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| Boehner: Immigration Bill Is "Piece Of Sh*t" |
| 2007-05-23 |
| House Minority Leader John Boehner, speaking to a private gathering of Republican activists last night, called the Senate's immigration compromise bill a "piece of shit" but said that he had promised President Bush earlier in the day that he would let his teeth be a barrier to such thoughts in public. Boehner spoke last night at a small reception for the Republican Rapid Responders on Capitol Hill. "I promised the President today that I wouldn't say anything bad about ... this piece of shit bill," he said, according to two attendees. Earlier in the day, Boehner released a statement saying that "The Senate agreement appears to recognize that additional border security measures and more effective immigration law enforcement must come before any other issues are addressed, but I have significant concerns about parts of the Senate proposal -- particularly provisions that would reward illegal immigrants who have consistently broken our laws." A senior Republican official said yesterday that while the chances of the bill, which opens pathways to citizenship for most of the U.S.'s 12 million illegal immigrants, are "50/50" in the House and that the White House would spend its time lobbying Democrats, rather than Republicans, to achieve a majority. Yesterday, the Senate beat back an amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan that would have scrapped the bill's new guest worker program. The defeat of that effort was interpreted as a sign that a solid majority of Senators are prepared to support the bill's main tenets, for now. What happens when they hear from constituents over Memorial Day is unknown and unknowable. A Boehner spokesman was not able to comment. Boehner's tendency towards candor occasionally irks his staff, a fact that Boehner brought up with last night's audience. In 2006, Boehner called an idea put forth by then. Sen. Maj. Leader Bill Frist to provide Americans with a $100 rebate on gasoline "stupid." |
| Posted by:Delphi |
| #5 I'm glad someone of importance in Congress sees this bill as I do. If it passes, it's the death knell for the America I grew up in; we'll definitely have civil war within a decade, and maybe sooner. I remember hearing some police officer at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing commenting on Tim McVeigh's motivation: "Want more of these? Just keep pushing." I think the passage of this bill, with its huge influx of nonassimilating foreigners and the complete refusal to implement the enforcement provisions, would probably be one heck of a push. I truly fear for my country these days. It doesn't seem like there is anyone with patriotism and good sense at the helm anymore. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-05-23 22:44 |
| #4 I met John Boehner at a small "meet the candidate" event in a neighbor's home in WestChester in 1990 when he was seeking the Republican nomination for Congress. He is, in person, very much what you see on television, a self-made man driven to do the best he can for his family and his country. He is a living Horatio Alger story. He worked his way from the mailroom to president of a small company in Ohio, then married the owner's daughter and proceeded to grow the business by orders of magnitude. He is also very much a gentleman and such language in public is unusual. In many respects, he reminds me of Duncan Hunter. |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-05-23 13:42 |
| #3 --the Senate beat back -- Beat back?? Please. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2007-05-23 13:10 |
| #2 What happens when they hear from constituents over Memorial Day is unknown and unknowable. Maybe I'll rent a boat this weekend, cruise Nantucket Sound, and hope Ted Kennedy crashes into me so he can hear my views... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-05-23 13:10 |
| #1 Plainspoken. One of the reasons I voted for him. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-05-23 12:45 |