.
Posted on 12/17/2015 3:03:56 AM PST by St_Thomas_Aquinas
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is being honest about his position on the Gang of Eight immigration reform bill in 2013.
He opposed the bill, and he introduced an amendment to allow illegal aliens to gain legal status as long as they never became citizens with the right to vote. He did so to show that Democrats were more interested in new votes than in helping illegal aliens. He also did so to show there were conditions under which conservatives would accept immigration reform.
That is the story Cruz is telling, and that is exactly how it happened.
But Bret Baier of Fox News’ Special Report and his co-panelists seemed to agree Wednesday that Cruz was dodging questions about his amendment, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79% ’s supporters accuse Cruz of lying about past support for allowing illegal aliens to gain legal status.
In fact, Cruz is 100% right about what he supported and why he supported it, as a brief trip through history suffices to show.
The tale actually starts with Rush Limbaugh...
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
.
This just can’t be tolerated!!!!! Truth has no place in the Republican Party!!
Rubio’s incessant blinking during the debate cost him more than he realizes. Without the GOP(e) and MSM pundit propping, he would have been seen as a toilet dweller.
Limbaugh, among others, pointed out that the real reason Democrats wanted to pass amnesty was to gain millions of loyal new voters. He offered a rhetorical challenge (similar to his offer in 2009 to split the stimulus with Obama): "I, El Rushbo, I will lead the charge for amnesty. I will lead the charge, instant legalization, instant citizenship of everybody who is here at the moment illegally, with one proviso: None of them could vote for 25 years."
Limbaugh repeated the idea several times in the subsequent months as the debate over the Gang of Eight bill heated up.
In that spirit, Cruz offered an amendment that gave legislative form to Limbaugh's rhetorical experiment. He would support the Gang of Eight bill as long as those who had entered or stayed in the country illegally could not become citizens, i.e. voters. This was not so much a "poison pill" to kill the legislation, as a show of its true purpose.
Rubio is beneath contempt. He knows full well he's lying about Cruz and does it with the most innocent-looking, cherubic expression you could muster. We don't need another clintonesque psychopath in the white house
That innocent looking veneer is very thin.
Cruz telling the truth then or now? Seems to me it is very clear that Cruz is lying. Liar Cruz has played people. Sad.
I saw this and something was bugging me about their interpretation of Cruz’s remarks. It didn’t square with my recollection. Glad to see someone put my feeling into words and lay out the complete context.
“Clintoneque psychopath” is too strong. While Cruz is my candidate, Rubio has been a solid conservative. However his association with the Gang of Eight was a glaring failure of judgement. It would have repeated the same error of 1986, where Reagan thought the Dem Congress would hold up their end of the bargain.
Now that he is running, it is an albatross dragging him down. Particularly around here, where he is person non grata to many Freepers.
That doesn’t make him Clintonssque, where lying and dishonesty are treated as high art. Rubio is just a regular politician trying to shove his biggest mistake down the memory hole. Not praiseworthy to be sure, but a far cry from the patent and systematic dishonesty and corruption of Bill and Hillary.
Perhaps Cruz will learn a lesson and not so to be so “cute” regarding a contentious issue, as it can EASILY backfire on him, as he’s seeing now.
Yes. Cruz is a gentleman and a scholar.
Point taken.
Nonetheless, the idea of someone making a sincere, earnest statement that they know is false elicits a response of utter revulsion from honest people. Of course Rubio does not reach the depth of mendacity of Clinton, Hillary, Obama or even Gore, but he has taken a step in that direction.
Sigh. You image you caught Cruz in a lie and that matters to you, you smear him.
If you want to see blinking, watch Dole and Clinton from 1996-they are BOTH doing it.
It doesn’t reflect well on him, and it undermines his campaign. I wish he had come out and stated clearly “I was wrong, here’s what I should have done.”
That, in some form, would have been more palatable than what he is doing, which makes me percieve him as having been co-opted by the political establishment.
It’s too bad, he is smart and talented. Just unwilling to admit error.
Well, the maneuver helped to kill the Gang of Eight s amnesty bill, so there s that.
Saw the FN interview with Ted...an animated grilling by young Baier. That whole crew...Baier, Hume, Krauthammer, etc...are clearly in the tank for Rubio...not even hiding it...not fair and balanced. I wish they would go after Rubio on his current amnesty flip-flop (lie) with such vigor!
From the article:
He opposed the bill, and he introduced an amendment to allow illegal aliens to gain legal status as long as they never became citizens with the right to vote. He did so to show that Democrats were more interested in new votes than in helping illegal aliens.
I'm glad I didn t see it. It would have really pissed me off.
Bret was like a journeyman carpenter building a deck, was plying his trade in a workmanlike manner. Bret is a master journeyman journalist.
The expressions on his face indicated to me that he was plying his trade well with the known outcome of achieving nothing of substance.
I got no vibes he is in the tank for anyone.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.