Posted on 06/02/2007 9:59:19 AM PDT by BornInASmallTown
President Bush has not been hindered by heavy criticism of an immigration bill that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants. Instead, he pressed harder for its support on Friday ahead of his departure for the Group of Eight summit on industrialized nations next week. Conservatives and liberals, activists and analysts have all had their say on what is wrong with the comprehensive immigration bill before the Senate. Yet Bush remains steadfast in his conviction that despite its weaknesses the bill is still worth passing.
No matter how difficult it may seem for some politically, I strongly believe its in this nations interest for people here in Washington to show courage and resolve and pass a comprehensive immigration reform, Bush said on Friday, according to The Associated Press.
This bill isnt amnesty, countered Bush. For those who call it amnesty, theyre just trying to, in my judgment, frighten people about the bill. This bill is one that says we recognize that youre here illegally and theres a consequence for it.
No one will get everything they want, but everyone will get something, and in the end, what we come up with is better for the country, and we all have to see it that way, said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who helped with the agreement, on Friday, according to AP.
"We propose that Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform that reflects the American commitment to the three formative pillars of our nation: the rule of law, our faith value system and the pursuit of the American Dream," (Rev. Samuel) Rodriguez (president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference) had said at the launch of the Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform campaign earlier in May. His organization, which serves 10,700 Hispanic evangelical churches with 15 million members, is America's largest Hispanic Evangelical organization.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianpost.com ...
Also, Bush didn't singlehandedly create the illegal alien crisis. Every President and Congress over the past 30 years has had a hand in it.
Precisely. All those who are howling that W betrayed us, take note.
I love it when some leaders portray situations as more difficult to solve than they actually are. There’s no more sure sign of how easily something can be fixed then to hear bureaucrats decry the complexity of the issue.
If I were “king,” I could fix this problem with relatively little effort and less cost.
This is NOT a complex problem, unless you give weight to the desires of those who knowingly and intentionally violated the law. The fact is that the American people are largely unified in opposing this bill, and I think that research...were it conducted...would prove that many Americans who give partial backing to the “guest worker, Z-visa, pathway to citizenship” provisions are simply trying to accommodate a situation they believe is so far out of hand that we cannot fully resolve it. Were they aware of how easily this could be fixed I think that many who currently give support to this bill would oppose it.
This CAN be fixed, and we can get virtually all of the illegals out of the US if we had the resolve to do it. Enforce damned law! Punish anyone who provides jobs or any sort of support to illegals. Stop imposing fines and start putting offenders in prison. If it takes additional legislation, so be it. Strip any any city or state of federal funding if they provide sanctuary to illegals. Strip every church that provides support for illegals of their tax-free status. Do this, and the illegals will leave on their own, and it will cost us far less than what they're costing us right now.
No, he certainly didn't create it, but his plan will certainly end it. Wonder why no one else thought of simply throwing the borders open and declaring anyone who can get here a citizen?
What’s your plan, smarty?
No one will get everything they want, but everyone will get something, and in the end, what we come up with is better for the country, and we all have to see it that way, said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez
Yep, the illegals will get amnesty, the taxpaying Americans will get the shaft..and in the end, we come up with something better for the illegals and trash the country..
..and oh yeah, WE ALL DON’T HAVE TO SEE IT THAT WAY IN A FREE REPUBLIC!
...
So true. I remember Vicente Fox refusing to hide his disgust once the U.S. turned to more urgent post-9/11 matters. I also remember statements Fox made while Bush visited him on different occasions, one of which was that he needed to deal with this “sooner than later.”
I don’t know the dynamic between Bush and Fox (other than what the media would have us believe), but it’s clear that Fox wanted to communicate who was in charge.
I also remember other Fox-isms such as doing away with the U.S. / Mexico border completely. Nothing but free and unrestricted access...workers come into the U.S., get paid, bring the money home to Mexico, and Fox’s failure as the CEO of his own country never comes into question because everyone has a job.
The only thing that’s kept my head from exploding in the recent round of “negotiations” has been the fact that Fox hasn't been involved.
Two questions for Senior Arbusto:
1. What laws should I obey or are they all merely suggestions?
2. Whose wages need to be kept down? The Washington elite’s? or the poor and middle class’s?
Here’s a plan:
1. Change the law to make it a felony, punishable by a year, minimum, in a federal prison, for providing a job to an illegal, for providing any taxpayer-funded support to an illegal...including public education...or sheltering an illegal from the law.
2. Strip all federal aid from any state or city that provides sanctuary to illegals
3. Strip non-taxable status from any Church that provides shelter or aid to illegals
Do everything I outline in post #69 and the vast majority of illegals will flee the US, on their own dime.
“No, Clinton was. Carter second worst.”
Carter was worse than Clinton. Bush may be too before all is said and done. There is no question that he is far and away the worst republican president of alltime. He may be bottom five in our history.
I think that if you take “lifetime achievement” into consideration, its difficult to argue that anyone could be worse than Carter. Iran, Iraq, Panama, Venezuela, North Korea...virtually everything Carter has touched, while in office or after, has turned to complete crap.
Clinton was a disaster, but Carter has been an albatross hanging around the neck of the United States for a quarter century.
Give Clinton a chance, though...he could be around a while.
IT’S JUST THAT SIMPLE! ENFORCE OUR LAWS!
A cheap cop-out on his part.
That includes most of my neighbors. I'm one of the few who mows the lawn.
Didn't you hear about (or read) the two speeches and several off-the-cuffs he gave this week?
"The President's" response to accountability is "F*** You", and he is encouraging the quislings in Congress to say the same thing.
That you don't "get it" by now is a bit sad. "The President's" message to you and all of us could not be clearer.
Well, he certainly does not have to wonder about his place in the history books. He will now be remembered for destroying the Republican Party.
Notice how in that quote Gutierrez refers to “the country,” but never specifies which one? I think he’s referring to Mexico.
And I thought Clinton was difficult to parse.
My understanding is that $1,000 is paid on application for the Z visa. The other $4,000 is due if one later applies for permanent residency (you will hear the polls mysteriously refer to "pay a fine" and "then they pay *another* fine", which is merely what I describe above).
Having said that, you would be correct that the $1,000 is the only provision that makes this "not an amnesty" (and that is by a very strict definition of the word "amnesty"). If the $1,000 paid on Z visa application wasn't required, it would be an amnesty by any definition.
The foregoing is IMO a debatable and even marginal argument that "it's not amnesty", but they have gotten to lead on that debate and it may be difficult to convince anyone they're lying and misleading the public (which they are).
Still there is this: the bill prohibits local LEOs from asking anyone, anything about their legal status.
Coupled with that is any illegal brought to immigration court for deportation hearing must be offered a Z visa if they are eligible (and almost everyone is, or can make themselves eligible simply by giving a fake name and getting some simple false documentation about employment and residence). The court is also obligated to provide assistance in preparing the application for a Z visa.
Basically, illegal entry laws are eviscerated by the above laws and by the Z visa, and for an entire class of people.
IMO that's amnesty.
No one will get everything they want, but everyone will get something...”
Be sure to keep a tube of K-Y handy when grabbing your ankles.
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