Posted on 04/26/2006 5:20:12 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
President Bush generally favors plans to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at U.S. citizenship without leaving the country, but does not want to be more publicly supportive because of opposition among conservative House Republicans, according to senators who attended a recent White House meeting.
Several officials familiar with the meeting also said Democrats protested radio commercials that blamed them for Republican-written legislation that passed the House and would make illegal immigrants vulnerable to felony charges.
Bush said he was unfamiliar with the ads, which were financed by the Republican National Committee, according to officials familiar with the discussions.
At another point, Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other members of his party pressed the president about their concern that any Senate-passed bill would be made unpalatable in final talks with the House.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat, said the lawmaker who would lead House negotiators, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, had been "intractable" in negotiations on other high-profile bills in the past. Bush did not directly respond to the remark, officials said.
The Republican and Democratic officials who described the conversation did so Wednesday on condition of anonymity, saying they had not been authorized to disclose details.
Bush convened the session to give momentum to the drive for election-year immigration legislation, a contentious issue that has triggered large street demonstrations and produced divisions in both political parties. Senators of both parties emerged from the session praising the president's involvement and said the timetable was achievable.
"Yes, he thinks people should be given a path to citizenship," said Sen. Mel Martinez., R-Fla., a leading supporter of immigration legislation in the Senate.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
And where was Lou Dobbs before?
Make all of the really juvenile and stupid posts, which you imagine are "clever", that you care to.
When all is said and done, it is the facts which matter and you have none.
Let me guess. You think Tancredo is one of those inside the Beltway types who is actually outside the Beltway.
But, Tancredo wanted to be inside the Beltway so much that he broke his own pledge to only serve three terms.
Does he want to be inside or outside the Beltway because term limits promises mean nothing to him, and he wants to serve like a Pope?
You assume, incorrectly, that I want Tom Tancredo in the Oval Office.
He's a one issue zealot.
I may wish him well. But, "President Tancredo" is not on my wish list.
So, what you're saying is that it's not plausible that Bush could believe that they should become citizens?
Out of the realm of possibility?
No way no how Bush could believe that?
Remember, Clinton and Carter were also from outside the beltway.
This was very nice. Thank you for posting it.
"And Bush wonders why his job approval ratings are headed toward the floor."
---
"Boy I think you are on to something here!!!!"
But the press and the punditry are attributing Bush's sinking numbers primarily to the price of gas and the war in Iraq rather than the issue of illegal immigration which comes in a distant third. Bush, the Rinos and the Rats are all jumping on "big oil" to change the subject. (Bush's reaction to the oil subject is another rant entirely what with his use of terms like "addicted" and "price gouging". Its disgusting.)
May 1st is Monday. I hope all our congress critters and senators will have heard from each of us by then. Conservatives be heard!
An excellent point!
The same place some of these other people were?
NOWHERE.
If you can't secure the borders, nothing will work. All this talk of "policy" is moot.
Besides, we have laws now to deal with the problem and they are not being enforced. The executive branch of the federal government is not providing the resources to enforce current law. Which is its constitutional duty.
I see no reason to believe that that will change regardless of any law passed by congress.
That's right, the same price that they would sell for if American citizens were hired and paid a decent wage. They employ the illegals then pocket the extra cash. Despite the empty platitudes about jobs "no one wants to do" from politicians everyone knows what's going on.
Not in our lifetime.
No. It's a disease. Rare is the individual who lives here and works with sufficient antibodies.
Doesnt it seem like Bush 2 is gonna take a 3 year powder kind of like his father??
I mean ,I know its not all about me, what I want, the lowly arch-convervative..but I cant count on one hand what he's done for me in the last 3 years. In fact he's added anxiety to the base.
He may well go down as a fine placeholder president but to some conservatives he's become a bit of a disappointment.
Many, but not all, of the Bush bashers signed up either recently, meaning just before the 2006 elections, or shortly before the 2004 elections. Coincidence?
Hey, don't dismiss the buchanan loyalists and lp'ers...they've been singing this song for years. They just found new members for their choir.
Boy, the wheels have come off since then...
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