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 ...
Lou Dobbs is also a hero to the loon left
A rather surprising number of people here embrace Lou Dobbs, despite the fact that he is a far Leftist and is right at home on CNN.
Obviously 1.2 million was not enough. Were they deported or still waiting for their day in court?
Bush didn't call the Minutemen vigilantes
Oh yes he did! Hmmm...now I question the truthfulness of all your other statements
Bush doesn't have an open border policy
Yeah, and he never called the Minutemen vigilantes either. LOL
Facts don't matter to you as well.
BINGO!
Just like somebody said; the extreme far, far right has gone SO far right, they're left.
I couldn't believe the "Lou Dobbs for President" crap that has been floating on FR lately.
They are the same people who are believing and taking the word of Harry Reid and Dick Durbin in this article
Hello!?!?!
Haven't you heard?
It's Tancredo/Dobbs '08.
A rather surprising number of people here embrace Rush Limbaugh's opinions, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin and even Michael Savage on the border/immigration problem despite the fact that they are the Leftist's worst nightmares.
Yep .. they've been that way for some time
And still keep losing in the elections
Obviously 1.2 million was not enough. LOL
Ah, now you're making sense, minus the hyperbole. Yes 1.2 million wasn't enough.
Are they still waiting for their day in court?
Good question. I believe all non-Mexican illegals are immediately deported. It's the Mexican illegals who are given a hearing. Many of them once identified are released and don't return for their hearing.
The only good part of that is that they've been identified and the criminals have been weeded out.
Unreal. You have to know they're here to disrupt and demoralize.
can ya see me rolling my eyes?
After the piling on with Katrina, the left has learned that it doesn't take much to whip up the far right.
Immigration is a classic example.
How would that be surprising?
That should be a given, if you omit Michael Savage, who is a RC bigot and worse.
LOL -- as a matter of fact, I can!
And Rush Limbaugh's an idiot? And Sean Hannity? And Laura Ingraham? Tancredo?
It is YOU who are in the national minority on this issue
No, you repeated yourself so I repeated myself.
What part of that don't you get?
Do I have spend more time documenting your hypocracy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.