Thread: The immigration divide

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/...urs/index.html

The immigration divide

President Bush meets this morning with leaders involved in the illegal immigration debate, less than one week before the Senate tackles this thorny political issue that has divided the Republican Party.

The Senate debate on illegal immigration comes as the Minuteman Project announced plans to blanket the Southwest next month with 7,000 volunteers to help report illegal border crossings to law enforcement officials.

"We have shown, with a little political will, that our border can be secured and our nation can be safer," said Jim Gilchrist, the group's founder who lost a special election in December to replace Rep. Chris Cox (R-California). "It is time Congress heard the message."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee), who is considering a run for president in 2008, apparently has heard the message. He intends to bring his own measure to the floor next week if the Senate Judiciary Committee is unable to produce its own immigration bill. The Frist legislation includes many of the components already agreed to by members of the Judiciary panel. But similar to a House bill approved late last year, it does not have the guest worker program championed by Bush.

Frist's decision to bring his own bill to the floor drew a harsh rebuke from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who told CNN yesterday he will do all he can to block it.

"If the Majority Leader brings to the Senate floor a bill that has not ... had a thorough hearing with the Judiciary Committee, and he's going to bring his own bill to the floor dealing with only one of the problems we have with immigration, then, I will use every procedural means at my disposal to stop that," Reid said in an interview from U.S.-Mexico border crossing at San Ysidro, California.

Meanwhile, at a news conference in her home state, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York) referenced the Bible in condemning the immigration bill approved by the House last year.

"It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures, because this bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself," said Clinton, who is also weighing a bid for president.

In addition to the Minuteman Project, another group supportive of strict immigration laws is urging supporters to flood the Senate with telephone calls demanding action. Team America, led by GOP activist Bay Buchanan and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado), does not support Bush's guest worker proposal or lawmakers it concludes will not uphold tough illegal immigration laws. But Bush does have a key ally in Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), another potential 2008 presidential candidate, who supports the president's plan.

Bush's meeting with the immigration leaders begins at 10 a.m. ET. At 10:45 a.m. ET, the president signs into law a bill that authorizes the "Extension of Nondiscriminatory Treatment to the Products of the Ukraine." Tonight, he hosts an 8 p.m. ET dinner to honor Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday followed by entertainment that begins at 9:25 p.m. ET.

Vice President Dick Cheney continues stumping this week for Republican candidates running in November. He is scheduled to deliver remarks at a 6:05 p.m. MT fundraiser for Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) in Tucson, Arizona. And Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, who has been highly critical of Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-Wisconsin) call for a censure of Bush, makes three stops in Wisconsin to raise money, meet with GOP activists and speak to the local media.

Feingold, himself, is looking at some political travel, specifically a visit to the presidential proving ground of Iowa. Feingold joins Clinton in a crowded field of Democrats considering a run for the White House in 2008.

"We have received lots of invitations to help elect Democrats in Iowa," said George Aldrich, a Feingold spokesman. "And we are reviewing those and we will be making a decision in the near future."

While eyed warily by some of his Democratic colleagues, Feingold's censure resolution received a political boost when Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) announced his intention to support it. In addition to his willingness to take Bush head on, one Iowa Democrat told the Grind that Feingold's "clean politics message" would also be received well in the state.

"Iowa Democrats are like other Democrats who are frustrated to a certain extent with what they perceive as the Democrats lack of ability to capitalize on the president's troubles and take him to task for a failed presidency," said the Democrat, who spoke candidly on the condition of anonymity. "Russ Feingold has pushed the boundaries there and has given them something finally to grab onto."

Paul Tewes, as first reported by The Washington Post's online political column The Fix, is helping Feingold develop an Iowa political strategy. Tewes is the former political director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and worked in Iowa for Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 presidential contest. Once his travel plans are finalized, it will be Feingold's first trip to Iowa this year.

Political Hot Topics
Posted: 10:10 a.m. ET
From Stephen Bach, CNN Washington Bureau

NO PRESIDENT SINCE JEFFERSON HAS GONE MORE DAYS WITHOUT VETO: President Bush Thursday becomes the longest-sitting president since Thomas Jefferson not to exercise his veto, surpassing James Monroe. Monroe was in office 1,888 days before he vetoed his first bill on May 4, 1822, a measure to impose a toll on the first federal highway. Jefferson never exercised his veto during two terms in 1801-09. Thursday is Bush's 1,889th day in office, and no veto is in sight. As of Wednesday, Congress had sent him 1,091 bills. He signed them all. Bush came close to a veto last month when Congress threatened to block a deal to turn over operations at ports in six states to a company owned by the Arab emirate of Dubai. He threatened a veto, but he avoided a showdown when the Dubai company decided to sell that part of its business to American interests. USA Today: 1,889 days and no vetoes: Bush gaining on Jefferson

ROBERTS WRITES FIRST DISSENTING OPINION: A Supreme Court decision on Wednesday in an uncelebrated criminal case did more than resolve a dispute over whether the police can search a home without a warrant when one occupant gives consent but another objects. More than any other case so far, the decision, which answered that question in the negative by a vote of 5 to 3, drew back the curtain to reveal the strains behind the surface placidity and collegiality of the young Roberts court... what was striking about the decision in Georgia v. Randolph, No. 04-1067, was the pointed, personal and acerbic tone in which the justices expressed their disagreement. New York Times: Roberts Dissent Reveals Strain Beneath Court's Placid Surface

OPPOSITION TO GAY MARRIAGE DROPS 12% IN 2 YEARS: Opposition to same-sex marriage dropped sharply across the country during the past two years, though just over half of Americans still oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center released Wednesday... The Pew center's national poll of 1,405 adults, conducted from March 8-12, found that 51 percent opposed same-sex marriage and 39 percent supported it. In February 2004, as same-sex couples were marrying in San Francisco, a Pew poll found 63 percent of Americans opposed the right of gays and lesbians to marry and 30 percent in favor. San Francisco Chronicle: Poll finds U.S. warming to gay marriage

ANOTHER DEM FILIBUSTER THREAT: As the Senate prepares to tackle the most sweeping immigration reforms in years, a top Democrat vowed Wednesday to do everything in his power, including filibuster, to thwart Majority Leader Bill Frist's proposed overhaul. Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would "use every procedural means at my disposal" to prevent Frist from bypassing the Judiciary Committee. Frist, R-Tenn., has made clear the Senate will take up his proposal next week if the 18-member committee fails to complete a broader bill. "If Leader Frist brings a bill to the floor that does not have the approval of the Judiciary Committee, it will not get out of the Senate," Reid told reporters at the San Ysidro border crossing, a few steps from Tijuana, Mexico. AP via Yahoo! News: Reid Threatens Filibuster on Immigration

HILLARY CALLS HOUSE BILL "UN-AMERICAN", "UN-CHRISTIAN": Sen. Hillary Clinton used the Bible yesterday to belt Republicans who back a tough new immigration bill she said was not only un-American, but un-Christian as well. "It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures," Clinton said. "This bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan -- and probably even Jesus himself." The House bill, which comes before the Senate next week, is causing a huge political ruckus and spreading panic in immigrant communities. More than 100,000 people recently marched against it in Chicago. Sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin and New York's Rep. Pete King, the sweeping border security bill includes a measure that would turn the nation's 12 million undocumented aliens into instant felons, along with anyone who employs them or otherwise assists them. New York Daily News: Hil has a holy cow over immigrant bill

RACICOT, GILLESPIE, EVANS ON LIST OF WH "RELIEF PITCHERS": President Bush's suggestion on Tuesday that he may add a new senior figure to his White House team raised questions about the future of two of his closest and most powerful aides, Andrew H. Card Jr. and Karl Rove, as they struggle to put Mr. Bush's White House back on course... Two Republicans close to the White House who insisted on anonymity to discuss advice they give to Mr. Bush's inner circle said the names being suggested to the president included Michael O. Leavitt, secretary of health and human services; Marc Racicot, former chairman of the Republican National Committee; Donald L. Evans, a former commerce secretary; and Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican Party who shepherded Mr. Bush's two Supreme Court nominations through the Senate. The list also includes two former members of Congress with ties to Mr. Bush, Thomas G. Loeffler of Texas and Bill Paxon of New York. New York Times: Will Bush Hire a New Senior Adviser?

DEMS TAKE AIM AT NE HOUSE SEATS: The Democratic Party is targeting at least 17 Republican-held House seats in the Northeast among its top races nationwide, seeking to use voter dissatisfaction with President Bush and congressional leaders to oust many long-serving GOP representatives this fall. From Pennsylvania to New Hampshire, Democrats are hoping that this year's congressional elections will bring a regional realignment to Congress, similar to the 1994 wave that swept out Southern Democrats and helped put Republicans in control of the House of Representatives. Boston Globe: Democrats see Northeast as ripe for picking

DeGUERIN WANTS JUDGES TO HURRY UP: A lawyer for U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay pleaded Wednesday for a speedy resolution of the pretrial wrangling over his client's conspiracy charge, but the justices with the 3rd Court of Appeals said the underlying legal conflict is not simple. "I don't mean to make a pun," said Dick DeGuerin, DeLay's lawyer. "But in this case, justice delayed is justice denied."... Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said Wednesday that his staff is ready for trial as soon as the pretrial fights are resolved. Austin American-Statesman: DeLay case tangled in conflicts within the law

NOT REALLY THE RANK OF THREE-STAR GENERAL? When Kathleen Troia McFarland stepped forward as a Republican challenger to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, she was a relatively obscure figure with two intriguing claims to fame: She had worked on President Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" speech and had been the highest -- ranking woman at the Reagan Pentagon. But interviews with former Reagan administration officials and a review of documents show her claims were not entirely accurate. Though she helped write the "Star Wars" speech, its most famous passage -- the one that announced the anti-ballistic missile program -- was actually written by the president himself and his top national security advisers, according to two senior advisers to Mr. Reagan and a review of the literature and news articles of the period... There were two women with higher ranks in the Pentagon during virtually her entire time there. New York Times: Questions Arise About Résumé of Challenger to Clinton

ARNOLD BACK IN BLACK: Pumped up by donors from Redding to Beverly Hills to Washington, D.C., Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has erased his campaign debt while his main Democratic rivals have spent heavily in the fight to win their party's gubernatorial nomination, campaign finance reports show. At the same time, candidates for half the state's Senate seats and all of the Assembly seats have raised millions in advance of the June 6 primary -- when most of the contests will be all but decided. And candidates seeking statewide offices such as insurance commissioner and attorney general have amassed millions more. The reports, filed Wednesday and covering the first 11 weeks of this year, are an indicator of a candidate's strength. Los Angeles Times: Gov. Out of Debt in Bid for 2nd Term

DUCKWORTH WINS HOUSE NOD IN IL: Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both legs in a grenade attack in Iraq, is now leading the charge for the Fighting Democrats. Duckworth narrowly won the Democratic nomination for Congress in a primary race Tuesday for the House seat held by Republican Rep. Henry Hyde, who is retiring after 32 years. She is the best-known of the Iraq war veterans who want to go to Capitol Hill this year... About 10 veterans of the current fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are candidates for Congress, all but one of them Democrats. The Fighting Democrats, as they are being called, contend their battlefield experience will allow them to criticize the war without being written off as naive and weak on defense. AP via Yahoo! News: Iraq War Vet Wins Nomination in Ill.

The Frist legislation includes many of the components already agreed to by members of the Judiciary panel. But similar to a House bill approved late last year, it does not have the guest worker program championed by Bush.

Frist's bill also includes an increase in visas, which would increase our alien population by 20 million over the next 10 years. He's hoping we won't notice that part of his bill.

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