question... was the climate for immigration reform similar to what we're seeing now?

For those of you who were around the last time CIR was brought up, I guess I'm trying to ask when Bush was in office, was his approach similar to Obama or different? Were there any White House meetings, etc?

Honestly I think I felt more sincerity from Bush than from Obama now. There was just too much opposition back then.

I remember Bush saying the same thing Obama is saying now..."send me something to sign (CIR Bill)." Well you know the story nothing was ever agreed upon.

The short answer is no.

President Bush was really unpopular when he tried to pass CIR — among Republicans. The GOP had control of the Senate, the House, and the White House, and Bush was still unable to deliver conservative legislation due to in-house fighting. Rank-and-file Republicans became anxious, and blamed Bush for his inefficiency, and other Republicans began to distance themselves from his positions.

The first sign of this was his push for Social Security reform which would have privatized payroll taxes essentially putting that money into the market (can you imagine the devastating impact on people’s lives if his plan would have passed and then the recession had hit?). Despite numerous town hall meetings, the popularity of his plan kept declining until Katrina delivered the fatal blow.

After such a public, embarrassing defeat by way of his own party, Bush decided to push for something that could pass both chambers of Congress, so he could sign it, claim credit for it, and redeem his political cred. Thus began his push for CIR.

But at this point, he no longer had any political capital, and no Republican public official really feared appearing anti-Bush at the polls.

Obama, on the other hand, enjoys approval ratings in the 60s. Unlike Bush, his own party strongly supports him (90% approval rating), and Democrats in Congress, for the most part, don’t want to oppose him.

I would say Obama has a much better chance of getting something done.