Thread: McCain called plan 'amnesty' in 2003

McCain called plan 'amnesty' in 2003
GOP hopeful now claims he 'never supported' reprieve for illegals

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Posted: January 7, 2008
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

Sen. John McCain's Straight Talk Express may have derailed in the New Hampshire debates.

In tonight's Fox News presidential forum, the GOP hopeful denied charges he favored an immigration-reform plan that offered amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

"I have never, ever supported amnesty, and never will," McCain asserted.

During the ABC News presidential debate on Saturday, he angrily denied it and even suggested anybody who says he did support amnesty is a "liar, is lying."

But in a May 28, 2003, press conference in Tucson, the Arizona senator said Congress should pass a guest-worker program that includes "amnesty" for illegal workers in the U.S.

"I think we can set up a program where amnesty is extended to a certain number of people," McCain said. "Amnesty has to be an important part, because there are people who have lived in this country for 20, 30 or 40 years, who have raised children here and pay taxes here and are not citizens."

"He used the word," noted GOP rival Gov. Mitt Romney during the Fox debate, referring to amnesty.

He also pointed out that McCain co-sponsored a bill to provide so-called Z visas to illegals who "earn the right," as McCain explained, to stay in the U.S. That includes paying a $5,000 fine and maintaining a job here, McCain said.

McCain added that his bill did not offer citizenship to all illegals, but only to those not charged with other crimes. Criminals would be subject to deportation under his plan.

Conservative commentators such as Michelle Malkin call McCain's plan "shamnesty," and accuse him of engaging in political doublespeak now to appeal to the GOP base, which is strongly opposed to special privileges for illegal immigrants.

Malkin knocked ABC News' debate moderator Charles Gibson for not challenging McCain's denials.

"Gibson's superficial knowledge of the immigration issue left him completely unequipped to challenge John McCain's slippery rhetoric on shamnesty," she argued on her blog.

McCain is favored to win the New Hampshire primary. Analysts say he owes his recent surge in the polls to the success of the troop surge in Iraq, which the former POW and Vietnam hero clamored for long before President Bush made it policy.


http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59567

I love the reasoning of the open borders lobbyists.

According to them, "amnesty" is...

Well, we don't know what it is, because nothing is amnesty according to their skewed logic.

I suppose amnesty means giving everyone who's here illegally an X-Box 360 in addition to permanent citizenship, Social Security and Medicare benefits, a free education at our expense, etc., etc., ad nauseam.

"Amnesty" is any program that allows the millions of illegal aliens in this country to stay here indefinitely-or for any period of time-without being deported or redeported.

It's as simple as that.

Jean:

This is great information!

Tancredofan

Originally Posted by tancredofan

Jean:

This is great information!

Tancredofan

Thank you tancredofan but again World Net Daily deserves the credit, they are great!

This post is from Hugh Hewitt, blowing McCain's "it's not amnesty" nonsense out of the water:
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John McCain argued in the debate last night [1/5], and again with Tim Russert this morning [1/6], that his plan wasn't amnesty because illegals had to pay a fine of $5,000.

This argument is wholly unpersuasive for two reasons.

First, if by paying a sum of $5,000 you earn a future benefit stream from Social Security, that's not a fine. It's an annuity.

Second, would John McCain argue it wasn't an amnesty if the "fine" was $1? $500? $2,000?

Most Americans looked at the $5,000 number and laughed, realizing that many thousands of employers would gladly pay that amount in a bonus to keep their worker, or that family and friends would cobble together the funds. It wasn't a penalty. It was camouflage.

Some spin from last night's decate [1/5] is that Romney got pummeled, and indeed he took shot after shot but he parried almost all of them and stood his ground. None of his supporters would switched their votes last night, and some undecideds had to have liked the command of the issues and the poise under fire.

John McCain positively lost support last night and again this morning on Meet The Press beacuse he's back attempting to defend the indefensible in the eyes of the GOP base: McCain-Kennedy. In doing so John McCain is revealed as the old John McCain, impervious to criticism, indifferent to facts, angry at the impertinence of any who would question his judgment.

And unrepentant about McCain-Kennedy. And unelectable as a result.

More info to rebut McCain (regarding his current scheme), posted in the National Review:
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Saturday, January 05, 2008

More on Immigration [Ramesh Ponnuru]

McCain says you can trust him on immigration because he now understands that enforcement has to come first. Border-state governors would have to certify that the border is secure before any "path to citizenship" (what the critics call "amnesty") or guest-worker program begins. But if people can still come here legally and overstay their visas, and work for employers without either party facing serious sanctions, then "the border" could be "secure" without the flow of illegal immigration dropping. The McCain promise doesn't seem to add up to much.

He defends the guest-worker program—he defended it today in Peterborough—by saying that the Department of Labor would have to certify that employers had invited Americans to apply for jobs before seeking guest workers from abroad. Again, the certification seems like a dodge. The concern of critics is that employers are using immigrant labor to undercut the wages of Americans. If they advertise jobs at wages below those Americans will take, they can get their certification and nothing important will have changed.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/? ... NlYTJmMmY=

Comments are being left after this article.
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Amnesty bill could derail McCain’s train

By Howie Carr | Monday, January 7, 2008 |
John McCain is old - very old.

Which may explain his abject confusion about whether he supports amnesty for 20 million illegal aliens. When you’re 71 years old, short-term memory loss can be part of the package, along with the delusion that Wilfred Brimley’s endorsement is big with the iPod generation.

Last spring McCain and the hero of Chappaquiddick, with the help of La Raza, put together a grandiose scheme to grant amnesty to millions upon millions of foreign invaders. It was so outrageous they refused to hold hearings on it. The bill went down in flames, twice, and so did McCain’s campaign for almost a year.

Now McCain is back, sort of. But his “amnestyâ€

Here is the 2003 article:
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McCain pushes amnesty , guest-worker program
Tucson Citizen (AZ) - May 29, 2003
By C.T. REVERE

Immigration reform that was put on hold after the 9-11 terror attacks must be a priority when Congress reconvenes next week, Sen. John McCain said yesterday.

While national security remains a crucial concern in light of the war on terror, lawmakers should pass a guest-worker program that includes amnesty for some illegal workers now in the United States, the Arizona Republican said during a news conference in his Tucson office.

"I believe we can pursue the security programs and at the same time set up a system where people can come here and work on a temporary basis. I think we can set up a program where amnesty is extended to a certain number of people who are eligible and at the same time make sure that we have some control over people who come in and out of this country," he said.

Immigration reform talks between President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox ended abruptly when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. But the relentless wave of illegal immigrants risking their lives to find work in America dictate that Congress address the problem soon, McCain said.

"There are jobs that American workers simply won't do," McCain said. "As long as there's a demand for workers, workers are going to come across."

An amnesty program is vital to any immigration legislation that includes a guest-worker program, he said. "

Amnesty has to be an important part because there are people who have lived in this country for 20, 30 or 40 years, who have raised children here and pay taxes here and are not citizens. That has to be a component of it," he said. "How can we have a temporary worker program if we're not allowing people who have been here for 30 years to hold jobs here?"

The fact that the Fox administration opposed the U.S. military action in Iraq cannot be allowed impede negotiations, McCain said.

"I am confident President Bush, former governor of a border state, understands the absolute importance of our relationship with Mexico and will move forward as soon as possible, especially on these issues of border security and immigration," he said.

Immigration law is likely to open the door for a national identification system, he said.

"At some point in history we are going to have a national I.D.," he said. "But the first phase of it has got to be for people who are not citizens, so we can identify them and know who is going in and out of the country."

Another border security measure is likely to be the use of unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles, commonly called drones.

"It's one of the important technological tools we have. We're never going to have enough people to patrol that border. UAVs do a good job," he said. "We have an obligation to secure our borders. There are too many indications of bad people with bad intentions who are contemplating or coming across our border."

McCain credits U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, a Tucson Republican, for spearheading the Arizona effort to create a guest-worker program.

"I'm hopeful that congressman Kolbe and the rest of us will be able to address that legislation shortly after we return next week," he said.

Originally Posted by Populist

More info to rebut McCain (regarding his current scheme), posted in the National Review:
------------

Saturday, January 05, 2008

More on Immigration [Ramesh Ponnuru]

McCain says you can trust him on immigration because he now understands that enforcement has to come first. Border-state governors would have to certify that the border is secure before any "path to citizenship" (what the critics call "amnesty") or guest-worker program begins. But if people can still come here legally and overstay their visas, and work for employers without either party facing serious sanctions, then "the border" could be "secure" without the flow of illegal immigration dropping. The McCain promise doesn't seem to add up to much.

He defends the guest-worker program—he defended it today in Peterborough—by saying that the Department of Labor would have to certify that employers had invited Americans to apply for jobs before seeking guest workers from abroad. Again, the certification seems like a dodge. The concern of critics is that employers are using immigrant labor to undercut the wages of Americans. If they advertise jobs at wages below those Americans will take, they can get their certification and nothing important will have changed.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/? ... NlYTJmMmY=

Bingo!

This dodge is one of the worst parts of the guest worker program.

Fresh Direct pays people a dollar above minimum wage, then claims it has tried its best to hire Americans because of this dog and pony show it has when it has a job fair for positions in the company.

The hi tech companies in Silicon Valley do the same exact thing.

Originally Posted by Populist

First, if by paying a sum of $5,000 you earn a future benefit stream from Social Security, that's not a fine. It's an annuity.

They will get more than Social Security, if they are earning minimum wage and have two children, they will also get the earned income credit which is $4800 a year for 2008. In other words they will get the "fine" back the first year, then collect $5000 a year until their children turn 21! And I am sure they will keep having kids until they are 42 so they can collect the credit until they start getting Social Security!