Posted on 08/23/2006 2:43:28 PM PDT by Shermy
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) -- A town hall meeting with Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, dissolved into angry shouts and walkouts when Craig began discussing the controversial issue of immigration.
"I am sick of listening to these lies," one woman said, interrupting Craig as she left the Tuesday meeting, the Coeur d'Alene Press reported.
Stan Hess, candidate for the North Idaho College Board of Trustees, screamed at Craig as others booed. Before leaving, Hess yelled at a woman, his face inches from hers, as several people tried to separate them.
Craig planned eight town hall meetings in three days during a swing through northern Idaho that ends Thursday.
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He's promoting a plan that would allow some of the 12 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S. to apply for citizenship if they meet certain requirements, including having been in the country at least two years and having paid taxes.
"The reality is that there are 2.5 million jobs here that Americans won't do," Craig told the 60 people at the Coeur d'Alene meeting. "For 20 years, immigration laws have failed. We know there's a problem and we're working on it. The first step is securing the border and we're doing that."
Craig asked people to listen to the proposal, but some said they wanted illegal immigrants deported immediately. Others said Craig wasn't doing his job.
The senator is accustomed to spirited town hall meetings, said his spokesman, Sid Smith.
"It's fair to say it was pretty confrontational and at some point looked like it was about to get kind of ugly," Smith told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "But we weren't really thinking about calling the police. I was there and talked to all our staff who were there, and they agreed it was ugly, but not that ugly.
"It certainly isn't the first time it's been a very spirited and emotional town hall meeting," Smith said. "I would say (Craig) wasn't surprised or disappointed in that."
Craig also held town hall meetings in Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry on Tuesday, which Smith said were more subdued.
Craig telling the little people what jobs they won't do.
Civility in public debate remains dead and buried.
The natives are restless....
At least Craig, and other Republicans, have heard first-hand how Americans REALLY feel about illegal immigrants. The fact that we don't want illegal immigrants here doesn't seem to penetrate the politicians' thick skulls.
Craig wants two things when it comes to jobs: Cheap Labor, and no released felon African-Americans on the premises.
Craig is a twit. I got a couple of emails from him telling me how people who call the immigration billin the senate "amnesty" are misleading others. He isn't listening to our concerns, he is trying to figure out how to spin things in his direction. He is very insulting, and I hope he loses the next primary on this issue.
He also supports in-state tuition for illegals, and driving privilages.
Surprise. People don't like it when their country is destroyed.
The reality is that Craig is out of touch, otherwise he would have know that saying that to a crowd of middle class Americans would have produced the exact result he got.
Craig was a rancher reportedly. Seems to be in the pocket of Big Agriculture.
From Wiki:
""Senator Larry Craig attempted to amend the Iraq War supplemental bill with AgJOBS bill (S. 359). The AgJOBS amendment would have granted legal status to roughly 500,000 to 1 million illegal immigrants in farm work. However, Sen. Craig was only able to garner 53 of the 60 votes needed for the amendment. 60 votes were needed instead of the usual 51 because the amendment was not relevant to the matter at hand. He is a supporter of President Bush's Guest-Worker Program. A version of the AgJOBS bill legislation is included in the Senate-passed immigration reform bill."
Let's assume that's true - that there are some jobs so low that only illegals will do them. Does anyone think that these people will stay in those jobs once they get legal residency? Or will they maybe head on down to Home Depot and apply to work in the warehouse?
And where were you on the night in question? ;-)
The answer that Senator Craig and his ilk need to understand is quite simple:
#1 - America is at war.
#2 - Our current border situation constitutes a threat to our national security.
#3 - Begin deporting illegals TODAY. The sooner we start, the sooner we'll be finished.
#4 - Militarize the borders.
As an attention getter, announce that any individual or group attempting to smuggle drugs across our borders will be shot. Why?
See #1.
Thank God, otherwise these morons would think we are happy and stupid.
Craig might have some mental deficiencies. He cites that 2.5 million figure like Gospel. No doubt comes from some business lobby talking points sheet, or info laundered through some ethnic-pressure group front for the lobbies.
"The reality is that there are 2.5 million jobs here that Americans won't do"
Mr. Craig surely mislaid the memo from National, stating that this phrase tested poorly, and is to be replaced with "jobs that Americans aren't doing."
ping
You are so correct. A sleeping giant is beginning to awaken.
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