Posted on 01/21/2004 10:34:57 AM PST by Columbine
Immigration critics in Tennessee want to draft Rep. Tom Tancredo as a protest candidate in the upcoming Republican presidential primary, but don't expect the Littleton lawmaker to become their volunteer.
"A lot of people think my politics are crazy, but I'm not delusional. I don't think I'm going to be president of the United States," Tancredo said Tuesday, in response to a new committee, "Tennesseans for Tancredo," touting a write-in candidacy on the Internet.
Some immigration critics are so upset about President Bush's proposal to offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants that they want to field a protest candidate in Republican presidential primaries in Tennessee and elsewhere.
A Web site, www.tennesseansfortancredo.com, cites the need to "make noise, collect signatures, build a grass-roots movement that attracts citizens from all walks of life and all political parties."
With or without Tancredo's approval, they hope critics of Bush's plan will write in Tancredo during state presidential contests.
Tancredo said he supports Bush on most issues besides immigration and could not see himself having much of an effect on Bush's chances.
This week, the representative launched "Team Tancredo," a political action committee to raise money for candidates who oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants.
"Tancredo for President" bumper stickers have been floating around the Internet for more than a year.
"It's a conversation starter," he said. "And the conversation usually starts with, 'Who the hell is Tom Tancredo?' ''
The point I was making is that the Bush and Tancredo proposals are not polar opposites - the Tancredo bill is actually a pretty good implementation of the Bush proposal. It tightens up some of the enforcement, but the basic plan is the same. Bush said Congress would have to provide the details - this a good start. So why does everyone bash Bush and praise Tancredo for essentially the same idea?
Tancredo's guest workers can only work in the USA for 1 year out of any two years. They cannot adjust to Permanent Resident Alien status, their US-born children are not citizens, etc.
The rest of H.R.3534 contains, as you mention, a lot of enforcement provisions, including workplace verification, that will do more to reduce illegal numbers than deportation ever could (though Tancredo also calls for doubling detention capacity).
The bottom line is that Tancredo is a restrictionist who calls for far lower overall migration levels and a time out from the massive third-world population transfers we've had the past 25 years or so. Voting for Tancredo is a shorthand way of telling open-border advocates why they've lost your vote.
The reason Tancredo's bills are not sailing through Congress is that there are a lot of Democrats and weak Republicans in office. Even so, I imagine that if Bush and Rove, instead of trolling in Tancredo's district for primary challengers, instead championed his bills - some would become law.
I guess I have always viewed this behavior as analogous to holding your breath until you turn blue - it doesn't accomplish much in a positive way.
I don't agree with Bush on some things, and I do agree with him on a lot of things. But he is light years closer to my positions than any of the possible Dem replacements. If I decide to make a protest vote, it will be in the primary - in the general election, I am voting for Bush, because any other vote, or not voting, is just a vote for the Dems - as we saw in 1992. I am not willing to put our country through that again, just because Bush doesn't do everything exactly the way I want.
Because 911 did nothing to deter the president from his open border proposal. His opinion on illegals was well known before the election and was on track for implementation before 911.
Anyone remember his fight(still ongoing) to destroy the trucking industry, demanding that the borders and all highways be opened to commercial trucks from Mexico? This was pre 911
The congress could have and would have legislated meaningful measure to control our borders after 911, but the president was silent on the issue.....guess it didn't comport with his long term vision for a global community.
The sources and size of our migration flows are, IMHO, existential questions for our nation.
Also, as noted in my tagline, so far I'm only advocating voting Tancredo in the primary. Will wait and see with the general.
The totally overlooked argument and absolutely the most relevant.
Forgive me, but I didn't realize I was dealing with those who would both take my words literally as well as ascribe their own meaning to them. That having been said, let me ask you this. Do you really think I meant Bush would grant amnesty to wanted felons? If so, you're loony. The man was an ILLEGAL alien when he committed his crimes. So was Malvo. How many future criminals Bushs hairbrained amnesty proposal will grant legal status to remains to be seen.
As for the amnesty issue. Yes, it is amnesty. Amnesty is defined as "A general pardon granted by a government, especially for political offenses."
Our immigration laws are federal laws, and violating them is an affront to the sovereignty of our nation, as well as the individual states. To forgive that offense by granting legal status to these criminals is an amnesty. Deny it all you want, but you cant change that simple fact.
Give me a TRUE "Novela" Latina anyday of the week. Sofia Vergara should learn how to speak better English.
Please now lets keep a level of decorum in this forum especially when you are talking about my future vice president.
Don't knock Lil Kim, she's my favorite stripper since that spread in Vibe with the blue contacts a few years back.
I finally was able to reach someone I know at my senator's office.. he told me that BUSH INTENDS TO PUT THE IMMIGRATION FIASCO THROUGH AS AN EXECUTIVE ORDER!!!
This is a total abuse of power IMO!
Because the Constitution's definition of presidential authority is vague, the rules about what can be included in an executive order are unclear. A 1950s Supreme Court decision overturning a Harry Truman executive order offers the sharpest guide to what constitutes a legitimate executive order. The court invalidated the Truman order on the grounds that it attempted to make law. The court further ruled that an executive order is valid only when the president is acting pursuant to an act of Congress or to the Constitution itself. As a result, presidential orders frequently identify the statutes they are relying on.
So what statutes will GWB's amnesty for ILLEGALS rely upon?
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