Let me start by saying  that I really do like and admire Tony.  When a lot of the right wingers were on the partisan band wagon he was not afraid to be critical.  He is right wing conservative, no doubt.  No one can accuse him of being a moderate or neutral.

But he was not afraid to be a little out of step with the administration, something somewhat rare in some conservative circles..or liberal for that matter.  Writers at HuffPo don’t devote a huge amount of time taking their liberal leaders to task either.

Now that he is Press Secretary, he is the voice of the administration.  In the matter of immigration, he has long since voiced on radio his unhappiness about the lack of immigration policy,  From my memory only, he is much in line with the President on this.  Secure the borders, register the aliens (amnesty essentially), make a guest worker program and shut down illegal employers.  His columns on Townhall seem to support this.

Most of these are not terribly hard to debate.  Most people see the need for a new type of guest worker program, everyone (except Mexico) wants to secure the border, and most people agree businesses that hire illegals need to be dealt with.

The amnesty issue is where the divide hits.  The program settled on by the Senate allows illegals to register, essentially turning themselves in, pay a fine and taxes and then they go to the back of the line for naturalization.  Along the way they have to learn English.  This is what the administration and the Senate are trying to sell.  And the people are buying it, as the last poll I saw showed overwhelming favor of it, or something similar.  The House does not, nor do many Republicans particularly in the blogosphere.

Me?  I am pragmatic.  There is no reasonable way to deport 11 or 12 million people.  Yes, we can try to stop the job market for illegals with a national ID and stiff penalties.  That according to many supporters will make them go home.  I disagree.  It may just make them homeless here instead of working here.  And there will always be a place for them to go, sadly.  Employers will always cater to them because it helps their bottom line.  And I have doubts about the proposed tamper proof IDs that are supposed to fix this.

So maybe a transition program is OK…if…if and only if they couple it with all the above to stop the tide of illegals entering, prevent them from working etc.  With one more difference: A grace period.  They have 180 days to register, for example.  If they don’t, anyone caught after that date is a felon.  That’s how you couple tough but fair here.

Tony (remember him, the subject of this blog?) has a tough job.  He is selling this, or at least trying.  And he tried to make an analogy to soften it and make it make sense, but in my opinoin, he flubbed it, badly.

White House compares illegal immigration to speeding

The White House on Friday said a Senate bill that would grant legal status to illegal immigrants is analogous to a traffic law that allows a speeder to pay a fine and continue driving.

"If you had a traffic ticket and you paid it, you’re not forever a speeder, are you?" White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said in response to questions from The Examiner.

Ouch.  Um, Tony?  If you murder someone you are always a murderer.  If you rape someone you are always a convicted rapist.  Tony, I love ya man, but the analogy breaks down too easy.  We have longer term consequences for many offenses, so blanket crime -> penalty -> forgiveness is not absolute.

"So the fact is, you have paid your debt to society," he added. "And we have come up with a way to make sure that the debt to society gets paid. Then you move forward."

The "traffic ticket" analogy raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill, where many House Republicans regard illegal immigration as a grave crime.

I would note that the desire to make illigal immigrants felons came from the Democrats.

"I don’t know if Tony meant to trivialize it or not," said Will Adams, spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. "But it’s certainly misleading."

"The penalty for a speeding ticket is a fine," he added. "The penalty for being here illegally is being removed from this country. But the president doesn’t want illegal aliens to go home."

The problem here is that there is a valid argument to why letting them stay would be a good thing,

Snow emphasized that illegals would have to pay fines, learn English and wait years for a chance at full citizenship. But Adams called that "a slap on the hand" compared to deportation.

Not really.  Deportation is often a catch and release program.

"Here’s a more apt analogy," he said. "You get stopped for speeding, and you say to the cop: "Hey listen, you’re about to give me a $300 ticket. How about we make it 20 bucks and just call it even?"

Well if you insist on that analogy, what about traffic school where you can essentially get ticket amnesty?

Snow predicted that House Republicans would eventually drop their opposition to the Senate bill, which passed Thursday. The bill, which includes a guest worker program that would grant legal status to aliens, is headed to a conference committee for possible reconciliation with a House bill aimed at beefing up border security.

I think there needs to be some good blending of the two.

Snow suggested the guest worker program could be sold to even ardent opponents like Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

"Chairman Sensenbrenner, who’s got some real problems with various aspects, has said publicly that the temporary worker program has merit," Snow said.

"There are areas in which members of the House are going to agree with the president," he added. "I certainly don’t want to be speaking for Chairman Sensenbrenner, but the fact is, you know politics."

But Sensenbrenner appeared unmoved.

"What’s going on now, in calling it a pathway to citizenship or earned legalization, is not honest because it is amnesty," he said at a news conference.

Which nicely avoids Tony’s point.  The guest worker program is for inbound people, not the ones here.

Regardless, Tony used a fairly lame analogy, and he needs to do better if he wants to convince the House.  The American people are mostly sold, though the rabid nationalists will take more work to agree, if they ever do..

I am sold if there are provisions in place to stop the flow in and deal harshly with any new illegal immigrants, including people who outstay their visas.  Make it tough.  They want to be here, let them play by our rules.  There is no reasonable expectation to  making it easy.

Likewise, Tony needs to take a tougher approach.  Cute analogies are not gonna fly.

Open tracked to:  Stop the ACLU, Samantha Burns, Blue Star Chronicles, 123Beta

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