Bush Says Bill Is Amnesty

On Tuesday President George Bush said what most of the rest of the country already knows, and that is the Immigration Amnesty Bill is indeed amnesty.

Ever since the beginning of the politicians trying to ram a Comprehensive Immigration Bill through Congress, those who opposed this particular piece of legislation said that it amounted to an Amnesty bill. The President was adamant that this was in no way and amnesty bill, and continued to say so until yesterday.

President Bush was talking to a group of immigration overhaul advocates when he said "you know, I've heard all the rhetoric, you've heard it, too, about how this is amnesty...And Amnesty means that you've got to pay a price fr having been here illegally, and this bill DOES that." With a slip of the tongue the truth comes out. Even Bush thinks in his sub-conscience that this is indeed Amnesty. Very telling!

Always the good soldier, White House press secretary Tony Snow issued an unusual statement to correct his boss. He said that he needed to make a correction to what President Bush had said in the morning, and that the President does not think that this is an amnesty bill. He clarified by saying that the comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the Senate in no way offers amnesty to immigrants who came here illegally, and that this is the position that the President has held for a long time.

The spin was quick, but wholly unconvincing to anyone who listens to any of the proponents of the current bill. They can scream at the top of their lungs that it is not an Amnesty Bill, but at the end of the day, it IS an Amnesty Bill.

I bet they keep Bush on a shorter leash from now until the arguments over the bill are finished and the bill has been passed or defeated, because he did not help the proponents' cause by his remarks.

Thanks for being honest for once Mr. President!