Thread: BUSH AND RNC come up with yet another AMNESTY PLAN

Below is the transcript from a segment on Lou Dobbs last night about the latest amnesty proposal by Bush and the Republican National Committee:


And the Bush administration's new plan for immigration reform and economics. Critics say the White House is only trying to marginalize Americans who want to secure our borders and to rationalize our broken immigration legal system. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The Bush White House and the former head of the Republican National Committee have come up with a unique, interesting way in which to put together a group of Hispanic and business lobbyists trying to persuade the American public that President Bush's proposal for a guest-worker program is the best way to provide a solution to our nation's broken border crisis.

Casey Wian has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The White House is organizing a powerful coalition of business groups, Latino lobbyists, and former lawmakers to promote the president's guest worker agenda and apparently marginalize those who want the border secured first. Called Americans for Border and Economic Security, the still-evolving group is led by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie and two former congressmen, California Democrat Cal Dooley and Texas Republican Dick Armey.

FMR. REP. DICK ARMEY (R), TEXAS: I don't think you can secure the borders unless you also have to have an open and efficient process by which people can come here legally.

I put it this way: I don't run red lights. But if the light stays there and doesn't change, eventually I'll go through it. And it's the same thing with an awful lot of workers who come here.

WIAN: Laura Reiff leads the Essential Worker Coalition, a pro- guest worker business lobby group that has been approached by the White House coalition. She denies the goal is to perpetuate cheap labor.

LAURA REIFF, ESSENTIAL WORKERS IMMIGRATION COALITION: We think that that's really a copout, that, you know, the wages are good. The wages allow upper mobility. We don't have the people to do the jobs.

WIAN: The White House is courting others, from agricultural lobbyists to giant corporations such as Wal-Mart and Microsoft. They did not respond to requests for comment. Border security activists say the growing public demand for secure borders is influencing the White House's posture, if not its actions.

IRA MEHLMAN, FAIR: It's clear that they're getting the message that the American people are fed up with the status quo. And what they are trying to do is simply repackage it and send it back to them in a different form and convince them that it's something new. I don't believe that the American public will fall for it.

WIAN: Another potential hurdle, groups who want to join the White House coalition are being asked to pay between $50,000 and a quarter of a million dollars.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WIAN: An executive of one organization being recruited by Americans for Border and Economic Security says the White House is going to be hard-pressed to find any groups willing to pony up that kind of money. It's another example of the administration's continuing struggle to deal with the issue of illegal immigration, Lou.

DOBBS: It's a struggle for just about everyone in this country. $50,000 to $250,000 to join up -- Casey, it is, after all, a Republican-led effort here. I mean, you wouldn't expect it to be on the cheap, would you?

WIAN: Well, I guess not. But one of the concerns that some of the folks have raised who have been involved in these meetings is that, by asking for so much money, they're going to marginalize some of the groups they're trying to attract. You can't imagine there's too many grassroots Hispanic organizations that are going to be willing to pay that kind of money to join a Republican-led group, Lou.

DOBBS: Well, some of those groups, and like many of the other business organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce-front organizations, as well, all are being paid for by big business in this country. Those U.S. multinationals will be delighted, I'm sure, to at least contribute a paltry sum like $50,000 or a quarter of a million to their effort.

The shame here is that none of it goes anywhere to giving us a look at what is happening within the nation of Mexico, its corruption, its economic disorganization and dysfunction, and the immense poverty that drives many of the illegal aliens into this country. That money could certainly be better spent, it seems to me, at least.

Casey, thank you very much. Casey Wian.

And this, folks, is the latest attempt by our President to just open the borders about as wide as you could possibly get. I will be real interested to see the actual news report on this topic.

I was glad to see it....signs they are nervous.

Americans won't fall for it.

They can spend all their money trying to spin the end of the United States. It won't fly, not here, not now, not ever. Americans will not allow it.

Period.

What little was said last night was not comprehensive enough for me to tell but it actually sounded WORSE than any of his other so-called immigration reform plans! I will see if there's anything in the paper this AM and post it if it is. Do the same everyone out there!

What Dick Armey said was REDICULOUS.

If the light stays red, eventually I'm going to run it.

Come on. Mr. Armey wake up. Get an eye check up. Your color blind. The light at the border is GREEN. It sure isn't red.

You're another one.....fraidy cat. Can't speak up against this president can you??? Might get in big trouble. Fraidy cat...So, besides a new teddy bear, what else do you want Santa to bring you this year?

You big babies. GO HOME!!!

Americans are not going to go with Jorge's "new plan"....or should we say..."new trick"?

Yeah--that was a STUPID response about the green light. Notice, he also said that, if it didn't change in a reasonable time, he would run it!! That, Mr. Armey, is ILLEGAL!! A word that, perhaps, you don't understand!!!!

It indeed was a stupid statement. The best that you could do under such a situation is sit or make a LEGAL RIGHT ON RED!! Otherwise, you have to call 911 and get a team out there to direct traffic. To run a red light that is broken is DEATH ON WHEELS. What an idiot. All you have to do with these guys is just let them....keep on talkin'!! Then we can tell them, "keep on walkin', you're OUT".

ABSOLUTELY. The more they say, the deeper they get. They want illegals to break the laws to come here and they ADMIT to breaking our laws themselves. I could just see him running a red light if he had to stop for more than a minute then using his congressional job as a way to get out of getting a ticket. Wouldn't work for us peons, would it????

RIGHT ON!! Members of Congress have immunity of a type...so they can't be locked up and miss a vote.