Thursday, May 31, 2007

IMMIGRATION “REFORM”

Man, Is This The Way The Lefties Feel Towards Bush All The Time?

Over in the Corner, Kathryn laid out the various expressions of anger and betrayal by enforcement-first conservatives towards Bush, for his accusation that they "don't want to do what's right for America."

How bad is it for Bush? Ace of Spades is writing:

Message To The Left: I'm not saying you should impeach him, I'm just sayin', you know, go with your hearts.

Is anybody else watching Bush's insisting "give us a chance" on the enforcement provisions — that's the problem, Mr. President; if Reagan couldn't get enforcement after 1986, we're not that optimistic about your chances — and his administration's not-so-funny suggestion that the enforcement-first crowd wants the death penalty for illegal immigrants, and the utter arrogance and dismissal of deal critics and thinking... boy, maybe Bush Derangement Syndrome is a little more understandable?

In any other White House, somebody - maybe a Karl Rove type, maybe a Cheney, maybe a Josh Bolten or Tony Snow type would look at everything out there, and say, "Mr. President, we have to ask ourselves whether the benefit of this bill is worth the cost obliterating our trust with our base... particularly at a time when so many Americans who aren't in the base of our party have lost faith in us."

Another stray thought: Had President Bush gotten any type of enforcement-only bill through Congress when the GOP was in complete power - basically, January 2001 to May 2001, and January 2003 to December 2006 - he could have been able to point to anywhere from one to six years of results in reducing illegal immigration, and THEN make a pitch for a path to citizenship. I think a lot of conservatives might have been amenable to something like this deal's path to citizenship (minus the z-visas) IF they saw consistent, significant improvement in border security, deportations, cracking down on employers hiring illegals, etc. ...

In related news, John McCain will address the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce on the issue of immigration reform next Monday. 

05/31 04:44 PMShare