May 3, 2010

David Gregory actually hits Mike Pence with the fact that the Republicans don't have any room to complain about border security when they're the ones that stopped George Bush's immigration reform bill and that they were with him "until they were against him on that". What David Gregory should have hit him with is that the cuts to border security that Republicans are carping about were for the failed virtual border fence. Media Matters has more on that.

Lowry, Examiner blame Obama for AZ law by pointing to defunding of failed virtual border fence:

New York Post columnist Rich Lowry and The Washington Examiner defended the controversial new Arizona immigration law by suggesting the state was forced to act because the Obama administration was not enforcing immigration policies; specifically, citing frozen funding for a virtual border fence. However, the administration reportedly stopped funding the virtual fence because it was over-budget, behind schedule, and a "complete failure," and the administration has redirected money to "other tested, commercially available security technology along the Southwest border." Read on...

Pence complains that they need to take border security seriously. The only thing the Republicans seem to take seriously is finding ways to waste the taxpayers' money while demagoging every issue out there.

Transcript below the fold.

GREGORY: But this is an interesting point because, Congressman Pence, the president came out and said, you know, there was some debate about whether immigration would be an agenda item that he would push before energy legislation. He said this week there simply aren't the votes for it, particularly from Republicans.

PENCE: Well, well, let, let's be clear for a second. This is no laughing matter for the people of Arizona who are--have been profoundly affected by the fact that there's nearly a half a million illegal immigrants and, and a rampant drug trade and, and, and human trafficking trade that's been besetting. Phoenix, Arizona, is, is the kidnapping capital of the United State of America. I don't know if this law is perfect, but I knew--do know that it is wrong for officials in this government to throw stones at the people of Arizona as they're trying to, to reassert the rule of law in the wake of the fact that this administration and this Congress have been systematically cutting funding to border security since the Democrats took control.

GREGORY: Of course, it was Republicans who blocked comprehensive immigration reform. Let's be clear about that.

PENCE: Well, let--well, let, let's focus on border security first, David.

GREGORY: Right.

PENCE: In, in fiscal...

GREGORY: The bill called for that. The Bush bill called for more border security, Republicans were with him...

PENCE: Right.

GREGORY: ...until they were against him on that.

PENCE: David, here's the numbers. Fiscal 2007, the last year Republicans wrote a budget, $1.2 billion for border security and fencing. By 2010 that was cut by--to $800 billion. If you'd kept funding level...

GREGORY: Right.

PENCE: I mean, the Democrats have cut three-quarters of a trillion out of this...

GREGORY: All right.

PENCE: ...and the president wants to go to 50 percent of the level that Republicans...

GREGORY: Governor...

PENCE: ...spent on border security. We have got to take border security seriously.

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