Different Takes On the President's Speech

Here's some of the takes of the President's speech last night:

Dick Morris:
Bush's 'Great Speech'

Arguably America’s most prominent American political consultant, Dick Morris tells NewsMax that President Bush's key national address on immigration reform Monday night was "a great speech. ”

"It included all the elements it had to," said Morris, who noted the president is living through record low approval ratings. But Morris conjectures Bush's border plan may help lay the ground work for a comeback.
Jon Kyl
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl said he was "delighted" with President Bush's plan to send the National Guard to the U.S. border with Mexico, saying that added troops will help free up the Border Patrol to do their work more effectively.

----------

Kyl, who has argued illegal immigrants should have to return home before being considered for a temporary worker permit, agreed. "Until the federal government can convince the American people that it is serious about securing our borders, it will be hard to consider other factors of immigration reform," he said.
Hugh Hewitt

I have confirmed with a senior White House source this morning that the president is for robust fencing in urban areas , as exists in El Paso and San Diego, and for vehicle barriers in rural areas. Perhaps Assistant Secretary Myers didn't get the memo.

So if the Sessions amendment passes this week, the immigration bill will have the one essential element it needs and the summer/fall campaign can focus on national security and the economy, not illegal immigration. (Note that Senator Clinton is speaking for a "smart fence," a sure sign that the sweet spot in this debate begins and ends with at least two layers of fence along hundreds of miles of border in urban and near-urban areas.)


Debra Saunders
President Bush is making a big mistake in announcing that he wants to send up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the border. What a shoddy way to say thank you to troops who have seen plenty of action in Iraq and after Katrina. It is also an insult to conservative and moderate voters, whom he apparently thinks this feckless gesture will appease. The whole focus on the border shows that Bush is not serious about curbing illegal immigration. Washington already has increased the ranks of the Border Patrol, which is good.
Saunders' column is what's insulting. She says that enforcing the borders is good but then says that the National Guard is just a smokescreen without offering proof that it's a smokesreen. I suggest she read Hugh's post. Hugh "confirmed with a senior White House source this morning that the president is for robust fencing in urban areas..." and with Dick Cheney, who was on Rush this afternoon. Mr. Cheney said that they're calling in National Guard units that will: (a) help build roads and other types of preventive infrastructure, (b) do intelligence work and (c) free the Border Patrol to conduct more patrols.

Additionally, Ms. Saunders omitted the part about the President announcing that 'Catch-and-Release' is being put to an end ASAP. That's a significant, positive step, possibly the most positive news from the speech.

Perhaps she shouldn't be so selective in the information she uses the next time.


Posted Tuesday, May 16, 2006 1:42 PM

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