Steve King (R-IA): "Brand pro-amnesty Repubs w/ scarlet letter A"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

The differences between Bush and House Republicans flared dramatically when the Senate appeared on the verge of agreement on a comprehensive bill several weeks ago. Several GOP conservatives denounced the bill as an amnesty measure and Rep. Steve King of Iowa said anyone who voted for it should be “branded with a scarlet letter A.”

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., offered his view of the importance of immigrant labor: “I say let the prisoners pick the fruits.”

In political terms, Rep. J.D. Hayworth of Arizona and others said Republicans would pay a price in the midterm elections if they vote for anything like the Senate legislation. “Many of those who have stood for the Republican Party for the last decade are not only angry. They will be absent in November,” Hayworth said. Given Bush’s recent erosion of support among conservatives, as measured in polls, there’s been no evident change in sentiment among his congressional critics.

The political calculations are different at the White House. Hispanics comprise the nation’s fastest growing minority, according to this line of reasoning, and no political party can afford to be seen as blind or even hostile to their concerns and the desire of their relatives to join them in the United States.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12754924/