Check out the lede of this Reuters'
piece:
Looking to draw more Hispanics behind his re-election bid, President Bush on Wednesday will propose a temporary worker program to help millions of immigrants work legally in the United States, officials said.
Over at the AP, the
lede is :
Millions of illegal migrant farmers, hotel maids and others working in the shadows of American society would be granted legal status and freed from the threat of deportation under an election-year proposal President Bush wants Congress to approve.
The move is so nakedly partisan, that it's hard to avoid the conclusion that it's merely an election year stunt.
And it is a stunt. Bush has no intention on spending the political capital needed to pass the proposal (three year renewable guest worker visas). The opposition within GOP ranks dooms it outright. And there's no way that Democrats allow this thing to pass, giving Bush an election-year trophy amongst Latinos (the biggest swing constituency in politics today). They would poison-pill it by adding amendments further easing immigration restrictions -- perhaps an outright amnesty -- that would guarantee the opposition of wavering GOoPers. Democrats would also seek stronger labor protections in the law (think WalMart), further dooming its prospects amongst the Right.
But that's all irrelevant to Bush. He could care less, and you can bet none of his legislative aides will exhert more than a token effort on the immigration issue. Bush is getting his headlines now, and that's all that matters.
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