Free Republic

If you are having trouble getting through the Capitol switchboard to express your opinion about the Bush-Kennedy shamnesty, there's a special hotline number you might like to try. 1-800-882-2005. (Spanish number) 1-800-417-7666. (English number) Freepers picked up on it this morning. Bryan Preston dialed it earlier today and captured audio of the hotline. He reports: The hotline is paid for by something called the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and itÂ’s being blasted to pro-open borders groups all over the country. The hotline gives its callers access to their senators that average Joes donÂ’t have. Here's what the "Coalition for...

“I appreciate the effort to fund border security, but there’s simply no reason why we should be forced to tie amnesty to it. If the administration was serious about fulfilling the border security promises, then this funding should have been supported all along, not offered at the last minute to attract votes to a bad bill.” “We have a serious problem with our immigration system, but this mess of a bill is not the solution. It puts amnesty before security, contains loopholes for criminals, and will increase the burden on taxpayers.” “All of the border security triggers in this bill...

Senate Democratic and GOP leaders and the key architects of a comprehensive immigration reform bill reached a deal to revive the bill Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled the bill from the floor last week after most Republicans balked at cutting off further amendments and moving forward toward a vote. The Democratic leader said he was willing to revive the bill if it was clear that there is enough Republican support to move the bill forward. But Senate GOP and Democratic leaders tell CNN the bill -- which would grant millions of illegal immigrants legal status -- will again...

Critics of the measure succeeded in sidetracking it last week, and given their continued opposition, the decision to bring it back for more debate does not necessarily portend passage.Reid and McConnell announced their plans in a brief, two sentence statement that capped days of private negotiations by key senators as well as Bush's personal involvement."We met this evening with several of the senators involved in the immigration bill negotiations," they said. Based on that discussion, the immigration bill will return to the Senate floor after completion of an unrelated energy measure now undergoing debate.At the White House, spokesman Scott Stanzel...

WASHINGTON — Senate leaders have agreed on a way to bring a pulled immigration bill forward, breaking the impasse that had stalled the bill, Fox News confirms. The compromise legislation could come up as early as the middle of next week, once the Senate completes a large energy package. Legislators will consider 19 amendments (10 from Republicans and nine from Democrats) that are in need os some 'polishing' a senior Republican aide tells Fox News.

WASHINGTON - President Bush, trying to salvage an immigration overhaul legislation, endorsed a plan Thursday that would lock in money for border security as way to win over conservative lawmakers and a skeptical public. "We're going to show the American people that the promises in this bill will be kept," Bush said in a speech to the Associated Builders and Contractors. Bush got behind a proposal to set aside money collected through fees and penalties for tougher border security and workplace enforcement. Two Republican senators, John Kyl of Arizona and Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina, have...

Bush Pledges Tougher Border Security Thursday June 14, 2007 4:46 PM AP Photo WHCD107 By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, trying to salvage an immigration overhaul legislation, endorsed a plan Thursday that would lock in money for border security as way to win over conservative lawmakers and a skeptical public. ``We're going to show the American people that the promises in this bill will be kept,'' Bush said in a speech to the Associated Builders and Contractors. Bush got behind a proposal to set aside money collected through fees and penalties for tougher border security...

This morning on Fox and Friends there was made mention that much stricter fines are in the immigration reform bill. While this is true many folks may not know about a few words that follow the language about the tougher fines. Those words make a travesty of any "fines" as they can be waved and the employer could walk away owing nothing in penalties. Here are the words I've got a problem with... (D) The Secretary is authorized to reduce or mitigate penalties imposed upon employers, based upon factors including, but not limited to, the employer's hiring volume, compliance history,...

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...

The illegal immigration amnesty bill that has stalled, but is not yet dead, in the Senate fails the American people for many reasons. For brevity, I'll just touch on a few that have not been highlighted in the media. As we know from past amnesties, successive administrations have watered down and then failed to enforce even the watered-down enforcement provisions. For example, the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act required federal agencies to share information with the then-Immigration and Naturalization Service concerning illegal immigrant status. Despite this, the IRS and Social Security Administration have ignored multiple workers using...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- During a rare meeting on Capitol Hill, President Bush pushed lawmakers Tuesday to move forward on immigration legislation that he said enforces U.S. borders and workplaces. "This is a highly emotional issue," Bush said after a luncheon with Senate Republicans. "Now's the time to get it done. It's going to take a lot of hard work, a lot of effort." "I believe without the bill, it's going to be harder to enforce the border," Bush said. "The status quo is unacceptable." Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said passing the bill is up to the...

BE HERE, OR BE NOWHERE!

PETE TOWNSHEND refused to let documentary maker MICHAEL MOORE use THE WHO's WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN in his FAHRENHEIT 9/11 film because he didn't want the anthem to become an anti-PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH song. The rocker claims the tune has been misinterpreted many times and he didn't want to add to the confusion by letting Moore use the song against Bush. He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "When ROGER (DALTREY) sang it, suddenly it became almost an anthem of the counterculturalists. "You say to somebody, 'I'm not doing it,' and they hear you say, 'I'm doing it.' Like, 'I'm not...

Rove Is Using Threat of Loss to Stir G.O.P. By JIM RUTENBERG WASHINGTON, May 5 — To anyone who doubts the stakes for the White House in this year's midterm Congressional elections, consider that Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the Democrat who would become chairman of the Judiciary Committee if his party recaptured the House, has called for an inquiry into the possible impeachment of President Bush over the war in Iraq. Or listen to Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, who would run the Senate Judiciary Committee if the Democrats took the Senate. Mr. Leahy vowed in a...

There’s nothing harder in public life than admitting you’re wrong. By the way, admitting you’re wrong can be even tougher in private life. If you don’t believe me, just ask Bill Clinton or Charlie Sheen. But when you go out on the limb in public, it’s out there where everyone can see it, or in my case, hear it. So, I’m saying today, I was wrong to have voted for George W. Bush. In historic terms, I believe George W. Bush is the worst two-term President in the history of the country. Worse than Grant. I also believe a case...

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- President Bush said Monday he wants to crack down on those who enter the country illegally but also give out more visas to foreigners with jobs, a dual plan he hopes will appease the social conservatives and business leaders who are his core supporters. "The American people should not have to choose between a welcoming society and a lawful society," Bush said from the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base about an hour from the Mexican border. "We can have both at the same time." The touchy issue of immigration has divided lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority...

Sumner Redstone, chairman of the entertainment giant Viacom, claims he has been a "liberal Democrat," all of his life. He said he is now supporting President Bush and will vote for him. Viacom is the parent company of CBS. Hot patootie Dan, the way folks at CBS feel right now, you'd have to tie a pork chop around your neck just to get a dog to play with you. Well, you'll always have your producer, Mary Mapes. Dadnabit Dan, I almost forgot Joe Lockhart. You'll have a lot of playmates. ***

MICHAEL Moore messed with the wrong rocker when he charged that The Who's Pete Townshend refused to allow his classic hit "Won't Get Fooled Again" to be used in "Fahrenheit 9/11." Biting back on his Web site, Townshend said the reason the song wasn't used was not because he was for the war in Iraq (which he admits he was), but because he doesn't trust Moore's accuracy in reporting and regards Moore as a bully. "When first approached, I knew nothing about the content of his film 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' " Townshend writes. "I had not really been convinced by 'Bowling...

Townshend fuming over Fahrenheit row Rock legend Pete Townshend has launched a scathing attack at film-maker Michael Moore, saying he has been "bullied and slurred" by the director. Last year, the Stupid White Men author Moore approached the The Who guitarist to ask the star permission to use his song Won't Get Fooed Again in his controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which criticises George Bush's administration. Townshend refused to let the Oscar-winning director use the song, because the rocker didn't enjoy Moore's previous films Bowling for Columbine and Roger and Me. Townshend fumes: "Michael Moore has been making some claims, using...

Michael Moore has been making some claims – mentioning me by name - which I believe distort the truth. He says – among other things – that I refused to allow him to use my song WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN in his latest film, because I support the war, and that at the last minute I recanted, but he turned me down. I have never hidden the fact that at the beginning of the war in Iraq I was a supporter. But now, like millions of others, I am less sure we did the right thing. When first approached I...