It looks like we are going tohave to rename the 28% dead-enders, because after this, they are no longer going to be part of the 28%:
Senators from both parties announced an agreement this afternoon on immigration-reform legislation that would bring illegal immigrants and their families “out of the shadows and into the sunshine of American life,” as Senator Edward M. Kennedy put it.
The bill would provide an opportunity “right away” for millions of illegal aliens to correct their status, said Mr. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. It would emphasize family ties as well as employment skills in weighing how soon immigrants could become legal residents, he said.
But it would also emphasize improved border security and would call for “very strong sanctions” against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, according to Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania.
This ought to push Bush down to around 12%.
cleek
12% is still too high
i’d rather see more people believe in a flat earth than believe that Bush is a good president
ed
This just in. Barney, Miss Beasley and Laura were seen hitchhiking out of Washington this evening. While Laura Bush refused to comment, Barney stated, “That sumbitch is nuts!”
Zifnab
Yeah, they’re blaming this on Ted Kennedy over in Riehl World. Unsurprisingly.
But it is fun to see the righties fall into a foaming lather of hate as their corporate overlords sell them out for cheaper labor. I eagerly await Tom Tancredo to spontaneously combust with rage on the House floor.
Chris
yes, and when they find out about Bush setting us up to get aboard the Law of The Sea framework this week, they will run crying to their mormon bryl cream king sized fool candidate to double Gitmo and get them out of this rule of law nonsense.
Rove’s Republicans are truly a sight to behold. The little pig faced pervert’s dream of one party rule seems slightly off track.
Can Bush go negative? If he could drill dry holes in the MIddle East in his glorious business past, anything is possible my hombres.
And, Dennis Kucinich’s wife is still my hot little first ladie of choice. He can’t be that kookie. Have you seen her? What a fox.
RSA
I think the classic target is due to Bob Harris, from a pollingreports.com survey:
I’d be satisfied to see Bush’s approval rating in that range.
Maldoror
When I hear the word “immigrant” I reach for my checkbook.
-GW
Punchy
There’s no way this stays as part of the bill. Bush is WAY too pro-biz to let this go into law (although, with a signing statement, anything is possible).
Cannot WAIT to see TanKKKredo’s response to this.
stickler
Punchy, you have it all wrong:
Sure he’ll sign it into law. And then order his Attorney General to enthusiastically prosecute Democratic-leaning business owners.
See? It’s genius.
les
Cleek, you’ll have to do better. This is flat earth territory in these good old US of A.
Zifnab
That will be the next prosecutor purge. They didn’t go after enough immigrant-harboring businesses.
Aaron
“dead enders” has, thanks to shoot for the face cheney become synonymous with something that will never end.
I am suggesting “round the bend-ers”
cleek
This is flat earth territory in these good old US of A.
i kindof suspected, but couldn’t find the numbers. and then i was just too lazy to change my analogy to something better.
ThymeZone
Yes, and that’s just in the Bush family.
demimondian
Who’s the second one?
ThymeZone
It’s Barney and …. some distant cousin, I think. Cousin of Barney’s I mean.
raff
…would call for “very strong sanctions” against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants…
I’ve been saying for ages that crackdowns & laws with actual teeth against employers hiring illegals would be a big part of the solution, not building ill-conceived walls. How many illegals would come to America if they knew there was no chance of even the meagerest of employment? Would it really be better to be homeless & broke in America than your native country?
Of course, republicans would never admit that American business owners are part of the problem — they’d rather just demonize the dirty, shifty (etc., ad nauseum) immigrants.
ConservativelyLiberal
I watch C-SPAN just about every morning, and every single time they ask for viewer input on illegal immigrants just about every call is against amnesty of any sort. You would think that if the American people are so supportive of making illegal immigrants legal that at least some of the calls would be in support of it. Nope.
We went through this crap in the 80’s, and this is the same thing rehashed. You put lipstick on a pig and you still have a pig. And this is one butt-ugly pig. IMO, this is just an extension of the ‘free trade’ argument, which is just a code word for ‘lets make the American worker compete against penny labor’. We can’t compete at that price, but we will always win when it comes to the quality of a product. I am so sick of fall apart crap from China that I have been taking the time to find Made in America products. It has not been easy as we hardly make anything anymore.
One good example is Holley has been using Made in China parts for years now. I fried three of their high performance electric fuel pumps over an 18 month period. Finally I went and bought an Aeromotive SS racing pump (made in Kansas!) and my problems were solved. Two years and it works like a dream. I was reading in one of the Hot Rod or Car Craft mags that the quality of Chinese forged steel crankshafts is getting better. It used to be an average of 7 out of 10 cranks would fail. Now it is 3 out of 10. Wow, what an improvement…
Regarding illegal immigrants, I think they should have been enforcing employer standards since the 80’s, which they promised us they would. Nope, can’t be going after big business. Now they are telling us the same thing and we are supposed to swallow it. I am writing my representatives (both of who will vote for any form of amnesty, Wyden and DeFazio) and telling them that this is a deal breaker for me. If they vote for this and it passes, they lose three votes (self, wife and daughter) immediately.
What part of ‘illegal’ are they having problems understanding?! If they applied this same standard to, lets say, drug users, every single drug would be legal to use today. They are arguing that because of the sheer numbers of illegals here that we have no choice other than to let them stay. I disagree. It may sound cold, but if we cut off the jobs that the illegals can get now, then they will have no choice but to leave and head for home. I can care less about their ‘situation’ (kids, extended family and whatnot), they broke the law and they do not belong here. It is not my fault they are here, yet I am being told that it is my problem.
I wish Washington DC had a flush handle like a toilet does. It sure would be handy right now…
srv
The Feral Minority?
The Tinky Winky 300?
Zombie Santa Claus
Zombie Jerry Falwell will always back Bush, no matter what.
Rusty Shackleford
OK, we get it Senator Kucinich, your wife is young and hot. Now get back out onto the campaign trail…this is the year you crack 2%.
Zombie Santa Claus
I just hope someone asks Kucinich about his sexy wife during one of the debates. It’s the only way to make the Democratic debates as amusing as the Republican ones.
The Other Andrew
The Republican party is now split into three warring factions, IMHO:
The John Cole Conservatives. Though I disagree with them on ideological issues, they understand both practical government and reality; I support their bold quest to oust the crazies.
The Bush Conservatives. “We’re for the war in Iraq, torture, Enron-style corporatism, Brown-style cronyism, theocracy, *and* illegal immigration! We can’t lose!”
The Lou Dobbs Conservatives. Some are all about the white culture, while others more about protectionism. But the key here is that they’re anti-corporatism, which means that their enemies are in their own party. I foresee this being a third-party issue, because there’s a ton of (IMHO xenophobic) populists who are outraged about this. These people comprise a key part of the GOP base, and ticking them off will hurt big-time.
JC
It is amazing just how freaked out the right is getting about this.
I do understand though. All about the wealthy, nothing about people here. Of course, we liberals have been saying this forever. But maybe the rest of that 28% will realize that all Bush cares about are his corporate crooks and cronies.
D. Mason
Calling people who are against amnesty “xenophobic” is no less delusional than calling people who are against the war in Iraq “traitors” it’s the same tactic(gross hyperbole) used against a similar % of the population.
RSA
I don’t have a strong opinion one way or another on the basic issue, but I think that doing this would require an enormous amount of resources to support federal regulation and enforcement, which involves all sorts of things that many conservatives find objectionable: higher taxes; national ID cards; more stringent regulations on businesses; lots and lots of inspectors. Will supporters be willing to pay the price?
Lee
I know everyone else is wondering….
Dennis Kucinich’s wife
He just got my support for President. Don’t really care what his policies are.
Jimmmmm
Wow, Repubs acknowledge that DEMAND–i.e., the scumfucks who exploit illegal alien labor–is the driving force of economies?!?
Somewhere in Hell, St Ronnie and Milton Friedman just put on another sweater.
Dreggas
This one is tough for me, my job isn’t threatened and not many people I know are being pushed out because of immigrants. Granted there is a large latino population here in So Cal made up of immigrants both illegal and legal. On one hand I couldn’t care less that people are coming here, we went through the same thing with the Irish and the Italians and other ethnic groups several times throughout our history and we always survived.
Everyone was afraid that somehow we’d lose our American identity because of people coming to this country both legally and otherwise when the truth is we are still the USA. This is just a rehash of the same shit.
On the other hand I see it that A) people are breaking the law by coming here illegally and if we are to be a nation of laws then we need to enforce them and B) I believe that those coming here should make more of an effort to assimilate and by that I mean learn to speak English. Some people take that as somehow wrong that I think that but if you look at any other country they have a national language and if you want to apply for citizenship there you need to be fluent in that language. For example for citizenship in Canada you need to be fluent in French and English. Yet when I go into a DMV here in California you can take a drivers test and get documents in about 10 different languages.
I have nothing against people immigrating to this country, my family immigrated here as did all families at one time. However there need to be rules enforced, the same goes for the companies employing illegal immigrants and the penalties should be criminal. Hire an illegal and you go to prison, plain and simple.
Chris
I told you. Unbelievable first lady material as far as i’m concerned. Sorry, but we’ve beaten the immigration thing into the ground, let’s get this thread onto redheads.
ThymeZone
Excellent spoof, I must say, because you cannot be serious.
You are going to engineer an economic and social catastrophe for 10-20 million people including illegals and their families and employers, and a grotesque plan that must rest upon an assumption of mass flight back over the border (tunnels with traffic lights?) …. all in order to get …. what? What do you get in return for causing this monstrous train wreck? What’s your payoff?
The satisfaction of beating your chest about some fucking imagined wrong or another?
What a complete fucking idiot you are, sir. What an ass.
ThymeZone
Please describe the systems and procedures that will prevent the hiring of illegals. And why your proposed ones will work when nothing else has in the last 75 years.
Who pays for them? Enforces them? Do you even have any idea what you are talking about? Do you seriously think you can just decide to criminalize activity that has been going on in a mostly benign fashion since before WWII and …. what? Suddenly your imagined problem just goes away.
THE LAW DOESN’T WORK. That’s why it fails, and isn’t enforced. The way you fix a bad law is not to ramp up enforcement, it’s to get rid of it, replace it with something that actually works. Not stamp your feet.
The Other Andrew
D. Mason–I don’t think that all those who are against “amnesty” are xenophobic. As I said, I think that some are about white culture, while others are about protectionism.
pharniel
redheads. awesum hot, totally batshit fuck crazy.
i’ve got a totall ‘thing’ for fire snatch, but damn, i’ve almost had it cured by teh amount of Teh Crazy i’ve had to deal with.
usually rock’emsock’em blast in bed though.
Larry
Can’t we all just get along?
Dreggas
So what do you suggest TZ? What’s your grand plan to fix this? Just let anyone in and scrap immigration laws period?
Quite frankly I do believe anyone hiring an illegal immigrant should be given more than a slap on the wrist in the form of a fine. Will it ever happen? Probably not given the way the system works, just like getting the perfect government will never happen. What’s the alternative? I agree the current laws aren’t working and when and if new ones are crafted they should come with far steeper penalties than a little slap on the wrist.
Dreggas
bah didn’t mean to copy the whole thread *smacks forehead*
Tony J
Ten seconds away from posting a WTF.
The geeks were right, violating online etiquete by accident can be funny.
And now, back to the discussion on immigration.
ThymeZone
What do you think the big “problem” is?
Immigration from Mexico has not changed much, except for a recent rise in the rate, in my lifetime, which is roughly the period since WWII.
Exactly how do you figure you are being injured?
Except for the recent slight hockey stick uptick, total immigration (legal plus illegal) stayed within spitting distance of the same rate as a percentage of US population for the better part of seven or eight decades.
I happen to live directly in the middle of the fast lane on the busiest illegal immigration highway in the country, and have lived here most of the last half century. Other than the availability of good Mexican food, a lot of Mexican music on the radio (which I rather enjoy), and a large percentage of Hispanic neighbors, I don’t see much in the way of profound effects.
The “they don’t belong here” crowd are suggesting, without actually standing behind the suggestion, a social and economic war on roughly 6+ percent of the population of this country. For what? What do you think you will get in return for this collossal fuckup? What great benefits will you reap?
Cut the crap.
ThymeZone
And why aren’t they? And what would be different about your new laws that would make them work?
D. Mason
Don’t try to back pedal you did say xenophobic in reference to “populists”. Maybe I’m fuzzy about the definition of the word populist but I read it to mean “of the common people” per the dictionary. So if I hash it out completely you seem to be saying that the freepers are against amnesty because of white pride(wonder that that could be implying) and the rest of the country is against it because of xenophobia. What an enlightened viewpoint you have. Once again you must cheer heartily whenever you hear those against the Iraq debacle called traitors, it’s right up your rhetorical alley.
Also, what the fuck does white culture have to do with any of it? Illegals are affecting AMERICAN culture. Good or bad it simply has nothing to so with white culture, unless you’re trying to frame opposition to amnesty as a racism. If that’s the case then ball up and just say this is “another case of whitey trying to keep the brown man down”.
Dreggas
Lax enforcement and a government unwilling to enforce laws because of their cozy relationships with the corporations who hire the illegals in the first place. Not to mention the fact that the average American likes his or her lettuce cheap. Further the public outcry over immigration enforcement as being “racist” wouldn’t help matters and the bottom line is it’s too damn expensive to even bother trying to round up the 12+ million already here.
New laws regarding immigration would require teeth and real enforcement which would mean putting resources into enforcing and investigating immigration violations both at the border and within the united states. Will they ever come into being? Most likely not as I have said elsewhere. Do I really care? Uh No. Why? Because whether or not Jose comes running across the border or doesn’t my job and life aren’t threatened and I like good mexican food myself.
All I am saying is if you are going to have laws then they need to be enforced and if they don’t work then they need to be fixed. You say the current laws aren’t broke and I asked a question to which you didn’t even respond but rather attacked me. I don’t know what the deal is but Jesus christ I am pretty much on your side.
ThymeZone
You’re going to “enforce” your way to the disappearance of 10-20 million people with jobs and families and lives?
Even George Bush can figure out that this won’t work.
Rome Again
Actually, I don’t mind paying a little more for it in a restaurant if they serve me the really green stuff.
Ummm, TZ, are you SURE you wanna lay odds on that? The name Bush disappoints every single time, I don’t think you really want to go there hon.
Dreggas
No TZ, in case you missed it I was speaking about THE FUTURE, you know, after we figure out what the fuck to do? Those here now can stay as far as I am concerned. I am saying if there is going to be any real reform in this then enforcement needs to be a part of the overall program.
Dreggas
Like Romaine and others? That’s all I buy Iceberg has little to no nutritional value, I actually prefer the “spring mix”