🚀 go-pugleaf

President Obama's advisers tried to put the genie back in the 
bottle after a leaked White House immigration plan drew outrage 
from Republicans who accused the president of endangering the 
reform push.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a key figure in immigration reform 
talks, was among those who slammed the president for the plan. 
After what was described as a draft White House proposal was 
first leaked in USA Today, Rubio said over the weekend it would 
be "dead on arrival in Congress."

By Monday, Obama insiders were walking the plan back and 
suggesting the leak was not intentional.

One White House official told Fox News they were "surprised" 
that the "draft" language was given to the press and thought the 
publication was "unfortunate."

"This was not the administration floating anything," the 
official said, adding that the White House reached out to Senate 
offices Saturday evening to stress their support for ongoing 
congressional talks.

"The president is pleased by (the) current state of progress 
being made by bipartisan efforts on the Hill and the 
administration looks forward to continuing to work with them," 
the official said.

David Axelrod, a top campaign adviser in 2008 and 2012 who also 
worked at the Obama White House, also said on MSNBC that Obama 
officials would probably "take it back" if they could.

He said that "the mistake here was to disseminate it so widely 
within the administration."

If the USA Today leak was a trial balloon, it was one that 
quickly deflated.

The administration's proposal, as reported Saturday, would 
create a visa for those in the country illegally and allow them 
to become legal permanent residents within eight years. The 
proposal also requires businesses to know the immigration status 
of their workers and adds more funding for border security.

But the draft plan ran the risk of giving the impression that 
the administration was trying to sideline an otherwise 
bipartisan and seemingly productive set of talks on Capitol Hill 
to come up with immigration legislation. Far more than gun 
control, immigration reform is seen as a big-ticket item that 
could be achieved in the next year -- if advocates can avoid the 
pitfalls that historically have ensnared the process.

"The president is torpedoing his own plan," Sen. Rand Paul, R-
Ky., told "Fox News Sunday" following the USA Today report. "It 
shows me he is really not serious. ... The bill won't pass."

It also reinforced Republican concerns that the president is not 
interested in tying border security to any mass legalization.

Rubio called the White House proposal "half-baked and seriously 
flawed." Rubio -- part of an eight-member, bipartisan Senate 
panel working on an immigration reform bill -- also said the 
proposal was disappointing to those "working on serious 
solutions" and repeats failures of past legislation.

"If actually proposed, the president's bill would be dead on 
arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a 
broken legal immigration system for years to come," Rubio said 
in a statement.

Earlier, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough downplayed 
the plan as merely a backup that was being drafted in case 
lawmakers don't come up with a bill of their own.

McDonough said Sunday that Obama wants to "be prepared" in case 
the small bipartisan group of senators fails to devise a plan 
for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United 
States.

"We will be prepared with our own plan if these ongoing talks 
between Republicans and Democrats up on Capitol Hill break 
down," McDonough said, adding he's optimistic they would not 
crumble.

In response, lawmakers assured the White House they are working 
on their own plan -- and warned that Obama would be heading 
toward failure if the White House gets ahead of them.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/18/white-house-walks-
back-leaked-immigration-plan-amid-gop-outrage/

--
Are you obligated as an armed civilian, to defend unarmed 
liberals while you are both under fire by foreign agents of the 
outlaw Obama administration?

No.  Shoot the liberals immediately so they can't stab you in 
the back while you are defending yourself, then return a 
controlled rate of aimed fire.  ��

��