Republicans Tell a Big Lie, LAT/Brownstein Report it as....a Big Lie

[Rose Siding]

I feel faint.

The lie -

Frist and Hastert blamed Democrats for one of the most controversial ideas in the debate: the provision in the legislation the House of Representatives passed in December designating the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in America as felons. The Republican National Committee plans to run Spanish-language radio ads echoing that charge.

Replacing "they said/they said" with "they said/they LIED", Brownstein characterizes this big Republican lie as "chutzpah", "rewriting the past", and a "misleading statement". I know! Look-

Contrary to the description from Hastert and Frist, Democrats and immigrant groups opposed this proposal from the start.....

Hastert and Frist charged that House Democrats voted to oppose "efforts to reduce the crime of unlawful presence … from a felony to a misdemeanor." In fact, House Democrats opposed an effort to increase the penalty for unlawful presence from a civil violation to a criminal misdemeanor.

Brownstein goes further, pinning the criminalization idea directly on bushbots-

...To attribute the idea to Democrats, Frist, Hastert and the RNC have to join the story on the last page — and then misrepresent the evidence to boot. In fact, from the start of the recent debate, Republicans have driven the notion of imposing criminal penalties on illegal immigrants. Although President Bush has never acknowledged paternity, the idea's fathers include his administration.

...as House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) prepared his border security bill last year, the Justice Department asked him to include a provision making unlawful presence in the U.S. a crime. Sensenbrenner, on the House floor in December, said the idea came from the Bush administration, and an administration official last week, speaking anonymously, confirmed his account.

Hmm...truth in the media. Brief celebration.

http://www.seaedge.com.nyud.net:8090/images/cartwheels.jpg

[Rose Siding]

1. Here's the Reid/Pelosi statement on the Lie

"Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist's statement on immigration this week is a clear reflection that Republicans now feel the heat from the American people on the mean-spirited approach of the House Republican immigration bill, H.R. 4437, authored by Congressman James Sensenbrenner.

"The statement serves to underline a key fact: that the Republican Leaders of both the House and Senate support the criminalization of an entire population of immigrants by expressing support of an amendment that would have authorized 6- month jail sentences.

"No amount of spin by the Republican leadership can change the fact that the Sensenbrenner bill -- including the felony provision -- was authored by Republicans and ultimately passed by Republicans.

"The fact is that Congressman Sensenbrenner's amendment, if adopted, would have still criminalized an entire population for the first time in our history, rather than charging presence violations as civil offenses as provided under current law. 11 million men, women, and children, with no exceptions, would still go to jail for up to six months under the revised Sensenbrenner amendment. That is why many Democrats voted against the Sensenbrenner amendment.

"As we consider immigration reform, Democrats believe that we must protect and defend the American people by protecting our borders. As we do so, we must also protect and defend our values as Americans with comprehensive, humane, and realistic immigration reform. It is imperative to our national security, and it is the right thing to do.

"In contrast to these goals, we regret that Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist's statement indicates that the Republican leadership and your Republican allies support authorizing 6-month jail sentences for an entire population and that turns 11 million men, women, and children-among the poorest and hardest working people in our country -- into criminals.

"We are a better country than that. We must work together for real, bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that protects our borders, honors our values, and that we can all be proud of. The Sensenbrenner bill fails miserably and is antithetical to our basic values as a country. We will continue to vigorously oppose it."

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=64042

[flpoljunkie]

2. K&R!

:kick:

[Rose Siding]

3. Thanks. I've been wondering if Spanish language stations would run the ad

More accurate spots about DeLay were turned down by some TV stations. Maybe the RNC will back off the idea if coverage like this catches on.

[Rose Siding]

4. Marshall at TPM made note of this: "They're the desperate party"

In his column today, the LA Times' Ron Brownstein nicely sums up what we discussed last week on the Republicans' immigration bamboozle. The Republicans' effort to blame the 'felony provision' on the Democrats is no more than a flat out lie. "Contrary to the description from Hastert and Frist, Democrats and immigrant groups opposed this proposal from the start."

Actually, it's worse than this. Republicans are floundering so badly now they can't even keep their wedge issues straight from one week to the next. Their big issue one week is the one that they're running against a bit later in the month. They even want to blame their ideas on the Democrats when anybody watching can see they're lying through their teeth. They're the desperate party.

Everybody can see it.

It's the congress's version of the president being too afraid to appear in front of non-hand-picked audiences.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/008229.php