Posted on 04/26/2006 5:20:12 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
President Bush generally favors plans to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at U.S. citizenship without leaving the country, but does not want to be more publicly supportive because of opposition among conservative House Republicans, according to senators who attended a recent White House meeting.
Several officials familiar with the meeting also said Democrats protested radio commercials that blamed them for Republican-written legislation that passed the House and would make illegal immigrants vulnerable to felony charges.
Bush said he was unfamiliar with the ads, which were financed by the Republican National Committee, according to officials familiar with the discussions.
At another point, Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other members of his party pressed the president about their concern that any Senate-passed bill would be made unpalatable in final talks with the House.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat, said the lawmaker who would lead House negotiators, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, had been "intractable" in negotiations on other high-profile bills in the past. Bush did not directly respond to the remark, officials said.
The Republican and Democratic officials who described the conversation did so Wednesday on condition of anonymity, saying they had not been authorized to disclose details.
Bush convened the session to give momentum to the drive for election-year immigration legislation, a contentious issue that has triggered large street demonstrations and produced divisions in both political parties. Senators of both parties emerged from the session praising the president's involvement and said the timetable was achievable.
"Yes, he thinks people should be given a path to citizenship," said Sen. Mel Martinez., R-Fla., a leading supporter of immigration legislation in the Senate.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
So you guys have told me in this thread that you aren't the "base" and you aren't "conservatives". Who are you then?
I don't see you picking vegetables or picking up a hammer.
Not too long ago, I watched extensive street rebuilding going on less than a mile from the United States Capitol.
Virtually none of the workers spoke English.
All Congess has to do is look out the window...
Probably. He raised taxes in 1983, then turned right around and raised them again in 1986.
Those who sling the fertilizer also serve.
I'm from Philly ... and I am well aware of what it is like out there
But hey .. you keep talking about the problems of ethnic diversity
"Blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Broken record."
Wow, that is one of the most intelligent posts I've ever seen on Free Republic. I stand in awe of your finely honed logic. I was left dumbfounded by the first "Blah blah blah" triptych, then similarly enlightened by the following "blay blah blah" which served to complete the hexagonally symetric vacuum which composes your debating style.
I'm sure everyone is impressed.
The fact stands, Bush has left open the gates to invasion and doesn't care. It requires more than "blah blah blah blah blah blah" to refute that treasonous act.
Tom Tancredo has been "inside the Beltway" longer than Bush 43 has.
How do you know what I do? For your information I've got some carpentry experience and like many Americans find it insulting when anyone says it's a job Americans "don't want to do".
Again you've ignored my point because you have no answer for it except to attack. Illegals are not just janitors and vegetable pickers so maybe it's time to come up with something new?
I never said I wasn't a conservative.
Uh look in the mirror bucko.
"Inside the Beltway" is a state of mind.
There are those brave few who go inside the Beltway who never go "inside the Beltway".
Dang, it'd be nice if we could find more like 'em...
Something that will never be said about your posts
I agree with you on that... I don't put it beyond the Washington Post to slant stories in the manner that puts Bush in the worse light. They do it all time.
Lou Dobbs is the most anti-Bush commentator on tv/radio. I would challenge anyone on FR to name one single issue that he has actually agreed with Bush on.
GWB leads a divided nation.
Yet, in spite of this he has promoted an agenda seeped in: -- a confidence that the American people are better able to use their money than the government; --- a philosophy that life in all its stages matters more than political spin; --- our military men and women are honorable and deserve our spiritual and financial support; and ---a belief that freedom and democracy are not only God's gift to humanity, but the most tangible way of peace on this earth.
Take a breath; and you may gain the perspective that GWB is changing the world for the better.
Uh, I don't think so bucko. You've yet to answer any point made because you're not capable of it. Your modus operandi is to attack without adding any substance to your post. If you're going to come on illegal alien threads know what you're talking about first. They're not just janitors and fruit pickers.
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