October 8, 2006
TORTILLA CURTAIN UPDATE....Remember the 700-mile fence along the Mexican border that Congress approved a couple of weeks ago? There are two parts to it: an appropriations bill that authorizes spending $1.2 billion on the project, and the Secure Fence Act, which requires the money to actually be spent on a fence. Mickey Kaus notes that George Bush has signed the former but not yet the latter and wonders if he's planning to quietly pocket veto the Secure Fence Act and then use the appropriations money in more innocuous ways (a "virtual fence"). I'm not sure I buy it, but it is interesting that he didn't sign both bills at once, isn't it?
Perhaps he just wants to sign the second bill more quietly. Or maybe he really believes in a moderate immigration policy so strongly that he's willing to double-cross his pro-fence base and kill the bill. By my count, he has until Wednesday to sign it. Tick tick tick.....
—Kevin Drum 12:34 PM
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Follow the money..
Posted by: Mudge on October 8, 2006 at 12:42 PM | PERMALINK
All the way to China.
Posted by: Global Citizen on October 8, 2006 at 12:51 PM | PERMALINK
I am betting he is going to use the pocket veto and count on the Foley scandal giving him cover. I am just that cynical.
Posted by: Global Citizen on October 8, 2006 at 1:00 PM | PERMALINK
Bush signed the appropriations bill while on a fundraiser for Rick Renzi in Phoenix so that the cost of travelling to Arizona on Air Farce One could be billed to the taxpayers and not come out of republican coffers. (official business, ya know)
Perhaps he is saving the signing of the Secure Fence Act for a campaign foray to another state.
Posted by: Dave Howard on October 8, 2006 at 1:14 PM | PERMALINK
Of course the money is not wasted. They are going to have thousands of signs printed in Spanish which say,
WARNING
Millions allocated for fence.
Please call Halliburton
Human Resources at 1-800-GetaJob
Posted by: thethirdPaul on October 8, 2006 at 1:14 PM | PERMALINK
He is going to sign the bill but reserve his right to pocket the money for his own family uses... whatever they may be.
Whose going to stop him?
You? The Press? Congress?
Shit... he might just give the money to Brownie.
By the way...
Does torture make you a war crinminal, or does being a war criminal make you torture?
Posted by: koreyel on October 8, 2006 at 1:24 PM | PERMALINK
"Air Farce One"
Did not know they were using a great Canadian comedy routine.
Posted by: stupid git on October 8, 2006 at 1:25 PM | PERMALINK
Can he issue a signing statement for a bill he pocket vetos?;>
Posted by: Martin on October 8, 2006 at 1:36 PM | PERMALINK
He'll never sign the second bill. This was all an election year ploy to trick his constituents in the South into thinking he'd actually do something about illegal immigration.
Posted by: pol on October 8, 2006 at 1:56 PM | PERMALINK
"Tortilla Curtain" is an apt name which I will have to crib and use whenever possible. From what I have read most Texans on the border are adamantly opposed to a fence. What else can we come up with?
Salsa Wall?
Barrio Barricade?
I kinda like "Bush Barricade"
or "W Wall"
I guess the possibilities are endless.
Posted by: Fred on October 8, 2006 at 2:30 PM | PERMALINK
How many bills has he not signed? One?
This one has nothing to do with blastocyst americans so I'm guessing he signs it. A pocket veto would not be staying the course.
Posted by: American Buzzard on October 8, 2006 at 3:07 PM | PERMALINK
For the fence:
coatamundi permeable membrane
tumbleweed exclusion device
For the cameras:
remote wildlife monitoring devices
packrat ornaments and bedding material
In fact I think there are probably many conservation biology dissertations that could be based upon this federal project.
Posted by: American Buzzard on October 8, 2006 at 3:21 PM | PERMALINK
"Tortilla curtain" is actually pretty good, in the sense that a tortilla is so fragile you generally end up eating half the taco with a fork.
Posted by: kth on October 8, 2006 at 3:40 PM | PERMALINK
I like to think of it as the Great Wall of Arizona.
Posted by: john sherman on October 8, 2006 at 4:52 PM | PERMALINK
The Secure Fences Act passed the Senate on Sept. 29th. Since the Constitution allows the President 10 days to review a bill, it seems to me that the deadline for President Bush to sign this bill into law is Monday Oct. 9th, not Wednesday. It looks like he's pocketing it to me. That'll get his base fired up!
Posted by: Mike F on October 8, 2006 at 5:14 PM | PERMALINK
DHS gets the funds, right? Maybe whatever isn't spent on the fence can buy a few waterboards. The right claims secure borders are a national security issue. Have to find out who is hiring these illegals. Not every illegal fesses up. Might have to get a little rough and force it out of them, know what I mean?
Posted by: steve duncan on October 8, 2006 at 10:11 PM | PERMALINK
Mike F: The Secure Fences Act passed the Senate on Sept. 29th. Since the Constitution allows the President 10 days to review a bill, it seems to me that the deadline for President Bush to sign this bill into law is Monday Oct. 9th, not Wednesday.
From Article I, Section 7:
If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Posted by: alex on October 9, 2006 at 12:05 AM | PERMALINK
Let's take a look at Kevin Drum's thinking on immigration matters:
Or maybe he really believes in a moderate immigration policy so strongly...
Obviously, Kevin Drum either doesn't know what he's talking about or thinks you will take his word for things without doing any research. Bush's immigration policy isn't "moderate", it's extreme and extremely un- and anti-American. (There's also no more than a sliver of daylight between Bush's policy and that of the Dems).
Would you the reader call, for instance, Bush's original scheme of flooding the U.S. with cheap labor via a "broadly" applicable guest_worker scheme "moderate"? When promoting that scheme, a Bush assistant specifically mentioned using it to bring in foreign nurses_and_teachers. Yet, oddly enough, Dems like Drum in effect promote Bush's "moderate" plans.
And, would Kevin Drum call this related scheme "moderate"?
Why is our host enabling such un-American schemes?
Posted by: TLB on October 9, 2006 at 12:18 AM | PERMALINK
Thanks Alex. I had noticed that when I actually looked up the applicable section of the Constitution. However, I got caught up on the word "presented", not knowing when the bill had actually been presented to the President. That's why I didn't correct my error earlier. It wasn't easy (for me) to find out when the bill was sent to the President. It turns out that it was sent to Bush the day it was passed so Wednesday is correct.
Posted by: Mike F on October 9, 2006 at 12:40 AM | PERMALINK
Bush won't sign the Secure Fence Act because it requires him to do something. That would be an offense to his unitary executive powers.
Posted by: beb on October 9, 2006 at 8:30 AM | PERMALINK
Bush, the president and coyote-in-chief, is addicted to cheap labor.
Posted by: Myron on October 9, 2006 at 4:37 PM | PERMALINK
