristinn
A spokeman for the Bush administration sent an e-mail to Jim Robinson and myself confirming the authenticity of a post on Free Republic this afternoon regarding the immigration bill currently before the Senate as having been posted on behalf of the White House.
The spokesman, Nicholas Thompson, works for the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. The Politico reported yesterday that Thompson and Kerrie Rushton, associate directors in the Office of Strategic Initiatives who work under Karl Rove, would be engaging the blogosphere on the immigration bill.
Thompson's post is on the thread titled Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill, a vanity posted by philman_36. Thompson posted at comment #53.
Thompson's e-mail to Free Republic included a brief introduction and the text of his posted comment:
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that I just posted a response to the post "Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill."
The White House appreciates the opportunity to respond on Free Republic.
Response:
I would like to point out that the Secretary is authorized to reduce or mitigate penalities against employers who in good faith are trying to comply with the law. Certainly, we understand that not all employers knowingly hire illegal immigrants; this will remain the case, especially before the bill’s new secure documentation requirements are fully phased in. We do not seek to wrongly penalize honest employers who unknowingly hire illegal immigrants, therefore we reserve the right to reduce or mitigate their penalties if the employer can show good faith compliance in following the law.
For those employers who do knowingly hire illegal immigrants, please know that we intend to penalize these employers strongly, and the Administration has already stepped up these penalties in the last couple of years. For example, a 2005 program, “Operation Rollback,” assessed $15,000,000 in civil fines to employers, an amount greater than the sum of administrative fines collected in the previous eight years and was the largest worksite enforcement penalty in US history. In the first quarter of FY07, criminal and civil forfeitures have totaled $26,700,000 for employers.
As a reminder of what’s in the bill, fines for hiring an illegal worker are $5,000 maximum per illegal worker for the first offense, $10,000 maximum per illegal worker for the second, $25,000 maximum per illegal worker for the third , and $75,000 maximum per illegal worker for the fourth. In addition, the bill increases the maximum criminal penalty for a pattern or practice of unlawful hiring twenty-five-fold, from $3,000 to $75,000, and would impose a prison term of up to six months. This represents a significant increase in fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Nicholas Thompson
White House Office of Strategic Initiatives
A troll generally is a fly in person - I was merely pointing out that trolls have not been here a long time.
Happy now?
I don’t care a whit how long someone has been here but I dang sure will defend myself from insults. Sorry it bothers you - but just ask me is I care a whit about that either.
I know you are right on your points but we at least need to do the fence yesterday and hire alot more immigration people asap. I don’t believe the deportation is doable, especially with the democratic congress. Why not have at least much increased employer enforcement that way alot of illegals will simply need to go back home due to not being able to find jobs here.
First...I didn’t call you a troll.
That was YOUR word.
That thought didn’t even enter my mind.
I know you aren’t a troll.
Secondly...”I’ve been here a lot longer than you.”
That is where I took objection.
There is no need to pull rank.
“I don’t care a whit how long someone has been here”
But, you pulled rank, so obviously it does mean something to you.
“...but I dang sure will defend myself from insults. Sorry it bothers you - but just ask me is I care a whit about that either.”
Ahhhh...the memories...
Oh, I would have problems with it but trying not to jump the gun until I see what it will be.
What I see so far is needed to facilitate working relationships with countries controlling our borders.
Frankly, I am almost wanting us to take over Mexico except that it would break us but then we could at least clean up that government and stop this immigration nonsense.
And I can see a potential for a union as long as we are still America with sole control of our country as we face the alliances other countries are forming. But, we already are the superpower in the world and what has it got us so far. Nothing.
Another point of consideration. What about the bordering countries coming under the control of terrorists or anti-American forces. Is there a need to prevent that?
Sure looks like it doesn’t it.
Have any illegals painted graffiti on your home to declare it their territory? No, I don’t suppose you’ve had that pleasure. I have. It doesn’t make me feel any better to know that my president wants to give these criminals legal status, along with the fruits of my labor. If he wants to give them something, why doesn’t he give them something that’s his to give? Why does he have to give them what’s mine? I’m struggling enough already. This economy might be working out great for international investors, but it’s not so good for those of us who are trying to compete with illegal aliens who work for third-world wages. Our rail yards are full of empty trailers, because there isn’t enough product being moved. Those of you who invest in foreign markets can just shift your investments, but those of us who are dependent on the American (USA) economy are stuck with the scraps.
The troll comments were about a post with another poster. They called me a troll and I answered something about being here longer than they were. You happened onto that post and jumped on me about how long some one had been here.
I then proceeded to tell you that a troll is a fly in poster since you must have read the troll part on the original post where I was saying I had been there longer than them.
Then you jumped me for saying that but I was defending myself as that poster has been getting tackier and tackier refusing to understand my simple statement that we would be more effective with a White House resource reading our posts if the FR posts were not full of hit Bush in the face rhetoric.
But, I refuse to go into all that again as I have had comment after comment telling me to quit the complaining.
Let them rant, let them send fax after fax to the congress to get their views across and then when someone from the WH contacts FR with a post showing an apparent interest in our views, they hit them with STFU, BS, bodily parts and general insults rather than discussion.
So, back to the ever important faxes, telephone calls that never get to the people making the laws and the continual 24 hour hate Bush rhetoric of our “conservatives”.
Now, join in and tell me to just go on somewhere else. You see no tolerance for my complaining, but total support of their own right to demean the site, waste the opportunity to have our views heard by some power and to demean the president of the united states. And they are upset because I tell them such rhetoric gets our views ignored as rantings of mad people not worth the time.
GWB sold out the USA. Nuff said. Dubya, please go home, Please do not ever disgrace Houston with your presence
Crawford might allow you, Houston will not
Well said.
Exactly. The Bush administration is attempting to blackmail us into accepting amnesty by withholding enforcement of existing laws. The chief law enforcement officer of this country refusing to enforce laws until he gets his own pet project passed? It’s beyond disgraceful — it’s unConstitutional in a lot of different ways.
Now they think that somehow they’re going to encourage us to support this by promising to throw around more of OUR money???
The laws they need to stop illegal immigration and enforce border security are already on the books. The appropriations for those laws have, or should have, aleady been made. Where is the money that was appropriated for enforcement that is not being carried out? Why would they need an emergency spending bill for this?
The answer, of course, is obvious. They have no intention of curbing illegal immigration or meaningfully enforcing border security. Furthermore, they obviously had no intention of building meaningful enforcement into this new bill — or they wouldn’t have to tack on more enforcement to sweeten the pot.
I will not speak to these clowns as if they were my bosses. I’ll speak to them as the hucksters that they’ve proved themselves to be.
I've given thousands of dollars to the Party over the years.
I've done data entry, manned phone banks, driven old people to polls, put up signs, removed signs after election day. I've worked 10, 12, and 20 hours per day at the polls and afterward on election night as a Poll Watcher, Runner, Driver and Election Official.
In the run-up to two elections for President Bush I worked 20 hours a week for months--after my regular 40-50 hours were done and have sacrificed tens of thousands of dollars in billable hours in addition to the priceless and unrecoverable time with my family and my own mortality that this has required.
My Dad was a social worker. I grew up in somewhat poor circumstances in housing projects and minority neighborhoods and I can tell you on several occasions I went with him in the middle of the night to take a foster kid or a mentally ill person out of potentially dangerous situations. There are legal Latino immigrants in my family. I haven't got a prejudiced bone in my body and I've always been particularly stung, given my own family history, to have charges of racism casually thrown at my Party by "Progressives."
Tell me, given all that I've done why I should have to hear the President's minions and their proxies refer to me as a racist, or blithely dismiss me as a lunatic who expects the "death penalty" for illegal immigrants because I expect people to obey the law. Tell me, after all that I've done for this President why I have to listen to him accuse me of not wanting what's right for America.
Mr. White House spokesman, I finally scraped my "W" bumper sticker off my car today; My heart is broken. Tell the President that I worked so hard to elect "Happy Birthday." And then tell him to support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, as he promised twice he would do.
This Bill is a betrayal of the Republican Party and all that it stands for. The Party of Lincoln must not become another Party of aggrieved minorities of any nationality or any color: the leftists can have their group identity politics. It is a game that a party I belong to will not and must not play. The party I belong to must support the rule of law and must regard Americans as equal before it without any regard as to whether they belong to the largest or smallest, fastest growing or most slowly dieing demographic.
The Bill is a betrayal of America. I can hardly believe a man I worked twice to elect has decided to embrace it. Tell the President "Happy Birthday," and tell him as far as my support is concerned, goodbye.
Thank you for a thoughtful, well written appeal to all that is decent and honorable... if any honor is left in this administration, they would be wise to listen and listen well.
“Happy now?”
No.
You used your longevity here to intimidate someone.
That day is gone...and for the better.
You are certainly entitled to defend yourself.
“Sorry it bothers you - but just ask me is I care a whit about that either.”
See...that is the same crap that was here before.
It’s not attractive.
I prefer a little manners, and civility.
But, I guess that’s just me.
Well, where were you when I was trying to explain that to all here in dealing with the WH?
Or is it only manners when it affects you?
And go back and read the posts leading up to that comment. You will find I was called a troll - is that intimidating? No, because it is me and not your friend?
I was told by this same person to leave, are you still here, on and on. I quit posting to her comments but it went on.
And you chastise me - no comment about your friends posts? Hm......
I expect manners - but that is just me and apparently none here on this thread want to use them.
To be fair, I didn’t read all of the posts.
This is a large thread, and I was out most of the afternoon.
And, I don’t run with a clique, so don’t tag me with that.
I’ve always respected your posts.
But, to judge someone because of the length of time they have been here, and to use that to intimidate them, is wrong.
I’m working on another post from you, so please give me a little time to post it.
I’m not good at multi-tasking. ;o)
You are smart not to “jump the gun.”
All I’m asking is that you research it further.
“And I can see a potential for a union as long as we are still America with sole control of our country as we face the alliances other countries are forming.”
Check out how well the EU is doing on that front.
They have control of their countries, but not their borders.
My understanding is that immigration isn’t illegal, as they have open borders as a Union.
However, immigration is their biggest problem.
“But, we already are the superpower in the world and what has it got us so far. Nothing.”
Goodness gracious!
That is a very defeatist attitude!
We are STILL the lone superpower!
And, as we speak, Putin is trying to reconstitute the Soviet Union.
How would we be able to keep someone like him at bay if our borders are so porous?
“Another point of consideration. What about the bordering countries coming under the control of terrorists or anti-American forces. Is there a need to prevent that?”
Is there a need to prevent that?
YES!
But, why should we reward those who have broken the law by entering our country illegally to remain here?
And, why shouldn’t we secure our borders to prevent terrorists from entering our country?
BTW, three of the Ft. Dix Six came here illegally from Mexico.
Please read this report by the respected Heritage Foundation.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/bg1936.cfm
It is not worth fighting over this. I intimidated no one here as none pay attention to what I say.
And I was only defending myself after attack and being called a troll. So wouldn’t it be appropriate to state that I have been here longer than a day? And as you say - who cares how long anyone has been here - so I seriously doubt that anyone has been intimidated by such a statement. Gee the President would be thrilled to get such a tame comment thrown at him.
This discussion has worn itself out.
There is a simple misunderstanding between you two. You’re both a couple of the best FReepers we have. Will you please call a truce?
“I intimidated no one here”
No...you didn’t.
But, you attempted to do just that.
That’s what stuck in my craw.
“...as none pay attention to what I say.”
That’s just not true.
I have always thought you brought a great deal of wisdom and thought to this forum.
LilAngel...I don’t have any animosity towards ClancyJ.
He/She is one of the most respected FReepers here, and I have always enjoyed his/her posts.
We just happen to disagree on a couple of things on just this thread..
Thank you for being so sweet and thoughtful, but everything is okay. ;o)
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