In Case You Missed It: Bush Says Amnesty Bill Is Dead
President: 'It didn't work'
By Bluey Posted in Featured Stories | Immigration — Comments (17) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
President Bush finally admitted today that his comprehensive approach to immigration reform "didn't work" -- a strong indication that we won't be seeing another bill anytime soon. Here are his remarks:
I thank the members of the Senate and members of my administration who worked so hard on the border security and immigration reform bill. I'm sorry the Senate was unable to reach agreement on the bill this morning.
Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress's failure to act on it is a disappointment. The American people understand the status quo is unacceptable when it comes to our immigration laws. A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find a common ground -- it didn't work.
Congress really needs to prove to the American people that it can come together on hard issues. The Congress needs to work on comprehensive energy policy and good health care; make sure health care is affordable without inviting the federal government to run the health care system. We've got to work together to make sure we can balance this federal budget, and not overspend or raise taxes on the American people. We've got a lot of work to do.
When they come back from the summer -- from the July recess, before the summer break begins, we'll be focusing on the appropriations process. And I look forward to working with Congress to balance our budgets and to be wise about how we spend the people's money.
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In Case You Missed It: Bush Says Amnesty Bill Is Dead 17 Comments (0 topical, 17 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
President Bush said:
"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress's failure to act on it is a disappointment."
Legal immigration? Come on. He is disingenuous even at the very end.
I usually have supported the President, but not on this. This was an illegal immigration bill, plain and simple, and the will of people finally got heard.
The American people are more worried about illegal immigration than legal. The definition of both (legal vs. illegal) should say it all.
What I was thinking. Maybe now Tony Snow will come out and say the President mis-spoke, he really meant ILLEGAL immigration is a top concern. We don't really care much about LEGAL immigration, its the ILLEGAL that gets us in a tither.
Additionally I'm pretty happy Congress failed, or at least certain elements failed and deservedly so.
"Cowards cut and run, Marines never do"
"How about we negotiate more drilling in exchange for an increase in CAFÉ standards to 50 MPG?"
This is a good one.
Pertaining to the energy independence debate, I think that many deals can be made.
How about the oil companies building a couple new and advanced refineries in return for some drilling 40-50 miles out in the Gulf. The Chinese are planning to go there anyway.
The argument between alternative energy versus oil is also much too simplified. We need more of both.
is not a good idea. Cafe standards in and of themselves are not a good idea, but 50 is just silly. If a person wants to but cars in that range more power to 'em, but it is just wrong to force the rest of us to drive cars with 'mutant rodent power'.
.... and we can make it retroactive to all models built after 1975. Think of all the auto workers union jobs that will be saved, and the environment that will be saved at the same time too!
(yes - this is sarcasm)
Wubbies World, MSgt, USAF (Retired):
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("An argument is a sequence of statements aimed at demonstrating the truth of an assertion.); }
the structural integrity of balsa wood and fabric - the carnage on the highways will create jobs for another generation of lawyers.
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"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -- James Madison
The 50MPG was dripping sarcasm
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Contributor to The Minority Report
There was a lot of good stuff in the comprehensive bill that had broad support. There's no reason it can't be broken into pieces and passed one at a time, rather than holding the whole thing hostage to the least popular parts of the bill.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
Nobody that was voting on the bill had time to read it. Who knows what was in it? If someone really knows what was in it, why don't they tell the rest of us? Why keep it a secret? How could it have broad support if no one knew what was in it?
Now that the Grand Compromise has been tabled (killed) let's get to work building the fence that was appropriated last year and enforcing the laws on the books as they stand. We can "deal" with the illegals in another couple years once the fence is built out and the employers are no longer hiring for fear of massive fines or jail time. The self deportation will begin when the jobs dry up.
June 28, 2007, 11:28am EDT was a great moment for the nation.
July 1, 2007 will be a great day for Georgians when a new set of laws to deal with illegals in our state will take effect. What a great beginning to the weekend leading up to Independence Day...
John Q. Citizen
The Bush Administration said that they cannot enforce the existing immigration laws, and they don't want to build the fence Passing laws and appropriating money doesn't make anything happen.
spinning like crazy. "A bad day for the American people..."
I'd love to see a transcript of the crap he was spewing.
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Let's hope that is not a rallying call.
So lets see if we can find the common ground in remaining issues;
Democrats want to limit drilling for oil, limit building refineries, limit coal use and not build nuclear power. Republicans want to drill all the oil/gas we can find in order to decrease foreign dependency, build refineries increase clean coal use and build safe nuclear plants to decrease fossil fuel dependency
Democrats want to radically alter the healthcare system by creating socialized medicine at massive taxpayer expense for a relatively small population, many of which choose not to elect healthcare coverage. Republicans want to improve the current system via issues such as lawsuit reform, controlling access by illegal immigrants and eliminating other types of fraud to improve system health and bring down costs.
Democrats want to eliminate the Bush tax cuts, place new burdens on companies and create a more massive Federal bureaucracy. Republicans want to keep the tax cuts, cut more spending (finally), continue improving our business climate, continue to grow jobs and generally continue policies which have grown this economy.
So where is the common ground? Will we now acquiesce to more ridiculous overtures? Is the next move to accept socialized medicine in exchange for drastic fraud reduction? How about we negotiate more drilling in exchange for an increase in CAFÉ standards to 50 MPG?
The fact is our next election is not very far away. It is time to truly show the American people where we differentiate ourselves from Democrats. Now is not the time to give up your core values in exchange for some feel good, do nothing Kumbaya session. That benefits no person in this country or party. It is time for leadership.
By the way Rob, great job on the immigration issue from a fellow New Yorker (and kudos to Heritage for presenting the facts). Just one note; don’t expect a WH invitation to lunch anytime soon.
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Contributor to The Minority Report