Posted on 06/14/2007 11:16:52 AM PDT by kristinn
A spokeman for the Bush administration sent an e-mail to Jim Robinson and myself confirming the authenticity of a post on Free Republic this afternoon regarding the immigration bill currently before the Senate as having been posted on behalf of the White House.
The spokesman, Nicholas Thompson, works for the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. The Politico reported yesterday that Thompson and Kerrie Rushton, associate directors in the Office of Strategic Initiatives who work under Karl Rove, would be engaging the blogosphere on the immigration bill.
Thompson's post is on the thread titled Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill, a vanity posted by philman_36. Thompson posted at comment #53.
Thompson's e-mail to Free Republic included a brief introduction and the text of his posted comment:
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that I just posted a response to the post "Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill."
The White House appreciates the opportunity to respond on Free Republic.
Response:
I would like to point out that the Secretary is authorized to reduce or mitigate penalities against employers who in good faith are trying to comply with the law. Certainly, we understand that not all employers knowingly hire illegal immigrants; this will remain the case, especially before the bill’s new secure documentation requirements are fully phased in. We do not seek to wrongly penalize honest employers who unknowingly hire illegal immigrants, therefore we reserve the right to reduce or mitigate their penalties if the employer can show good faith compliance in following the law.
For those employers who do knowingly hire illegal immigrants, please know that we intend to penalize these employers strongly, and the Administration has already stepped up these penalties in the last couple of years. For example, a 2005 program, “Operation Rollback,” assessed $15,000,000 in civil fines to employers, an amount greater than the sum of administrative fines collected in the previous eight years and was the largest worksite enforcement penalty in US history. In the first quarter of FY07, criminal and civil forfeitures have totaled $26,700,000 for employers.
As a reminder of what’s in the bill, fines for hiring an illegal worker are $5,000 maximum per illegal worker for the first offense, $10,000 maximum per illegal worker for the second, $25,000 maximum per illegal worker for the third , and $75,000 maximum per illegal worker for the fourth. In addition, the bill increases the maximum criminal penalty for a pattern or practice of unlawful hiring twenty-five-fold, from $3,000 to $75,000, and would impose a prison term of up to six months. This represents a significant increase in fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Nicholas Thompson
White House Office of Strategic Initiatives
To whom ever is out there. Please, tell my president (yes, with regret I voted for him) that due to the failure of past and present administrations, we have more Americans murdered each year by illegal invaders than soldiers being killed in Iraq. Americans like 9 year old Jordin Paulder, who had an ax buried in his face by a $*($%#^ ILLEGAL ALIEN. You know, those "wonderful" people who are coming here to kill the children Americans won't kill.
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He does not want to win anything from you.
You are free to mudsling, free to rant, free to hate, free to do whatever.
Yet some of us do care to get our message to the ones in government who are writing the logs. And, we know it will not be done with cute “in your face” Mr. President junk talk.
Do any of these people talk to their bosses in a rant? Does it get them anything they want? Well, they might want to notice that fact and realize that you are either listened to or not listened to when you speak.
So, should some here wish to not be listened to and also to trash up the thread with rantings that make them look like only ranters - they are not being very thoughtful of other people that might like their views heard.
But, gee, if they only want to trash the president, why must they have consideration for other people on the thread - after all, everyone wants to see how much hate they can put into two sentences.
Gee - do we feel better now.
Frankly I pass right over that nonsense and seek out the posts of people writing posts worth reading. Yet, it does make one feel it has an affect on the credibility of the site as a legimate conservative resource.
I thank you for your time and patience with deciding to listen to those you refuse to listen to, of course your busy so you deploy one of your paid servants.
“It’s so sad that you take your constitutional oath as seriously as William Jefferson Clinton’s Wedding Vows”
As Quoted by another Freeper
If this is so important for americans why isn’t this open for a popular vote?
Why is it that you refuse to put a price tag on what this will eventually cost us?
Why is enforcing the laws that were in place that were ignored by your administration that your oath of office states that you would execute?
Why do you call me names when I disagree with your opinions?
I have held my tongue about your actions since I took my oath to serve my country, my oath is over right now. I want you simply to take your oath as seriously as I did.
Your course is clear, enforce the law that isn’t what you were elected to do unless...
You cannot spell Bush without the BS!
I think they need to read our ANGER!
They want us to play nice, but playing nice has not worked. They think they can mollify us and put us to sleep while they sell our country up the river.
This is war.
“That is not fair to other posters who worked long and hard to make a difference for conservatism.”
That’s a good point to bring up. Looking at it from a fairness level may not be a good way to look at it. This is a private site with every rung of the latter from poverty up through multi-millionaires. We all come here and discuss things and have our thoughts put into a database. Beyond that, people get entirely too intimate with the process here and start expecting un-realistic things. Example: Out knocking on doors to get elected to an office. You can be in Full Suite, Tie, on a hot and humid day. You go out there and you start asking the people at the “grassroots level” and often times you’re going to find the grass’ roots. That’s where some of the dirt is, not up top where the pretty green stays. Now we’re talking about the lower and lower-middle class voters.
Many of them IMHO are not interested in presenting themselves as “classy”, though hopefully reasonably mannered to the best of their upbringing.
I suppose what I’m trying to say here is the thread seems to reflect nearly what one would expect while out knocking on doors. I would say that I agree generally with what you would like to see, but I also don’t think that is both possible or even really desired by the majority of posters here.
Going back to the fairness concept, I figured out a long time ago that keeping the fact that this is an internet forum first, and all the other things that effect our emotions second.
This entire episode has really stretched peoples thoughts past what we’re all used to. With all the ups and downs I think everyone here will be better off that they’ve been able to exchange their ideas, however brilliant, or not so brilliant.
I appreciate your thoughts on that.
Yes...I think this here Internet thingy might have thrown a little wrench in the politician’s plans......
I would tell the Whitehouse what I tell my kids, finish whats on your plate before you take more. They need to enforce the laws they aleready have on the books before they try to enact more.
She’s not the brightst poster around, I’ll give her that.
He cares not for our country but for his ideas and agenda, we were helpful to put him where he is and now he is discarding us. Too bad these Senators don't understand if he would stab us in the back he will do the same to them when he is done with them.
He unfortunately has underestimated a free people that will not relinquish their freedom from tyranny without a mother of all battles. We are not uneducated, unarmed peons who will beg for scraps from his table.
How long do you plan to rant about all the ranting?
And if it's so bad, why are you even here? Go to one of the other blogs already.
CALL! CALL! CALL! CALL! AND KEEP CALLING TILL THE LINES FRY!
WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! TILL YOU RUN OUT OF INK IN YOUR PEN!
Bombard the Democrats as well, especially the ones that ran on an anti illegal immigration plank and the ones in marginal districts who could be vulnerable. keep pounding on them. This is a bipartisan issue not a Conservative or Liberal issue BUT AN AMERICAN issue.
Damn that AlGore, a thousand times.
What Day Was It The Target Was On YOU ?? I REMEMBER.<note 1.
How Many Ft.Dix mOOzzis Came Across The MEXICAN BORDER ??
HANG TUFF !!...Huurrraaggh.<note 1.
You over there? If so, thank you for the service. I am damn sure proud of our Troops, that is for sure.
I don't swallow the we lost the war pill. We are in the heart of the ME. The ME is a place that hates my guts and burns my flag. We have been there for four years and we have lost almost 3,500 people. In four years of WWII, we lost almost 500,000 people. In two years of Korea 52,000 fell. I am damn proud of the outstanding job our brave men and woman have done.
May God Bless them all and may God bless the families who gave the ultimate gift to freedom. There is a little girl who will grow up in Iraq and won't have to worry that uday hussein might end up raping her. Prayers for all and their Commander and Chief (and I don't agree with his immigration bill).
But they will not put any credibility in trash talk.
They will listen to a Rush Limbaugh, they will listen to powerful people but they will never pay any attention to a rabid ranter as they look at them as redneck, unprofessional ranters without the brains to handle problems.
Sorry but that is the way the world operates. Look at how the media portrays all Texans on tv - they show us as ignorant because we might have a twang in our voice. Now imagine how that would appear on tv if that twang was ranting against the President of the United States instead of giving his views in clear concise thought out versions.
Why sell ourselves short, why can’t we be players along with others - we work hard enough at it?
We need to think of how we would speak if trying to sell our views to a boss. That is exactly what we are doing trying to sell our views over the views of the politicians.
Wish we had a lot more like Inhofe! He is up for reelection this time and so far the Dems don’t have any an opponent but we are ready when they do.
WoW is what I said as well when I read this email from Elizabeth Dole. I never thought I would be reading this tonight.
20 reasons bump. Thanks. :-(
I agree. I am a patriotic American. I try to stay positive about the health/state of our nation. But I’ve never felt so many unsettling emotions at once in my life - disbelief, incredulity, nausea, hope, irritation, and more. I feel like I am witnessing the demise of my country and don’t know what to do about it. I vote for people I think will try to make a difference, only to find that they are imposters or that they are hampered in doing the will of the people by the other “bad apples” in Washington. I want to hit someone, but I don’t know who - and I’m not a violent person! I want to shake someone and say, “Wake up! What are you DOING?”
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