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
They built the Empire State Building in 13 months, yet they cannot construct a freakin’ fence along the border.
Hell, they haven’t even STARTED!
“Talking with”? That implies a conversation. He hasn’t done anything but post a press release to try to fool the loud racists who don’t want to do what’s right for America.
"I CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION"
Precisely!!!
That this bill is not amnesty. That the illegals are only doing jobs americans won't do. That the Minutemen are vigilantes. That islam is a religion of peace.
The list goes on and on...
Glad you agree! I thought of it instantly and had to find the song, lol!
You’re so lucky to have Inhofe. I’m sure you appreciate what a treasure he is.
Can you imagine CA passing an English only amendment?
It would be SO GOOD for the students esp. They’d learn English so fast.
Right now there’s no incentive whatsoever.
Many clerks are irked when you don’t speak Spanish.
The idea of an American culture seems ludicrous to them.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1850240/posts?page=838#838
I posted this to you and your post number didn’t show up down at the bottom. Wonder how that would happen, never saw it happen before!!
“MY EMPLOYEE”,,,HO’HAY,,,Seems to think he has become a
“Ruler”,,,Will Not Do His JOB That He Swore To Do,,,
FACT : His Flunkie Would Not Have Posted On FR If We Were
Not Heatin’ Up His Rump,,,Turn Up The HEAT...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~KILL THE BILL~~~~~~~~~~~~NOW~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fence has been started, although it should be finished by now, I agree.
FR *bookmark*
.
LOL!
Nice pick potlatch!
Opus ping!! :)
How in the world could you post to someone’s post and not have the number show up?? I can’t figure that one out.
Ya, I’ve had a couple of comments on it already, lol.
you forgot to add, the bill also generally sucks.
I understand precisely what you are saying. The problem is that the intelligent views of polite constituents have been totally disregarded. Look at how Tom Tancredo has been marginalized by his own party. Anger is somewhat justified in this case, especially considering the fact that those whose views are being listened to and who are evidently more highly regarded are those of organizations like LaRaza and the loudmouth leftists who incite them.
The administration, just like Geraldo (who got nicely slapped down by Michelle Malkin on O’Reilly tonight), have tried to make this a racial issue. Why? Because they thought it would make us cower and back off.
The bill’s passage may be imminent. The nice talk, the discussions have not worked. And the reason they haven’t worked is not because of us. It is because the government has not done its job and has not earned our trust. And it is the fact that the administration is so he!! bent on ramming it through that is causing so much anger.
If they had, there would be no need for any discussion now. If they want to get the wall built and enforce laws currently on the books and the American people can see the proof, then we could get back to a more civil discussion about what to do with the illegals who are here.
I say, President Bush, scrap this bill and prove to the American people you will do what you promised them you would do. Then we’ll talk.
You mentioned you worked with a church benevolent group and had illegals coming in? Did I understand that correctly? I am a Catholic and I completely disagree with those of my denomination who provide sanctuary. Is your group providing sanctuary?
The entire premise of this bill, and how it is being sold...is a lie.
It is being sold by the WH as a bill to give us Border Security and Enforcement, because the present system isn't working. The Amnesty (denial thereof is a lie too) and Guest Worker aspects are merely means to an end.
The truth is that the goal of this bill is Amnesty , not only for the workers...but especially for their EMPLOYERS. The TALK (whitewash) of enforcement and Security is a necessary evil means to the end. Down the road, it all will be ignored, as it has been all along.
Of course, the ‘system’ isn't working, because they are not doing their jobs....thats a conscious and deliberate decision they made going in.
Are we talking West Palm?....I was there too!
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