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Things to Like in the Immigration Bill - What conservatives are missing.
The Weekly Standard ^ | June 1st, 2007 | Fred Barnes

Posted on 06/02/2007 10:48:26 AM PDT by JohnLocke23

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To: JohnLocke23

You know the problem is we fought for and won the FENCE argument last year. But only two miles have been built because of the bizzaro world of the Congress where the passed the bill, but not the money.

Fred Barnes is trying to play Lucy and collectively make Conservatives into Charlie Brown, where we go to kick the football believing, this time, Lucy’s promise not to pull the ball away at the last moment.

Sadly for Fred, we’ve grown tired of this gag are aren’t playing along.

Elsehwere it was reported that the Congress should have and could have passed a series of small atomic bills (fence, english language) that at least some of would have passed. Instead, this Bible-length monstrosity.

Sorry Fred, but the RNC crowd had their shot to do right and blew it. Who want’s compromise when there is blood in the water.

Keep calling !


41 posted on 06/02/2007 11:03:50 AM PDT by Jack Black
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To: JohnLocke23
Things to like in the Immigration Bill

This question sounds like one of those questions in that old $64,000 pyramid game show.

42 posted on 06/02/2007 11:03:56 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: JohnLocke23

What I have wondered is if this should pass and once again the feds fail to secure the border, really secure it not just send a hand full of new hires with laptops, and we come to the “I told you so” moment what happens? I know nothing! We don’t have a penalty clause that could take us back, so once this is done we are done.


43 posted on 06/02/2007 11:04:22 AM PDT by engrpat
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To: JohnLocke23

The border will never be ‘beefed up’ and employers hiring illegals will never be ‘cracked down on’.

All this stuff is just pandering for votes.

Business (large and small) WANT illegal immigrants. End of story.


44 posted on 06/02/2007 11:05:06 AM PDT by Lorianne
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To: JohnLocke23
At the top of the list of what conservatives can get is significantly beefed-up security along America's southern border.

This is unnecessary. They built the wall last year in last year's immigration bill!

Remember?

45 posted on 06/02/2007 11:05:13 AM PDT by SittinYonder (Ic þæt gehate, þæt ic heonon nelle fleon fotes trym, ac wille furðor gan)
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To: JohnLocke23

Give it up, Fred, and stop drinking the Kool-Aid.


46 posted on 06/02/2007 11:06:37 AM PDT by WashingtonSource
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To: MNJohnnie
You all scream things like "Enforce the laws" (Which hasn't worked to date)

It'd be nice to find out if it would work or not. Maybe we should try actually doing it for a couple of years.

"Punish business that hire illegals" (again how?)

I knew you were stupid, but even I didn't think that I'd have to point up that we have things called 'fines' and another thing called 'prison time' for people who repeatedly break the law.

Most Conservatives are sick of this constant whining.

How would you know? You obviously aren't one.

L

47 posted on 06/02/2007 11:06:41 AM PDT by Lurker (Comparing moderate islam to extremist islam is like comparing small pox to plague.)
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To: JohnLocke23
At the top of the list of what conservatives can get is significantly beefed-up security along America's southern border.

Right Fred, it does that by changing the current law requiring an additional 854 miles of fence, to only building 370 miles of fence before mass amnesty is granted.

Fred, I used to respect your opinions, your take on this proves you don't have a clue.

48 posted on 06/02/2007 11:06:43 AM PDT by RJL
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To: JohnLocke23
I don't see why there has to be an entirely new set of laws to deal with the problem of ILLEGAL immigration. Here's a radical idea: enforce existing law. When I was a kid, I never got more responsibilities (or privileges) until I proved I could handle what I had. The same should be true for laws. We already have laws regarding immigration. Let's enforce them and see how it goes.

If there truly is a labor shortage, not just a demand for low cost, benefits free labor, then increase the allowed number of temporary workers in the various immigration worker classes that already exist according to need.

Go after employers who are cheating the tax and social security systems. It's sorta the same logic they use in the war on drugs. Go after the source of the demand, the user, or in the case of illegal immigration, the employers.

Those employers who cheat by hiring illegals make it harder for those who play by the rules. They increase the number of illegals taking advantage of "free" health care, education and other benefits that should be reserved for CITIZENS or immigrants who are playing by the rules and that raises the price (taxes) for the rest of us. It's circular, b/c the increased price (taxes) makes hiring illegals even more attractive. A vicious cycle.

49 posted on 06/02/2007 11:07:03 AM PDT by GBA (God Bless America!)
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To: JohnLocke23

BS!!!! That added security will never be done. Just like the miles and miles of border fence they ahve not built.


50 posted on 06/02/2007 11:07:39 AM PDT by Hydroshock (Duncan Hunter For President, checkout gohunter08.com.)
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To: Howard Jarvis Admirer
Actually, didn’t the Senate cut the length of the border fence in half from last years law - that is the “significantly beefed-up security”???

No, that is a lie put out by the Bush haters. Last year's law called for 700 miles of fencing. This bill calls for 370, which is 20 miles *MORE* than half.

51 posted on 06/02/2007 11:08:41 AM PDT by kevao
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To: MNJohnnie
Conservative are not at all interested in getting things done on any issue, they merely want to sit on the side lines and mindlessly scream about everything because it is no longer 1982.
Yeah, that's right, like Harriet Miers.
52 posted on 06/02/2007 11:09:23 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: tioga

Post #11 mega dittos


53 posted on 06/02/2007 11:09:59 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: JohnLocke23
Barnes can kiss my arse. Last week on Beltway Boys he called upon Nancy Pelosi to show “leadership” and pass the shamnesty bill in the house without Republicans because the dims have the numbers to do so.
54 posted on 06/02/2007 11:10:13 AM PDT by Texas_Jarhead ("nothing gets figured out if you don't bother to stop and think about it", Thomas Sowell)
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To: JohnLocke23
>>>>>Conservatives are sometimes blind to what's in their own best interest. This is especially true on immigration....

Fred, you're opinion on many issues is becoming less and less relevant to conservatives as time passes and you slip into 'liberaltarian' policy mode.

On immigration reform Fred, you're no better then all the other politicos and pundits who've chosen to back the current liberal legislation proposed by Democrats like Fat Ted Kennedy, with the approval of Republicans like Arizona's own Senators, McCain and Kyl, and given the official blessing of Pres Bush and POTUS wannabee Rudy Giuliani.

Amnesty for 15 million illegals is just around the corner. The GOP leadership is slowing killing off the party of Reagan. How long it'll take to be buried is anyones guess.

55 posted on 06/02/2007 11:12:39 AM PDT by Reagan Man (FUHGETTABOUTIT Rudy....... Conservatives don't vote for liberals!)
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To: JohnLocke23

What a load of crap!

Here is a better article:

May 17, 2007, 5:30 a.m.

No to Bush-Kennedy

By The Editors

“The fight over legalization, or ‘amnesty,’ is all but over,” exults the Manhattan Institute’s Tamar Jacoby, and the “yahoos” who oppose it have been routed. She is right about who has won, at least as far as the Senate is concerned. The Bush-Kennedy immigration “reform,” which is now expected to win broad bipartisan support in that chamber, provides legal status for an estimated 12 million illegal aliens. In exchange for the massive, unpopular amnesty, Senator Kennedy is willing to engage in a little “border dressing” that purports to beef up enforcement of current laws barring illegal entry and the employment of illegal workers. As in the past, supporters of border and workplace enforcement will get the rhetoric, illegal aliens the prize, and taxpayers the huge tab.

The 1986 immigration reform, with amnesty provisions that were implemented and enforcement provisions that weren’t, is instructive. But there is no need to hark back 20 years to illustrate the bad faith of “comprehensive” immigration reformers. Before last year’s elections, the Secure Fence Act, providing for the construction of a 700-mile fence at the southern border, handily passed Congress. In this week’s Republican presidential debate, Rep. Duncan Hunter, the fence bill’s House sponsor, angrily noted, “We have $1 billion cash on hand at the Department of Homeland Security right now for building the border fence. . . . They have done two miles. I think they want to drag their feet and hook this up with amnesty.” They do and they now have.

The Bush administration’s price for its modestly beefed-up border security and workplace enforcement is amnesty for millions and a temporary-worker program for a few hundred thousand more each year. And the proposal’s conservative features vanish upon inspection.

Bush-Kennedy includes some enforcement “triggers” that increase resources at the border and establish an employment-verification program before amnesty or the new temporary-worker program can take effect. But there is no requirement that these measures be proved effective before the full implementation of Kennedy’s wish list, and the reform does not include critical provisions to prevent identity theft and the use of fraudulent documents. Granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens without first securing the border and ensuring a reliable system of workplace enforcement invites millions of others to follow their example in the hope of being granted amnesty during the inevitable next round of immigration reform.

The proposal contemplates ending “chain migration” by extended family members in favor of a merit system based on needed skills — eventually. The current waiting lists for family members must first be eliminated, and immigration advocates can be expected to aggressively lobby for the status quo. Tamar Jacoby is already arguing against moving to merit. Not even yahoos will be fooled by the bill’s empty promise.

Finally, the enormous cost of granting legal status to millions of illegal aliens is being wholly ignored. Nearly two-thirds of illegal immigrants are low-skilled workers. Based on a detailed analysis of the net cost of low-skill households, Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation estimates that the typical illegal-alien household receives $19,588 more in benefits than it pays in taxes each year. He explains that these costs would increase dramatically when an illegal alien reached retirement. Rector estimates that if all current illegal aliens were granted amnesty, the net retirement costs (benefits minus taxes) could be over $2.5 trillion.

As bad as the status quo on immigration policy is, it is preferable to this bill. Recent improvements in border security have apparently reduced the number of illegal crossings, and well-publicized raids on workplaces can be expected to have a chilling effect on employers who are in violation of immigration laws. But we suspect that this increased enforcement was largely designed to win passage for amnesty and a guest-worker program, and will end once this goal is achieved. We urge senators to cast protest votes against this bill, and House members to do their best to defeat it.
National Review Online -

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTc0MzlkMzI5NjQxNTMwNDQ2NWFjMDlhNGRjOWZmNGI=


56 posted on 06/02/2007 11:13:40 AM PDT by KeyLargo
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To: MNJohnnie

Enforcement is easy, arrest those who hire illegals, jail them for their crimes, confiscate there businesses and personel property. All of it. You will not have to do it to that many before the illegals have no jobs and start to leave.


57 posted on 06/02/2007 11:13:48 AM PDT by Hydroshock (Duncan Hunter For President, checkout gohunter08.com.)
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To: All
They finally put enough lipstick on that pig for ya, Fred?



Fredipedia v2.36: The Definitive Fred Thompson Quick Reference
58 posted on 06/02/2007 11:14:57 AM PDT by Josh Painter ("We're sitting here now with essentially open borders." - Fred Thompson)
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To: JohnLocke23

The Weekly Standard
1150 17th Street, NW
Suite 505
Washington, DC 20036
E-mail: editor@weeklystandard.com
202-293-4900


59 posted on 06/02/2007 11:15:03 AM PDT by Exton1
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To: MNJohnnie

The bill is actually an amalgam of numerous bills that were originally designed as separate ones. It is very difficult to produce good legislation when you quickly throw together disparate items crafted separately. Rudy was correct when he described the bill as a “hodgepodge.” That’s exactly what it is. It would be far better to address the issues separately and do them all well than try to do all of them at once and do none of them well.

Above all, issues of this magnitude should never be dealt with in haste. This effort to ram the bill through without the normal hearing process is an abomination. It is possible that the framework of something workable is within these bills, but the way to find out is through hearings that allow the public and all interested parties a chance to be heard and that insure careful consideration to the provisions.

When you see the kind of machinations you have here—an attempt to rush something through with regular misrepresentations from the White House about what the legislation actually says—you have good reason to suspect that someone is trying to pull a fast one on you.


60 posted on 06/02/2007 11:15:45 AM PDT by freespirited
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