Obama at Hispanic Prayer Breakfast: same old immigration speech (+sounds like McCain)

Earlier today, Barack Obama spoke at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast [1]. Others in attendance included Cecilia Munoz, Ed Rendell, and Janet Napolitano; the event was organized by Rev. Luis Cortes of Esperanza USA. Obama simply reiterated his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform as he's done several times before, and he uttered the same old canards about that amnesty scheme. Despite the fact that he keeps saying the same thing over and over, expect the MSM to pretend he said something new. Also, in one part of his speech he sounded like John McCain. More on that and the talking points he's using below; here's the "reform" bit:

We also know that keeping this promise means upholding America's tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Those things aren't contradictory; they're complementary. That's why I'm committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform as President of the United States. (Applause.)

The American people -- the American people believe in immigration, but they also believe that we can't tolerate a situation where people come to the United States in violation of the law, nor can we tolerate employers who exploit undocumented workers in order to drive down wages. That's why we're taking steps to strengthen border security, and we must build on those efforts. We must also clarify the status of millions who are here illegally, many who have put down roots. For those who wish to become citizens, we should require them to pay a penalty and pay taxes, learn English, go to the back of the line behind those who played by the rules. That is the fair, practical, and promising way forward, and that's what I'm committed to passing as President of the United States. (Applause.)

We must never forget that time and again, the promise of America has been renewed by immigrants who make their story part of the American story. We see it in every state of our country. We see it in our families and in our neighborhoods.

For the canards he's using, see the CIR summary linked above as well as immigration tradition fallacy, secure the border, immigration line, and immigration wage floor. After the bit above, he segued into a McCain-esque bit:

As President, I've been honored to see it demonstrated by the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States.

Last month, I had the honor of welcoming a group of our service members as citizens for the very first time. In that crowd, there were faces from every corner of the world. And one man from Nicaragua -- Jeonathan Zapata -- had waited his whole life to serve our country even though he was not yet a citizen.

That sounds almost like one of the pandering ads McCain uploaded to Youtube; see this, which was updated here.

[1] whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/
Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-Esperanza-National-Hispanic-Prayer-Breakfast

Comments

Forget about McCain. He is parroting the same bullshit we heard for seven years under BUSH.

What are they praying for? Pro bono defense attorneys? [1]

Links:
------
[1] www.ci.redwood-city.ca.us/police/rcpd_mostwanted.html

Those who come here illegally, steal our IDs and ignore our laws have already demonstrated they lack the honesty and decency to ever become American citizens. a.) Enforce the existing immigration laws. b.) Secure the border. c.) Don't hire illegal aliens. d.) No anchor babies. e.) Deportation through attrition. SSA estimates that 8.5 million illegal aliens are using fraudulent SSNs. That's a felony that they should be punished for, not rewarded with amnesty.

'they also believe that we can't tolerate a situation where people come to the United States in violation of the law' By 'We' do you include you and your party? If we can't tolerate people coming to the U.S. in violation of law, why is Luis Gutierrez your tour promoter for CIR when he considers enforcers of immigration enforcement the equivalent of Nazi police? Are you not going to answer to special interest groups who believe limiting illegal immigration is against their political interests because the vast majority of illegal immigrants are of their ethnicity? Why are you on record in support of a policy (driver licenses to illegal aliens) which doesn't just tolerate illegal immigration but facilitate it?

Nice catch. My take: http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2009/06/21/obama-brown-christians-worth-addressing-but-not-white/

Hispanic Prayer Breakfast? I love breakfast burritos! Without beans of course