Bush Seeking More Flexible Passports Rule

[tuvor]

WASHINGTON - President Bush said on Thursday that he has ordered a review of plans to tighten re-entry rules at the Mexican and Canadian borders, saying requiring passports for everyone could "disrupt the honest flow of traffic."

Bush said he had told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and officials from the Department of Homeland Security to see if more flexibility could be exercised.

He told the American Society of Newspaper Editors that this flexibility might include electronic fingerprint imaging "to serve as a so-called passport for daily traffic" to help speed up the process.

Americans would need passports to come home to the United States by 2008 under proposed guidelines announced recently as part of an effort to deter terrorists from entering the country. The new rules apply to Americans traveling from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Caribbean and Panama. They also apply to citizens from those countries who want to enter the United States.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=693&e=1&u=/ap/20050414/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_passports

Am I just not bright enough? Seems to me bush would have been advised of the passport plans before they were announced last week. I wonder what's up.

ON EDIT: Oh, I see he...read about it in the newspaper. :wow:

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Both Mexico and Canada must have reminded State

jus thow much traffic moves BOTH WAYS... oh and Nafta, yep it is somehwere in Nafta.

Granted the passport idea is one of the few good ones this a-hole has had, but a broken watch is right twice a day.

[HereSince1628]

2. It's a matter of serial mis-judging Americans

I suspect its ROVE's fault. Everyone thinks he is so perfectly in touch with the country.

It may be turning out to be the only thing he is really in touch with is the people's gulability to gad-damned dirty election tricks.

[struggle4progress]

9. If you're right, I hope ...

... the Republicans don't figure it out too fast ...

[tanyev]

3. Translation:

Most Americans are too lazy to get passports just to go to Mexico and Canada, and they've been getting a lot of negative feedback on the plan.

[MADem]

4. And wealthy vacationers from Canada and Mexico

...who descend upon vacation spots such as the Disney and Universal franchises, as well as the summer shores up this way, have made it clear that it just ain't worth the hassle.

Stupid man, with his stupid plans. A douchebag of the highest order!

[Lerkfish]

5. OR, it could mean a push for implanted microchips, cause they're EASIER

without all that there confolootin red tape an all.

:tinfoilhat:

[MADem]

6. Gee, vets could go into a sideline business

...seeing as they have all that experience RFI tagging Fluffy and Spot!

[MADem]

7. Passports aren't cheap anymore

I can remember paying ten bucks for one. That was a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time ago!

[cannabis_flower]

11. Last time I checked ....

they were something like $80 and are good for 10 years. I don't know if you have to pay $80 to renew a passport though.

[tabasco]

14. $55 for renewal. 2 new photos cost me $12. n/t

[Hobarticus]

8. Lessee...first we need passports to cross the border, now we don't...

First Bush plans to cut farm subsidies, then he changed his mind, now he's still going to do it...

Hell of a week for clear and decisive leadership.

[tuvor]

10. Just don't call him a flip-flopper. n/t

[femme.democratique]

12. This is all about getting the fingerprints. Guaranteed.

Rovian.

[MADem]

15. The new passports are very biometric

I think they are going for Iris scans eventually!

[tabasco]

13. Oh well, if Condoleeza Rice has been put on the problem...

I'm sure it will get straightened out right away.

She seems so competent, what with National Security Advisor on 9-11 and then in charge of Iraq. Yeah, this passport situation will be getting the same Rice treatment, I suppose.

[Rose Siding]

16. Delegate, delegate, delegate and ALWAYS maintain deniability

[SammyWinstonJack]

25. Nice to see nothing has changed with his management style

from his stint as Texas "Gov."

[Moderator]

17. kick

[Brooklyn Michael]

18. Bush clueless about law he just passed

Shocking what this asshat could learn if he read a newspaper more often.....

:dunce:

W: Border passport law's over the line

WASHINGTON - President Bush said yesterday he was surprised to find out "in the newspaper" about anti-terror measures that would require folks crossing into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada to show passports. The new border rules, expected to take effect this year, were part of an intelligence reform bill he signed last year.

The law is largely based on recommendations from the commission that studied security failures leading to the Sept. 11 attacks. Still, Bush said yesterday the requirements could hamper billions of dollars' worth of commerce, and he has ordered a review.

"When I first read that in the newspaper, about the need to have passports, for particularly the day crossings that take place - about a million, for example in the state of Texas - I said, 'What's going on here?'" Bush told a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. "I thought there was a better way to ... expedite the legal flow of traffic and people."

The White House did not immediately say why the President was unaware of plans announced by his administration just a week earlier.

The proposed guidelines would require passports or a select number of other secure documents from anyone - including Americans - entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Caribbean and Panama.

Currently, Americans generally need to show a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification to cross the border from Canada.

The plans have caused a stir in Canada, where the government announced it might reciprocate against the United States.

http://www.nydailynews.com/04-15-2005/news/wn_report/story/300032p-256873c.html

[realFedUp]

19. then didn't he mumble something about using fingerprint ID?

if brain scans were the measure for leaving,
we'd never get rid of Bush.

[berni_mccoy]

20. LOL!!! HAHAHAHA!!!

It'd be even funnier if it wasn't such a serious topic.

[THUNDER HANDS]

21. puppet looks up

"what are these strings doing here?"

[Maeve]

22. Since when does he read the papers???

Somebody forgot to spoon-feed him that tidbit, huh?

[rocktivity]

23. The technical term for what Bush did is "backing down"

The law was enacted to deter draft dodgers, not terrorists. Canada retaliated by passing a similar law--that's why he's backing down!

:headbang:
rocknation

[smb]

24. Who Knew?

"When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports, particularly today's crossings that take place, about a million for instance in the state of Texas, I said, 'What's going on here?'" Bush said when asked, at a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, about the rules.

He reads the newspaper?

[Geekscum]

26. El Presidente Jorge Arbusto doesn't like border security

El Presidente Jorge Arbusto doesn't like border security, I am shocked, shocked I tell you. I guess he does not want anything possibly gettting in the way of all the cheap labor taking American jobs and depressing wages.

[lovuian]

Bush backs off passports for border travel

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=5196fa804fc0b190&cat=c08dd24cec417021

President orders review, says he was surprised by security moveThe Associated Press
Updated: 9:43 a.m. ET April 15, 2005WASHINGTON - Plans requiring passports from people entering the United States don’t pass muster with President Bush, who has ordered a review of this border security effort amid fears it would impede legal travel from Canada, Mexico and other U.S. neighbors.

advertisement

The president said Thursday he was surprised by the proposed rules announced last week by the State and Homeland Security departments.

“When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports, particularly today’s crossings that take place, about a million for instance in the state of Texas, I said, ‘What’s going on here?”’ Bush said when asked about the rules at a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

“I thought there was a better way to expedite the legal flow of traffic and people,” he said.

Bush, a former Texas governor, said he has ordered a review of the rules. “If people have to have a passport, it’s going to disrupt the honest flow of traffic. I think there’s some flexibility in the law, and that’s what we’re checking out right now,” the president said.

“On the larger scale, we’ve got a lot to do to enforce the border,” he said.

more...

Yes it would impede the flow of ilegals!!! and take that Mr. Homeland Security!!!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

27. wait a second

“When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports, particularly today’s crossings that take place, about a million for instance in the state of Texas, I said, ‘What’s going on here?”’ Bush said when asked about the rules at a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.


I thought bush DIDNT read the newspaper?

[dflprincess]

29. He probably heard it on Faux News

He just said he read it in the newspaper because it makes him sound smarter. It's clear he's not reading the legislation he's signing.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

33. ummmm its clear hes also a lying bastard

but we knew that already

[lovuian]

34. Hey Guys I thought he was President and his people reported

this to him!!! You gotta ask yourselves is Cheney really running this whole thing and Bush just listens to his IPOD!!!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

35. and eats ice cream

;)

[uppityperson]

32. National Enquirer coverage?

[peacetalksforall]

28. What a set-up.....what crap....what per cent of people are stupid

enough to believe that this is genuine. PRETEND TIME in the gym and game room. Putting words in his mouth and pretending as though they are working independently of each other. NO WAY! It is always lock-step. CHARADE TIME.

[LdyGuique]

30. Gotta give credit when it's due

Bush is consistently stupid and consistently supports big business and its goals to have an indentured workforce, both here and around the world.

Bush is going to make sure that there is no security at the borders. Passports are required worldwide, and are a measure of determining who one is (even though it's well known that passports can be forged). A genuine national ID card would likely work better -- but people get so pissy about that.

[clydefrand]

31. I heard him blathering around the other day when he was asked

that question. It was obvious he didn't know anything about the ruling. Sounds like he doesn't know what's going on in the hen house.

I wonder what is wrong with having a passport to cross from one country to another? That seems a simple matter to overcome to me. If you can afford to go to another country from this one, you can afford to get a passport. Those coming in should do the same.

[Laurab]

37. I'm not sure about the "can afford" part

I live 20 minutes away from the Canadian border. All my life, there have been trips to Canada - to go to the beach, to sightsee, go to the casino, visit friends who have cottages there. It's always been just a 20 minute ride. Canadians come here for the same reasons. They also come here to shop. Our mall parking lots are always filled with Canadian license plates. I'm guessing they save a lot of money, because we don't go there to shop - too many taxes.

My parents got married in Canada, my brother proposed to his wife in Canada (Niagara Falls), and Canada has never seemed like another country to me. I can't imagine having to get a passport to enter a place that's 20 minutes away.

I can't afford to travel to any other country, and if I had to have a passport, it's not likely I'd be visiting Canada either. I think it would be the same way for Canadians who take the 20 minute drive here to SAVE money.

Canada to me is like going to the next town - there are people who commute to jobs to and from each country daily. Having a passport to do that just seems silly to me.

[keopeli]

36. A reporter asked him about this by yelling at him in a crowd

I don't have the link, but it happened a couple of days ago. He gave one answer, then gave the opposite answer (typical), just like he did in the report above. Bush doesn't read newspapers and doesn't permit bad news from his staff.

After this ad-hoc interview in a public setting that ended up in the paper, Bush comes out and says he 'read it in the newspaper'. Yeah? Which paper do you read, Mr. Bush*? In Texas, we call that CYA.

Most interesting to me is that he didn't know anything about requiring passports. Talk about uninformed!

BTW - did you know that only about 12% of american's even have a passport? And, with the new GPS microchip that will be in all passports, this law could have made everyone in the US traceable. It's only a matter of time, I fear.

Stocks are down.
Employment is down.
Inflation is up.
Bin Laden is at large.

Things must be going according to plan...

[lumpy]

38. The asshole signed the order

for pete's sake. Of course he is so dense he didn't read what the changes entailed.