Saturday, May 19, 2007

Eating Crow, and liking it

In my previous post I stated that the Amnesty Bill was a fait accompli. Apparently it may not be a done deal yet. According to this from the Washington Times

"The president's willingness to accept the granting of amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants has sent a harmful message to Republican voters around the country," said Rep. Mike Pence, Indiana Republican. "But I also believe that'll sort itself out in the primaries of 2008. At the end of the day, this is an issue where I find myself focusing less on politics than what policy I think is in the best interests of the American people."
Last year, both Mr. Pence and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas appeared to be promising allies for Mr. Bush. Mr. Pence met with the president in the Oval Office to talk about the congressman's plan to have illegal aliens leave the country and apply to re-enter from outside.
When Democrats won control of Congress, Mr. Bush tacked left, negotiating with Mr. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and producing a deal on Thursday that many Republicans say is amnesty.
"The core of the apple here is the fact that 12 million illegal immigrants in this country can get right with the law without leaving the country. I think for most Americans, that is amnesty," Mr. Pence said, adding that from his read of his colleagues -- Democrats and Republicans -- "I don't believe the Senate bill has a future in the House."
Also on the outside of the deal is Mr. Cornyn, who at one point had a bill that most closely mirrored Mr. Bush's principles of a temporary-worker program and requiring illegal aliens to leave the country without creating a new path to citizenship for them.


If this bill does actually go down in flames, I will be very happy. Someone pass the salt and pepper please.