This is what they came up with (MSNBC):

Republican officials said the GOP plan would divide illegal immigrants into three categories:

* Those who had been in the country the longest, more than five years, would not be required to return to their home country before gaining legal status. They would be subject to several tests, including the payment of fines and back taxes, and be required to submit to a background check, according to these officials.
* Illegal immigrants in the United States less than five years but more than two would be required to go to a border point of entry, briefly leave and then be readmitted to the United States. As with the longer-term illegal immigrants, other steps would be required for re-entry, after which they could begin seeking citizenship, these officials said.
* Illegal immigrants in the United States less than two years would be required to leave the country and join any other foreign residents seeking legal entry.

The officials who described the proposal did so on condition of anonymity, saying the had not been authorized to pre-empt senators.

How will this work? How will the illegals prove they’ve been here for however long? I guess some could point to a child born here who is more than five years old, but how do they prove they’ve never been home for a visit? To show off that new grandchild to the grandparents back home?

What types of proof will be accepted? Proof like they use for voting in some areas – someone, anyone, just has to say that they know you and you’ve been here however long?

What about the illegal who has been here for four-and-a-half years? Do you think they’ll say, “Oh well, haven’t been here long enough. Guess we’ll just pack up and leave.”????

And those that have been here under two years… How many of those do you think will be found?

The current laws have to be enforced. The border has to be tightened. Businesses that hire illegals need to be penalized. If you can’t run your business by paying the prevailing wages, then maybe you should rethink your business plan.

Sanctuary cities also need to have all their federal monies cut off until they comply with federal law.

Michelle has more.

Sensible Mom also has a good post on this.

Senator Dubin was just on The Big Story about all this. Transcript to comehere.

This flag proudly flies from a standard on my house and there has been a flag on that standard since the day I moved in in 1997.

Michelle has more flag pictures at her site.

Don Surber shows how Donald Trump achieves his “fabulous” hair.

This is how you get a Shih Tzu to look just like a Furby: (below the fold)
Continue reading →

I was checking through my referrers and found that one was the NY Times from a search on their site. The search terms were “Cynthia McKinney recent arrest” and my post below was the number one result. Strange.

click image for larger

Watch the trailer. Never forget.

via Expose the Left.

NSFW: there is a teeny tiny bit of full frontal male nudity…

The Blackberry Helmet

Courtesy of the Rick Mercer Report on CBC in Canada.

It’s [tag]Daylight Saving Time[/tag] again. This is the first time that ALL of Indiana will spring ahead with the rest of the midwest. Hawaii and Arizona (and Puerto Rico) do not observe Daylight Saving Time.

Next year the dates for Daylight Saving Time are changing. “Spring Ahead” will be the second Sunday in March (March 11, 2007) instead of the first Sunday in April and “Fall Back” will be the first Sunday in November (November 4, 2007) instead of the last Sunday in October.

It’s also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors so add some 9 volt batteries to your shopping list this weekend.

Apparently the case against me may be referred for prosecution. Therefore, I have been advised by my attorneys not to discuss the facts of this case.

However, let me be clear. This whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me, a female, black, congresswoman.

I deeply regret that this incident occured and I am certain, that after a full review of the facts, I will be exonerated.

She was surrounded by people bearing signs. I couldn’t read them very well, but one or two said “Is Cynthia a Target?” I think one said “recognize our congresspeople”.

Allah has posted the video at Michelle’s

[tags]McKinney[/tags]

Cynthia [tag]McKinney[/tag], through her lawyer, has said, “just a victim of being in Congress while black.”

WSBTV has her original statement that she was going to put on her website, but didn’t.

Sadly, there are only 14 black women Members of Congress. And surely our faces are distinguishable. But why my face is continually unrecognizable can only be answered by these offending police officers. Capitol Hill Police are given face recognition instructions as a part of their official training. Capitol Hill Police are required to recognize, greet, and distinguish Members of Congress as a part of their official role and responsibilities. In fact, according to the US Capitol Police, their mission is to protect and support the Congress in meeting its Constitutional responsibilities. The US Capitol Police mission statement makes no distinction about selective application of its mission depending upon whether a Member of Congress is black, woman, or has a new hairstyle.

But, honestly, this incident is not about wearing a Congressional pin or changing my hairstyle.

It is true that I have changed my hairstyle. It is true that at the time I was not wearing my pin. But many Members of Congress aren’t wearing their pins today. Just in the last hour at least 8 Members of Congress have been spotted speaking from the well of the House without their pins and even more have been seen on the Hill today not wearing their Congressional pin. How many of them were stopped by Capitol Hill Police? Do I have to contact the police every time I change my hairstyle? How do we account for the fact that when I wore my braids every day for 11 years, I still faced this problem, primarily from certain white police officers.

Keep playing that race card Cynthia – soon it won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on. And high time for that too.

Story at No Agenda.

If members aren’t supposed to have to go through the metal detectors shouldn’t they all be wearing their ID prominently?

There are 435 members of the House, 100 members of the Senate. That’s a lot of people. Add in all the other people that have to go through security and how can you expect those responsible for security to recognize each and every one? Especially since any of the House Members may be replaced at two year intervals (as [tag]McKinney[/tag] herself was).

McKinney may think that everyone should recognize her, but frankly, most Americans probably couldn’t pick her out of a group photo.

Security should mean [tag]Security[/tag]. It shouldn’t matter whether or not someone is “recognized”. ID should have to be presented each and every time. Sure it’s a hassle for members of congress, but they should follow the same security measures as everyone else.

Update: Kim Priestap at Wizbang! has more and a quote from Tim Dees at Officer.com which mentions some of the same things that I did.

Some critics of the conduct of the police in this incident have declared that the officers of the Capitol Police should simply know what their protectees look like. There are 535 Members of Congress, and 435 of them get reshuffled every two years. Each one of these Members has a complement of staffers, and then there are the lobbyists, other government employees, and constituents that come through the Capitol on business. This makes for an unmanageable number of faces to memorize (especially if they change their appearance, as Ms. McKinney did), and the reason that Members are given those little pins to wear. Most Members don’t seem to regard the wearing of these as a burden. Ms. McKinney refuses to wear hers.