Obama and Senator Differ on Narrative of Meeting President Obama and Senator Jon Kyl on Monday waged a �he said, he said� war of words, disputing what the president said about enforcing the nation�s borders in a private meeting with Mr. Kyl, an Arizona Republican. But in usual Washington fashion, only their spokesmen did the talking.
FACT CHECK: "only their spokesmen did the talking"
Here is Kyl himself talking with his constituents and telling them what Obama told him.
NY Times again:
In Mr. Kyl�s telling, �Here�s what the president said: �The problem is,� he said, �if we secure the border, then you all won�t have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reforms.� �
�In other words, they�re holding it hostage,� Mr. Kyl continued, speaking of border enforcement. �They don�t want to secure the borders unless and until it is combined with comprehensive immigration reform.�
The comprehensive immigration reform in question is a broad amnesty program that would legalize the 30 Million or so already living in this country, drawing benefits and paychecks and receiving healthcare and financial assistance without the responsibility of being a citizen or paying taxes.
We did this under President Regan -- Congress as part of the bill was supposed to enforce the borders. The amnesty was supposed to be a one-shot deal. Needless to say, nothing happened, nobody followed through on their promises...
If this does devolve into a case of he said / he said, all that the White House has to do is to release the recordings that they are making. It would be insane for them not to be recording private meetings at the White House for just this specific reason. The fact that these have not been released to corroborate President Obama makes me side with Senator Kyl.
Posted by DaveH at June 21, 2010 9:21 PM