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
.
Dunno???
I see all the numbers OK
Looks like Schwartzenegger’s climbing on the bandwagon.
At least it’s more than we’ll hear from our pandering Senators, Boxer & Feinstein.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1850131/posts
Look at the bottom of my post #838 and you won’t see a “to” number!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1850240/posts?page=838#838
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...
Right. Bush should take the official position that Islam is a religion of hate. Incredible.
JeffAltanta is the perfect example of the hysteria on these boards fueled by the belief that any viewpoint differing their own is therefore a "LIE!" or "SPIN".
Pathetic.
With all due respect,
If you wish to get the full temperature and pulse of this forum
you should just check the “KEYWORDS” on many threads
regarding “comprehensive immigration reform”
Those are, by and large, the free, open and hold-no-punches opinions on
the handling of the situation by the US Senate and The White House.
I would only bother to argue the last ‘spin’ point, since the others I agree with to some degree. President Bush has done us a great favor by not making the war on terror a crusade. It is the only way some form of eventual peace is even plausible.
As for people who continue to defend President Bush on this issue, I noticed your comment regarding the formation of ICE in post #518. I worked on a Customs contract in 2002 and saw what a bungled mess it was going to be when it was decided that the DHS was going to be formed. I think people who have seen our bureauracy in action and up close might have a little more sympathy for President Bush.
The number of processes, departments, people, and systems (computer) that are intertwined in solving this mess are incredible. It is extremely complicated. I won’t argue about progress on the boarder, this needs to get done, but the rest of it? I dare anyone to prove there’s an easy solution.
:)
To: President George W. Bush, Honorable Members of Congress.
As a concerned citizen, I believe illegal immigration is a national security crisis of the highest order and also poses a long-term threat to the American way of life. I am calling on Congress and the President to:
I'm actually a registered 'Rat who's been voting Pubbie for a while now, including two votes for 43, but you get the idea.
President Bush could not possible be so stupid that he does not recognize how harmful this bill is for this country.
Um, yeah, right. Your spin is MUCH different than the bill itself or what I’ve read from the White House. Ahem.
I'm against the immigration bill. I think the President is wrong on it. The President didn't call me a racist or unAmerican.
Perhaps you should carefully review the full context of what the President said.
I am not, nor have I ever been, affiliated with the New America Foundation.
It must be another Nicholas Thompson.
Bingo.
Since you’ve finally outted yourself, we get the point. Thank you for taking Matthew Dowd with you.
Why havent they built the 800 miles of wall required by Duncans bill signed last October?
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