RNC to start radio misinformation campaign about immigration legislation

A week after hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest Republican legislation that would criminalize 12 million undocumented immigrants and those who aid them in any way, the Republican National Committee is set to start an advertising campaign that tries to shift the blame to the Democratic leadership.

Republicans on Thursday disclosed a Spanish-language radio advertising campaign that blames Democrats for thwarting progress on immigration reform.

The 60-second spots will play early next week, a Republican official said, on Univision's KOMR-FM (106.3) and KKMR-FM (106.5), KQMR-FM (100.3) in Phoenix, and Arizona Lotus Corp.'s KCMT-FM (102.1) in Tucson.

They also are scheduled to air in the heavily Hispanic states of New Mexico and Nevada

The ads are paid for the Republican National Committee and are meant to point out that "Democrats are not serving as honest brokers in the debate. . . . They are manipulating the issue for political benefit," said Danny Diaz, spokesman for the RNC.

The ads, in part, say: "Terrorists coming across our borders. Drugs smuggled to America's shores. But just last week, there was hope. Congress was working on immigration reform . . . to secure our borders and protect American families. But Democrat Leader Harry Reid let us down. Harry Reid played politics and blocked our leaders from working together. Reid's Democrat allies voted to treat millions of hard-working immigrants ... as felons."

The Arizona Republic

I guess the Republicans forgot that all votes in the House of Representatives are easily accessed. Here’s the numbers on the vote for Sensenbrenner HR4437, the bill that calls for reclassifying the crime of "illegal presence" into an "aggravated felony".

(more below the fold)

tags: immigration, Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, Kennedy McCain bill, Kennedy, S. 2454

Vote On Sensenbrenner HR 4437

For:
Rep 203
Dem 36

Against
Rep 17
Dem 164 +1 (ind)

US House of Representatives

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today released the following statement on Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist's support of the Sensenbrenner amendment, which would criminalize an entire population of immigrants:

"Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist's statement on immigration this week is a clear reflection that Republicans now feel the heat from the American people on the mean-spirited approach of the House Republican immigration bill, H.R. 4437, authored by Congressman James Sensenbrenner.

"The statement serves to underline a key fact: that the Republican Leaders of both the House and Senate support the criminalization of an entire population of immigrants by expressing support of an amendment that would have authorized 6- month jail sentences.

"No amount of spin by the Republican leadership can change the fact that the Sensenbrenner bill -- including the felony provision -- was authored by Republicans and ultimately passed by Republicans."

"The fact is that Congressman Sensenbrenner's amendment, if adopted, would have still criminalized an entire population for the first time in our history, rather than charging presence violations as civil offenses as provided under current law. 11 million men, women, and children, with no exceptions, would still go to jail for up to six months under the revised Sensenbrenner amendment. That is why many Democrats voted against the Sensenbrenner amendment.

"As we consider immigration reform, Democrats believe that we must protect and defend the American people by protecting our borders. As we do so, we must also protect and defend our values as Americans with comprehensive, humane, and realistic immigration reform. It is imperative to our national security, and it is the right thing to do.

"In contrast to these goals, we regret that Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist's statement indicates that the Republican leadership and your Republican allies support authorizing 6-month jail sentences for an entire population and that turns 11 million men, women, and children-among the poorest and hardest working people in our country -- into criminals.

"We are a better country than that. We must work together for real, bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that protects our borders, honors our values, and that we can all be proud of. The Sensenbrenner bill fails miserably and is antithetical to our basic values as a country. We will continue to vigorously oppose it."

US Newswire

You can contact the radio companies that will be running the Republican smear ads and let them know that you don't support that kind of advertising.

Univision Radio San Antonio
Location:
1777 NE Loop 410, Suite 400
San Antonio, TX 78217
Phone: (210) 829-1075
Fax: (210) 822-2372
Univision Radio

Lotus Communications Corp.
Location:
Lotus Communications Corp.
3301 Barham Blvd, Ste. 200
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Phone: 323/512-2225
FAX: 323/512-2224
Lotus Communications Corp

AND/OR:

Contact the Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada Democratic state parties to see what you can do to help them respond.

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Bush blames Democrats: Mr. President, have you no shame sir?

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, President Bush on Saturday, during his weekly radio address, tried to blame the breakdown of the Senate compromise on immigration reform on the Democrats and their Minority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV).

Bush blames Democrats for stalled immigration reform

By Matt Spetalnick
Reuters
Saturday, April 8, 2006; 10:26 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush, trying to head off the latest in a string of setbacks, blamed Democratic "blocking tactics" on Saturday for stalling an immigration overhaul and urged an end to the impasse.

Bush used his weekly radio address to point the finger at Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid for the breakdown on Friday of a Senate compromise plan to reform immigration law and give millions of illegal immigrants a chance for citizenship.

Failure to push through the bill, which would create a temporary worker program as proposed by Bush, could derail major changes in immigration laws for this year, dealing another blow to a president beset by his lowest public approval ratings since taking office.

Gridlock over the legislation, which would be the biggest immigration overhaul in two decades, touched off recriminations.

"Unfortunately, this compromise is being blocked by the Senate Democratic leader who has refused to allow senators to move forward and vote on amendments to this bill," Bush said.

"I call on the Senate Minority Leader to end his blocking tactics and allow the Senate to do its work and pass a fair, effective immigration reform bill," he added.

-snip-

The immigration debate has been complicated by November's congressional elections in which Democrats are threatening to seize control of both houses from Bush's Republican Party.

Republicans are split. The party is nervous about losing Hispanic votes and some members back Bush's call for both tighter border controls and a guest-worker program.

But many conservatives worry that allowing millions of undocumented, mostly Mexican immigrants to qualify for residency would lead to charges in the coming congressional campaign of having voted for amnesty.


Washington Post

As anyone who has been following this debate knows, the inability of the Senate to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill is a direct result of the infighting within the Republican party. Since the Judiciary Committee passed it’s compromise bill almost two weeks ago, Majority Leader Bill Frist(R-TN) with the help of Senators Cornyn( R-TX), Kyle (R-Az) , Martinez (R-Fla), Sessions (R-AL) and many more have consistently moved to prevent the it from ever seeing the light of day. Frist put up his own bill for consideration ahead of the Judiciaries bill, than over 400 amendments were proposed to modify the bill, in effect rewriting it almost entirely on the floor of the Senate.

(more below the fold)

tags: immigration, Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, Frist bill, Securing America's Borders Act, S. 2454


It is no secret that many Republicans within the Senate oppose any measure that would give a path to legalization to the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Those Republicans who are favorable to compressive reform are still unwilling to fully commit to the proposal and welcome the breakdown of negotiations as a chance to spend the two-week Easter Recess feeling out the political climate of their constituents.

The greatest obstacle to comprehensive reform, a Republican House dead set against any measure that allows the undocumented to stay, seems to have totally slipped Mr. Bush’s mind when he was casting blame.

Key House Republican vows to oppose immigration measure

WASHINGTON — Senators from both parties say they'll put parliamentary snags and political spats behind them to get a bipartisan immigration bill back on track later this month. But even if they succeed, the measure faces an implacable foe determined to keep it from becoming law.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., told USA TODAY in an interview Friday that the Senate measure, which won support from Republican and Democratic leaders as well as President Bush, is unacceptable to him because it would grant millions of people who came here illegally a chance at citizenship.

"However it is spun, it is an amnesty," Sensenbrenner said. "It rewards somebody who has broken the law with a benefit that is very hard to achieve for those who obey the law."

Sensenbrenner, 62, (6/14/43) will play a key role in any immigration legislation that is enacted. As chairman of a panel that oversees immigration and border security, he will be the top-ranking House negotiator assiged to hammer out any differences between House and Senate bills.

His immigration and border security proposal, approved by the House in December, aims at beefing up border security and enforcement of existing immigration laws. It does not contain provisions permitting more foreign workers into the USA or provide for those now working here illegally to obtain citizenship

USA TODAY

Mr Bush can try as he may to spin this issue to the American people, but like so many of the recent problems in Washington from Abramoff to DeLay, the leaking of CIA agents identities to authorizing illegal wiretaps this is a problem that is mostly confined to, and caused by, the Republican Party - and all the spin in the world won’t change that fact.

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Everything old is new again

What follows is a collection of images from America's history of "welcoming" new immigrants:

Immigrants steal American jobs.



more below the fold
Tag: immigration


Immigrants bring poverty and disease




Immigrants increase crime and violence




Immigrants receive "Free Lunch" at American's expense



Immigrants steal the ballot box




It would appear that today's new breed of anti-immigration proponents seem to be following in their forbearers proud tradition ... Except for the fact that for the vast majority of them, their forefathers were more likely the subjects of these cartoons.

Perhaps a healthy dose of perspective might be in order.

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