Posted on 05/16/2006 9:24:55 AM PDT by Paul Ross
It's Time for Bush to Listen to His Base
by Michael Reagan
Posted May 15, 2006
A week before he died I asked Lyn Nofziger if the White House was arrogant or just plain stupid.
“Both,” he said.
Nofziger was one of the nation’s most astute political analysts and a White House aide my father Ronald Reagan greatly admired. If you need proof that Lyn knew what he was talking about, you need only consider the White House policies on illegal immigration, which are both incredibly stupid and incredibly arrogant.
Aside from the Iraq war, no issue threatens Republican control of Capitol Hill more than the problem of illegal immigration. The overwhelming majority of Americans are outraged over the problem of our porous borders. People are demanding that the borders be sealed tight against the thousands of illegals violating them.
If the president and the Republicans in the House and Senate don’t act to enforce our current immigration laws and vastly increase border security you’ll have to hire a private detective to find any Republicans on Capitol Hill next year.
"Will they win? I think that's still up to the Republicans," Newt Gingrich told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the other day.
He added that he agrees with those who believe a substantial number of conservative voters -- upset over unbridled federal spending and unsecured national borders -- could sit out the mid-term elections, giving Democrats an edge in close House races that might otherwise go to Republicans.
"The problem you have right now is the conservative movement -- which is still very healthy in the country at large -- feels very abandoned in Washington," he told the Trib. "Conservatives actually believe in a balanced budget as a moral issue. Conservatives actually believe you ought to control the border as a matter of national security. Conservatives are the people who pay the taxes. They're not the people who get the pork."
He put his finger on the solution. "If you have the White House, the House and the Senate, and if you have the natural majority in the country, you always have the potential to be able to pose the election on your terms," he said.
The president had better wake up to the fact that the only thing he’s got going for him right now is that the Democrats are in absolute disarray. They have no leader, they have no direction, and even with the president down to his lowest point in the polls, as low as he is, the Democrats aren’t much higher due to their lack of leadership.
As a result, the Republicans still have it within their power to hang onto control of both houses of Congress -- providing they stop being stupid, and pose the election on their terms.
The Republicans need to pass two immigration bills immediately. First and foremost the border must be closed, and only after that should we negotiate the other issues, such as what to do about the 11 million-or-so illegal immigrants living here.
In addition the GOP has to alert the American people to exactly what would happen should the Democrats take over the Congress, with all their wild talk about tying the president’s hands with countless investigations and impeaching him in the middle of a war. The people have to be warned about the dangers of letting the Democrats legislate us into cutting and running in Iraq, creating hugely expensive new programs that will require massive tax increases, sabotaging the prescription drug plan now saving seniors billions of dollars, and making Rep. John Conyers chairman of the House Judiciary Committee where he says he wants to hold hearings on reparations for slavery.
It’s time for the president to listen to his base -- the people who put him in the White House twice. He’s lucky that the Democrats have the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy and Howard Dean. If they had anybody else but this bunch the Republicans would be flat on their backs.
But because the Democrats lack real leadership and their party is being run by their far-left whacko wing, the GOP has a golden opportunity to exploit the Democrats’ weaknesses and win back their base and a majority of the voters.
And if I believe it's clear that this plan will NOT resolve the problem?
In the past, they have promised enforcement to get amnesty. Then they failed to follow thru on the enforcement. If you don't remember the past, I realize you may not understand my reaction.
But given that I've seen this before, and that it didn't solve the problem last time -- why should I be on board with this proposal?
As far as addressing the two issues at once, great.
Issue 1, border security. YES
Issue 2. Guest Worker, Amnesty for illegal aliens. NO
There addressed all in one fell swoop.
And maybe not. He only further eroded his credibility last night. He was warned. He disregarded all. I think he would disregard God himself.
He is the one with the oathe of office. The laws on the books. And the Executive Branch and responsibility in his hands. And that is what is being neglected.
When he says it's impossible to deport 12 million illegal aliens...I think the whole country laughs at him.
As Jay Leno said last night:
"There is nothing impossible about deporting 12 million illegal aliens. Mexico did it."I think Michelle Malkin speaks for us much more than he does on this issue, as she does here
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
By Michelle Malkin · May 15, 2006Here we go again.
President Bush is continuing the homeland security dog-and-pony charade in his quest to deliver a massive "guest worker"/amnesty plan to the open-borders lobby. A few weeks ago, Bush's Department of Homeland Security put on a bogus performance of Get Tough Theater with a series of politically timed immigration raids...which, as I predicted, simply resulted in more catch and release of illegal aliens nationwide.
This new last-minute stunt to sprinkle National Guard troops on the border--temporarily, of course, to appease Mexican President Vicente Fox--is more transparent than the Scotch tape used to hold together our dilapidated border fences. (That's only a slight exaggeration.)
For all the new tough talk, these additional troops will be barred from actually doing what needs to be done: guarding the border. President Bush is already bowing and scraping to Mexico over the plan before he's even officially announced it. More details via WaPo:
Officials suggested their mission would be to play a supporting role by providing intelligence, training, transportation, construction and other functions, while leaving the actual guarding of the 2,000-mile line separating the United States and Mexico to the Border Patrol. The National Guard would be a stopgap force until the federal government could hire civilian contractors to take over administrative and support functions from the Border Patrol, freeing more agents to actually hunt for immigrants slipping into the country.Hold up. It's been nearly five years since the Sept. 11 attacks. It's taken the Bush administration this long to acknowledge the need to hire more civilian contractors to relieve the Border Patrol of administrative and support functions?
Only now, on the day the Senate revisits his favored, faltering pet proposals for mass amnesty, does he find it important enough to send a show of military non-force down to the border--a show that was immediately emasculated to satisfy the "American is a continent, not a country" crowd. White House spokeswoman Maria Tamburri said Bush made clear to Fox that "the United States considered Mexico a friend and that what is being considered is not militarization of the border, but support of border capabilities on a temporary basis by the National Guard."
The proper White House response to Fox should have been: If it's good enough for your southern border, it's good enough for ours.
Oh, and before the open-borders radicals start arguing that there are legal restrictions against National Guardsmen patrolling the border, please note: The few, thin numbers of Guardsmen who are at the border now in fact carry out some of these functions:
Soldiers scout the border from inside the trucks looking for illegal aliens crossing the border into the United States at night. They call the Border Patrol when they have them in sight and track them until they are able to come in and apprehend them or push them back into their own boundaries.Watching and waiting for threats to come across the border may be tedious, but the Guardsmen on patrol are always patient and alert. After calling in a group of aliens and the Border Patrol responds, the Soldiers move on and look for the next group.
When surveying illegal aliens in the field, they pay attention to whether they are carrying bags or not. They refer to some of these individuals as “mules” when they come through with drugs in homemade rucksacks. Up to 80 pounds of marijuana are carried on an illegal alien’s back, according to Counterdrug officials here. Once they are aware they have been spotted, they may try to ditch the sacks.
Where was the president's sense of urgency to fortify the border when national park ranger Kris Eggle was gunned down in 2002 by drug-runners on the Arizona-Mexican line?
Or when Mexican army incursions were plaguing the Southwest?
And when Border Patrol agents were being shot at?
Or when the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus called for increased troop deployments at the border last year?
Some Bush supporters are admonishing immigration enforcement activists to "tone it down" because the criticism will hurt Bush.
Maybe he should of thought of that all the years when he could have been raiding worksites and strengthening border protection for their own sake. Instead, he has chosen to offer a too little, too late, and all-too-expedient gesture of immigration enforcement as a phony bargaining chip to bribe his base into supporting a historically doomed, dangerous, and utterly unmanageable amnesty proposal.
Tone it down? No, crank it up.
What does he take us for?
You want the American people to buy into "comprehensive immigration reform?"
Message to Congress (since the White House still isn't listening): Drop the guest worker plan and the amnesty sham. Comprehensive immigration enforcement first. Enforcement now.
No more bull.
Bump. And Comprehensively, too, I might add!
And what are you calling good faith? Seems to me that its you and the RINOs that have a closed mind on the subject. You won't accept anything other than your own preferred solution...although disapproved by 80% of the country. So long as you hold border enforcement hostage to your Guest Worker Shamnesty...it is your side which is intellectually dishonest and ethically reprehensible.
The President...and you...have no mandate on this.
Stop pretending you do.
Cute, but I doubt we should be honoring Jay Leno as an immigration expert. Also, I would hate to ever think about the US being so poor that moving to Mexico looks good.
As far as being "warned" goes, Mr. Bush is President of the US and could with the stroke of his pen pardon each and every "illegal" in the country. Any reasonable person knows that you can't deport 12 million people without causing more upheaval than allowing them to stay will.
I would rather live in George W. Bush's America than Pat Buchanan's any day.
Not our fault if he punted. He was warned.
Whine all you want. You have no where to look for blame...but your RINO selves.
Bush has the right approach t this problem,,,If
you want to play the blame game...go back to every
20th century President and Congress..they all, except
Reagan, completely ignored the problem...so all you
great inellectuals...do something constructive,,support
the President...Jake
More brazen lawlessness pushed from above, I see. The next shoe to drop by the "compassionate" CEO? You lose the battle of persuasion with the Base, which actually is increasing its support. And you lose all standing to a rational argument when you threaten arbitrary government action in controvention of law.
So now you threaten to abuse the power of the Presidency.
Any reasonable person knows that you can't deport 12 million people without causing more upheaval than allowing them to stay will.
Mexico did it.
Your inflexible hardline postion "Allowing them to stay" proves you are not serious about debating the options of enforcement. Your mind is made up, and the rule of law be damned.
Prove it. Is his meager enforcement approach going to work like he implies? Who says so? Links.
I do remember the past and the US has not enforced the laws the way they were intended because it required employers to not hire illegals.
Frankly, I doubt that we will ever be able to control immigration in the same vein that we can't control drugs, prostitution, gambling, you name it.
If the people desire such things, they will find ways to get them. But the new immigration control tools that the President has asked for include ID cards which part of the "base" will oppose cause of the Big Brother aspect. So I think the best bet is to try to get these people who are already here and won't be going anywhere into the system. Why should I be the only one who has to face bill collectors? After documentation, they will have to play by the same rules rather than existing in the black market.
RINO is the most overused term among many. It becoming quite silly really. The other day Martinez and Brownback were called RINOS by many. Rinos? Both Senators have a 100 percent ranking from the American Conservative Union. Is Bush a rino. HIs Dad help build the Republican party from the ground up in Texas for goodness sake. No I am not a rino and neither are many others. Its fine to disagree but calling folks rinos that are not is in fact insulting to many that have spent years building up the party.
Mexico did not do it. There is a huge difference between forcefully removing someone from their home and allowing people to move. So quit repeating such nonsense.
I do believe in the rule of law, but I also believe in the Constitution. There is a part of the law known as the Statute of Limitations. We forgive violators everyday through this. This includes many felons, con artists, tax cheats, etc. Also, when you are rounding them up don't forget that little clause in the Constitution guaranteeing due process. These "illegals" will be entitled to hearings to determine whether they can even be deported. Talk about clogging up the courts!
Like I said, it is not even a practical matter to discuss wholesale mass deportations. The Nazis using the Gestapo couldn't get rid of that many in a dozen years.
As even if you did, there would a hundredfold increase in cross border violence.
I would gladly trade all of our Mexican immigrants for a like number of rap music aficionados.
LoL...
Does the White House know the Mexican government in fact Drug Cartels and not a government at all?.. Absolutely.. They know more about that than ANY mere citzen.. But are some of the Congress and the RNC complicit?.. If they are NOT they sure don't act like it..
Exactly.
So, we haven't enforced the laws already on the books.
Yet Mr. Bush proposes more laws, more regulations?
The only thing that needs to be said on the subject is, "I admit that corruption has been the problem. Now we're going to stop that corruption, and enforce the laws on the books."
He didn't do that, and therefore it's just more of the same.
There's no reason to believe that these enforcements will be any more real than the last ones.
Unless you just "trust" him -- and I'm sorry, but I don't trust *any* politicians. Cuz of things like this. I believe he's a good, decent man. But there is a payoff to him for pushing for this 'guest worker' program. The lobbyist money is too good.
On this issue...they are.
As for the ACU, I'm not impressed. Here is a brief overview of their process as they describe it:
The “Rating” encompasses three categories: economic and budget matters; social and cultural issues, and defense and foreign policy. Within these categories, ACU selects 25 votes based on the following question: does the vote reflect a clear ideological principle? While ACU tends to select votes on important matters, the votes are not necessarily on key issues.In other words, there are ONLY 25 votes being used...and they may often not even berepresentative...since they are often not "key issues." How does the ACU regard legislation pertaining to illegal aliens? Border enforcement integrity? They don't say.
The suspicion has been for some time as late that the ACU issue selection is being skewed to favor the President's basket of issues.
For a truly conservative rating service, I recommend Eagle Forums, VoteSmart ratings on this issue, which the ACU neglects to include. Let's take a look there for their rating of Senator Mel Martinez (who the White House interfered with Florida politics to get into this Senate seat):
ImmigrationDoesn't look like he is even close to Elephant Country here. Let alone 100%2005 Senator Martinez supported the interests of the Federation for American Immigration Reform 0 percent in 2005.
2003-2006 Senator Martinez supported the interests of the Americans for Better Immigration 12 percent in 2003-2006.
I said so..and that's final. Jake
OH, That's really persuasive...
Not!
Yes they did. It wasn't the Tooth Fairy.
There is a huge difference between forcefully removing someone from their home and allowing people to move.
So we can work the same thing...in reverse.
So quit repeating such nonsense.
Jay Leno or you....h'mmm. I'll choose Leno.
I do believe in the rule of law,
You have a funny way of showing it.
but I also believe in the Constitution.
Prove it.
There is a part of the law known as the Statute of Limitations.
Doesn't apply to citizenship issues.
We forgive violators everyday through this.
But this does not convert non-nationals into U.S. citizens. Many of them don't even want to be. They want Aztlan. Or however you spell it. Repeat: Not applicable to citizenship. The Constitution and applicable laws are denoted here
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