Immigration - The Blame Game

True to form, George W. Bush is trying to quell controversy by playing the blame game. He is attempting to direct anger about illegal immigration away from the GOP and toward the Democrats.

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.

Gridlock over the legislation, which would be the biggest immigration overhaul in two decades, touched off recriminations.

"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.

Nice try, Mr. President, but no sale.

The "guest worker" program is in trouble because of the schism between the low-wage wing of the Republican Party and the racist wing of the Republican Party. The GOP's corporate backers want cheap labor. The nativists, who Bush has courted and coddled since the 2000 campaign, just plain hate foreigners and don't want any more of them in this country. Those are hard places between which Bush is caught. The Democrats have nothing to do with it.

Maybe Bush is hoping that by blaming Democrats, he can obscure the issue enough to keep the GOP from being branded as The Party That Hates Hispanics. Good luck.