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  1. #1
    Senior Member Virginiamama's Avatar
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    Poll: GOP voters OK with amnesty?

    http://manassasjm.com/servlet/Satellite ... path=!news

    Poll: GOP voters OK with amnesty
    By DANIEL GILBERT
    dgilbert@potomacnews.com
    Friday, June 23, 2006


    Most GOP voters want a fix to the country's broken immigration system, even if that means a break for illegal immigrants.

    A nationwide poll of 800 registered Republican voters released Thursday made this surprising conclusion, which comes just days after the House of Representatives announced a round of constituent hearings this summer before heading to conference with Senate members on an immigration bill.

    The hearings, designed to gauge public opinion on immigration, was widely viewed as the chamber's reticence to hash out a bill with the Senate, which last month passed a drastically different version.

    Commissioned by the Manhattan Institute, a free-market think tank, and conducted by the Tarrance Group, the poll from June 12 to 15 revealed three-quarters of respondents favor an approach along the lines of the far-reaching Senate plan. The bill includes heightened border security, tougher penalties for violating immigration law and a path to citizenship for guest workers who learn English and pay taxes.

    The poll's finding neatly contradicts the experience of several Virginia congressmen, who have said over the last month that the overwhelming majority of their constituents prefer securing the borders before enacting any broader reforms.

    Even Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th, the lone Virginia lawmaker to champion the Senate plan, acknowledged that the majority of constituent feedback favors the House crackdown approach.

    But lawmakers may be getting only part of the picture.

    The majority of Republican voters is hungry enough for immigration reform so that they are willing to swallow provisions that smack of amnesty, according to Tamar Jacoby, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

    "Republican voters want a solution that accepts the reality of the 12 million people living here," Jacoby said at a press conference Thursday. "They are saying, 'we don't care what you call it, we want to solve this.' "

    Hardline conservatives have rallied opposition to the Senate "earned legalization" provision as de facto amnesty for illegal immigrants. The legislation would allow current illegal immigrants who return as guest workers to embark on a path to citizenship after learning English, paying back taxes and waiting behind those who have already applied for U.S. residency.

    Rep. Virgil H. Goode, R-5th, a stern critic of the Senate plan, believes any path to citizenship will effectively green-light an even greater tide of illegal immigration into the U.S.

    "That is the magnet that draws illegals into the country," Goode said. "It will only create more illegal immigration. They'll let 10 million in this time."

    Nearly half of the respondents surveyed in the new poll thought the Senate approach did not constitute amnesty; of those who did, 62 percent still supported passing such a bill.

    All told, 80 percent of the 800 Republicans in the poll would support an earned legalization program.

    Still unclear is whether the silent three-quarters of Republicans who approve of the Senate plan will take part in the next round of the debate-the constituent hearings. Jacoby described the struggle within the Republican party as "the hardliners versus the reformers."

    Failing consensus, Republican hardliners will head to conference with their Senate counterparts for a reconciliation that pundits consider a "train wreck," and Jacoby herself calls a "marriage between a hippopotamus and a giraffe."
    Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. Thomas Jefferson

  2. #2
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    Commissioned by the Manhattan Institute, a free-market think tank, and conducted by the Tarrance Group, the poll from June 12 to 15 revealed three-quarters of respondents favor an approach along the lines of the far-reaching Senate plan.
    I'm sorry, but I do not believe this AT ALL.
    http://www.alipac.us Enforce immigration laws!

  3. #3
    Senior Member IndianaJones's Avatar
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    "Republican voters want a solution that accepts the reality of the 12 million people living here," Jacoby said at a press conference Thursday. "They are saying, 'we don't care what you call it, we want to solve this.' "
    Not THIS republican voter! I do not know anyone who want this 'fix' he's talking about, Jacoby is a big liar!
    We are NOT a nation of immigrants!

  4. #4
    Senior Member steelerbabe's Avatar
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    I don't believe it Almost every Republican I know does not support amensty. Of course, they play by the rules. Most Democrats I know support amensty

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