Posted on 04/12/2006 12:22:34 PM PDT by neverdem
The following statement was issued to clarify the felony provision in H.R. 4437.
America is a nation with borders and borders matter. We are a nation of citizens and citizenship matters. We are also a nation of laws and laws matter. We have an important immigrant heritage and honoring that heritage matters.
In December, the House of Representatives passed a strong border security bill aimed at securing our borders and preventing illegal immigration.
However, on December 16, 2005, there were 191 House Democrats who voted to oppose House Republican efforts to reduce the crime of unlawful presence in the United States from a felony to a misdemeanor. Instead, they voted to make felons out of all of those who remain in our country illegally.
While we are disappointed with the House Democrats’ lack of compassion and the continued efforts by Senator Reid to block action on immigration legislation so that Congress can proceed to conference, it remains our intent to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony.
Obviously you haven't been here too long.
That's some great defense of a ludicrous position. Have a good night.
Thank you. It's good to know the effort is appreciated!
FINALLY Frist takes a spare spine out of the hospital morgue and puts it on ... or maybe he strapped on a pair of brass ones ...
Either way, he's finally starting to respond in kind to the Democrats' political gamesmanship. GOOD!
"So Frist gives credit for the only responsible part of the bill to Democrats. This clown will never get my vote for anything..."
Huh!?!? boy, are you out of the loop here... This provision is not the main focus and power of the bill, which secures the border and ramps up internal immigration enforcement. someone here unlawfully is subject to deportation, so it matters little the criminal provision they are to be put under (today they are not put under any criminal provision).
BUT ... the main reason the Dems wanted that 'poison pill' in there was to demagogue the bill. They wanted to tell
'immigrants' (and confuse legal with illegal immigrants so legal immigrants get scared too) that GOP wants to make them felons.
SO ... Frist and hastert are pointing out the truth and turning the tables on Democrats who voted for the felony provision (voted against donwgrading it), so that Democrats cant use this provision has political fodder for more demagogy.
"So the Dems wanted status quo on the felonies while the Pubs wanted to liberalize the current law. Go figure."
WRONG! ... The current law has it that it is not a crime at all, just a civil law infraction.
Making it a felony is wholly impractical, since the correct thing to do with someone here without legal visa is to *deport* them, not jail them, and since you have aright to jury trial ... okay, so 11 million jury trials?!?! I dont think so. This is better handled in a deportation proceeding. Just use the criminal law as a backstop to get police arrest warrants ... and a misdemeanor is enough for that.
"The tax cuts are marginal at best, they make no real difference in the overall tax burden... what is it, 1% difference? Nothing to write home about."
A completely uninformed statement! The tax cuts were quite significant, helped generate the millions of jobs added since 2003, which led to current 4.7% unemployment.
These were the largest tax cuts since Reagan.
" And of course spending is raging out of control"
Uh, define what percentage of spending increase 'out of control' means. The domestic discretionary increase is lower than you would think.
Hiya troll!
I corrected the record for post #24.
The Demos were playing pure politics, 191 voted for something just so they could go out and denounce that *same* provision as a GOP racist scheme.
irrespective of whether the provision is good or bad, that politics-uber-alles by the Democrats is DISGUSTING.
"Their true motives have been exposed. It is not about "rights", it is about amnesty and an end to this Republic as a nation of laws."
You are right... the Democrat agenda has been shamelessly exposed ... to folks like us. We know now that the Democrats are for:
1) Amnesty, or
2) NO bill at all, especially a bill that only does law-n-order stuff like border security and immigration law enforcement.
Since you're so well informed on the issue, please tell me - I cannot seem to find this information anywhere - what percentage of the tax burden was lifted by the tax cuts?
How about all the illegals currently serving time in American prisons? Is Congress gonna allow them to become citizens?
"Since you're so well informed on the issue, please tell me - I cannot seem to find this information anywhere - what percentage of the tax burden was lifted by the tax cuts?"
About 2% of GDP in term of economic impact overall for the combined effect of Bush tax cuts 2001-2003:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/323.html
... this was slightly larger than the Reagan tax cuts.
In terms of *marginal* rates, the numbers are a bigger cut for most middle class taxpayers. This was about a 20-25% tax rate reduction and tax liability reduction for most taxpayers in the middle.
In terms of revenue impact, the expanding economy is helping the tax cuts more than pay for themselves.
I can do the math personally ... I am getting hit with AMT last few years, in an upper bracket... old rates would have cost me thousands more.
The Bush tax cuts were indeed the most significant tax cuts since Reagan, and we about as large if you total all the Bush tax cuts up.
A Pennsylvania Spoiler Joins Race for Governor
Why Tell The IRS What It Already Knows (Simple Tax Filing Alert)
From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
Thanks. The article is badly written and leads one to think otherwise.
Back when he was in Tennessee politics he was real cozy with his Shelby County Democratic cronies. He's certainly not the worst in that respect, but he's way up there on the list. Or down there, as the case may be.
This is a poison pill, which ensures that the bill as a whole won't get passed - which is why the Democrats want it in there.
Ummm nope. It is currently a misdemeanor.
The figures I was seeing last year showed that the increased revenue was roughly paying for war in Iraq.
---That's too much work for the SAVAGE!Weiners among us. They'd rather bitch, and then stay home in November, and preen like they're making some kind of statement. Their actual statement being "I am so angry at the Republicans handling immigration that I am turning over power to...the Democrats! yeah, that'll show 'em!"---
Constantly attacking people in an insulting manner will sure get them around to your side, won't it? I'll vote for whom I damned well please, thank you very much!
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