Two Stories on the Immigration Bill

You just have to love the political spin that is coming from the Republican Party these days. First, here's a little story from the Bush White House, titled "Bush blames Democrats for stalled immigration reform:"

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 approve 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.

"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.

So President Bush is blaming the Democrats for sinking the immigration bill. That's understandable--the Republican spin-meisters in the White House always blame the Democrats for everything.

Now we come to another little story, titled "Republican leader rejects guest worker plan:"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Majority Leader John Boehner on Sunday rejected efforts to establish a guest worker program in the United States, despite calls from President Bush to make provisions for millions of current illegal immigrants.

Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said he supported a bill already passed by the House that focuses on tightening up the nation's borders but does not include a program for temporary workers.

"You can't begin to talk about a guest worker bill until you secure the borders," he said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" program. Otherwise, he said, "We're going to have an endless parade of illegal immigrants here in our country."

Boehner's position pits him directly against Bush, who on Saturday blamed Senate Democrats for failing to approve a bipartisan Senate plan that created a temporary guest worker plan and provided a path to citizenship.

Boehner stopped short of saying congressional efforts to pass immigration reform legislation had stalled, calling on the U.S. Senate to pass a bill when lawmakers return from recess in two weeks.

If the Senate passes legislation, lawmakers from both sides of Congress would have to work out differences for a final version of the bill.

Boehner said both the House and the Senate could resolve their disagreements.

Still, he said, "Until we begin to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws, I don't think we ought to be talking about a more comprehensive approach."

Allowing illegal immigrants to stay and work "sounds too much like amnesty for most Americans," he said.

Can you say hypocrisy?