NYT, page 1: Outcry on Right Over Bush Plan on Immigration

[DeepModem Mom]

Outcry on Right Over Bush Plan on Immigration
By RACHEL L. SWARNS

Published: February 21, 2004


....With his plan, Mr. Bush hopes to revamp an immigration system widely viewed as broken and to re-establish his credentials as a compassionate conservative — particularly with Hispanic and swing voters — at the start of an election year. But in debates, campaign stops and interviews, some Republican candidates have sharply criticized his position as they seek to tap into conservative anxiety over the proposal.

The plan has left the party divided, much like the growing deficit has. Some Republicans — backed by some Hispanic constituents — praise the president for trying to make it easier for businesses to employ illegal immigrants for low-wage jobs that Americans are reluctant to take. Others argue that the plan is tantamount to an amnesty for lawbreakers. The issue is so complicated and divisive that Republicans in Congress now say it is unlikely that legislation supporting the president's plan will be introduced this year.

Senator Saxby Chambliss, the Georgia Republican who is chairman of the Senate subcommittee on immigration, said he believed Congress would make headway this session on other proposals guiding the hiring of foreign farm workers. He said he hoped consensus on Mr. Bush's plan could be reached "within the next couple of calendar years."

But Mr. Chambliss, who supports Mr. Bush's broad proposal, acknowledged that the plan had already become a lightning rod in some Republican contests around the country. "I've seen it in the Georgia primary," he said in a telephone interview this week. "The candidates there are critical of the president on this issue."....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/21/politics/21IMMI.html

[MarianJack]

1. One Of My Favorite Lines From ...

..."Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is when the sheriff is trying (unsuccessfully) to get a posse and Butch and Sundance are watching from a balcony fits just right in this situation!

"Can't you just eat this up with a spoon?"

[hippywife]

2. The only reason they're upset is

because Bush can't go on TV and tell them all what his plan really is. It creates a new disposable cheap labor source within our own borders. Why outsource when you can insource and create greater destabilization in the job market here. The kinds of jobs these immigrants are usually stuck with can't be outsourced anyway.

If we had a real trade policy that was based on worker and environmental rights in the countries we trade with, what would then be the motivation for so many to risk a dangerous border crossing and leave their homes and families?

Imagine what the overwhelming answer would be if you asked any illegal immigrant if they would prefer to live and work in their own country if they had the same opportunities there.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. kicking....posted very early this a.m.