Frist takes issue of immigration into own hands (scary, ain't it?)

[CornField]

http://www.fairviewobserver.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060317/NEWS02/603170427/1321/MTCN06

Frustrated by the Senate Judiciary Committee's slow progress on politically sensitive immigration legislation, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., introduced his own bill last night to secure the nation's borders and crack down on illegal immigration.

Frist's bill would go directly to the full Senate. But he said he would allow Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., to substitute a committee bill if Specter's committee can approve one March 27. Otherwise, the majority leader will stick to a strict, two-week schedule to finish work on what he conceded would be "as challenging a bill as any we'll have to address this year."

The majority leader's power move stunned committee Republicans and Democrats, who have been struggling to reach agreement on a comprehensive immigration bill for three weeks. Specter said he objected to the maneuver.
...
Some Republican aides said they believed presidential politics were at work. Frist, a prospective candidate for 2008, left out of his bill the guest-worker program that President Bush has demanded and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. — a potential White House rival — has championed. Such a program is unpopular with many conservative voters, who see it as amnesty for illegal immigrants. Many Republicans believe a new get-tough law is one of the few pieces of legislation that must be passed before the November elections if the GOP is to maintain the allegiance of conservative voters.

Presidential politics? From the GOP? Surely they jest. :spray:

[BOSSHOG]

1. C'mon bill, your base wants

the illegals killed. Turn the minutemen loose and let them start shooting those coming across the border. Make this country a truly christian republican stronghold.

The folks on the gulf coast might want you to wait until the illegals are done with all the heavy lifting in the hurricane damaged areas.

[APPLE314]

2. LIKE I SAID -------- NO ALIEN LEFT BEHIND

     Maybe some of you remember the old TV show - " Name
that Tune ", where the contestants tried to name
tunes with fewer and fewer notes. It struck me as I read
Frist's grandstand plan, that I could name that tune with
" NO "  notes.  

     The real truth is that there is a mad rush to get this
program through quickly before the Republicans lose control of
Congress and it drops out of site forever. 

     Personally I am extremely tired of picking up the tab for
Health, Welfare, and Educational benefits for people, here
illegally, who then send their money out of the country. There
are also hidden costs in supporting a system that rewards
capture with free honor-bound bus-rides. Businesses may get a
break in the wages they pay, but, you can bet your bippy that
we are making up the difference.

     Xenophobia is a strength, not a weakness. Witness the
ports debacle.

     ENFORCEMENT IS THE ANSWER. CLEAN HOUSE. THEN YOU CAN
START OVER WITH LEGAL IMMIGRATION.