Posted on 09/05/2007 10:15:05 AM PDT by MittFan08
As Mr. Thompson prepares to announce tomorrow that he will officially seek the Republican nomination for president and voters begin to take a closer look at him, his maverick streak and his voting record will be front and center.
Some votes are likely to draw scrutiny, particularly a series of votes in the 1990s against cracking down on illegal aliens. Those include a 1995 vote against limiting services other than emergency care and public education to illegal aliens — he was one of just six senators to oppose that proposal — and a 1996 vote against creating an employer verification system to help businesses filter out illegal aliens who apply for jobs.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
First of all, Fred has accomplished quite a bit in real life. Second, to many Americans, TV shows are more "realistic" to them than reality - how many Americans are truly aware of how our political system works?
I know the point you are trying to make, but in presidential elections, the candidates are sold like laundry detergent to a large segment of the voters. So it's good to have a candidate who understands how to act accordingly.
Look HERE -- come out of the darkness -- to be fully informed.
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Governor Romney opposed a bill that would have allowed illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses. "Those who are here illegally should not receive tacit support from our government that gives an indication of legitimacy," the governor said, echoing arguments that opponents have voiced in the Commonwealth and in other states considering similar license measures. "If they are here illegally, they should not get driver's licenses," he said. (Scott S. Greenberger, "Romney Stand Dims Chances Of License For Undocumented," The Boston Globe, 10/28/03)
Romney vetoed a bill in 2004 that would have permitted illegal aliens to pay the same in-state tuition rate paid by citizens at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts. (Office Of The Governor, "Romney Signs $22.402B Fiscal Year 2005 'No New Tax' Budget," Press Release, 6/25/04)
Romney arranged a federal and state agreement enabling Massachusetts State Troopers to investigate immigration status and arrest illegal aliens they encounter during the normal course of their duties. (Troopers would arrest immigrants, Boston Globe, June 21, 2006)
Governor Romney fought efforts to weaken Massachusetts' English Immersion Law. "But yesterday, Romney press secretary Shawn Feddeman said the governor will fight all attempts to slow the implementation of English immersion, known on the ballot as Question 2. ...He will veto anything that weakens or delays English immersion, Feddeman said." (Anand Vaishnav, "Romney Firm On English Timetable," The Boston Globe, 1/24/03)
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was named as Honorary Chair for the Romney for President campaign in Arizona. Sheriff Arpaio, better known as "America’s Toughest Sheriff", has gained a nationwide reputation for his tough stance on crime, illegal immigration and border security in the nation's fourth largest county.
"I like him," Arpaio said of Mitt Romney. "He's a man of principle, of good character. He did a great job in Massachusetts and I feel he's going to make a great president."
I'm a fan of Fred's strong federalist positions. The fact that he's an actor increases his chances of winning over the large segment of the body politic who is indifferent to political details and who vote largely on emotions.
Vote for Duncan Hunter. He is right on all the issues. I don’t trust anyone who supported McCain in 2000.
Thunder says vote for Duncan Hunter.
That just cracks me up, same thing as saying you damn will vote for my liberal.
It’s obvious I’m dealing with a severe political crush here, as to which any arguments will be fruitless, but just in case:
If it was coming before the US Congress for vote, then it a very safe bet that it was FEDERAL BENEFTIS which were being discussed. Have you heard of the Supremacy Clause to the US Constitition? The same document that you are such a defender of? Well our forefathers decreed that the acts of the US Congress were the supreme law of the land and it is extremely likely that the bill in question dealt with benefits such as Medicaid as to which the federal government was a contributor.
And this disregards the fact that you have nothing other than your own personal IMAGINATION to support the notion that Fred was motivated by 10TH Amendment concerns in casting his vote. Why is it that only 5 other Senators were such stalwart champions of the 10th amendment as you imagine it?
I know the point you are trying to make, but in presidential elections, the candidates are sold like laundry detergent to a large segment of the voters. So it’s good to have a candidate who understands how to act accordingly.
I say: With all due respect, dirtboy, your assessment saddens me. Okay — people have a poor understanding of the political system, so let’s elect to the most important office in the world - the person who’s the best actor?! How about working towards educating people to how the system works and then educating people on the issues? Wow, I am just amazed at your response. Please understand, I am not trying to put you down, I'm just disappointed with your assessment of the situation.
I find it ironic that two of the problems that many people have with Fred Thompson both involve the letters CFR.
What Fred has said recently for me overrides all the past on immigration, including the context of why he voted the way he did. Votes in bygone times come without context of the time, for the most part I ignore. I take people on face value of what they say and do recently. Fred came down hard on the side of securing the borders first and then addressing the other issues once the borders were proved secure. He did this during the debate, not after the outcome was known. That’s good enough for me -— and I am really interested in this issue from a National Sovereignty point of view.
Fred has written a host of policy position memos and several videos in the last few months, you can find them at his site.
I have first hand knowledge of Romney when he was in the last part of his term in Mass and he made several moves to just burnish his talking points. When Mitt found that Romney care, socialized medicine lite, wasn’t going to fly, he said turn it over to the states — another detour.
I don’t trust Romney to carry the Conservative banner, I trust Fred. No candidate is perfect, you do the best you can at the time you have to choose. But more than anything else we need a National CONSERVATIVE Leader to carry the banner, not some administrative schlep that will muddle through. And I think Bush is in that category, good on the war, but not a Conservative leader, and we have suffered for it. Yes I voted fro Bush twice, what else would we do, alGore, that would be a disaster.
A Conservative leader is what we need ... And Fred is the best we have got for now.
My sure fire test over the years is Gun control == Liberal, never failed me once.
The debate is on, your turn ...
Every attack you have made against Fred after this post makes you a damn lier. While you have repeatedly carried water for the yankee liberal.
That’s true, when he was trying to decide how to get in the Presidential race. From day one in Mass, he did nothing. I know, I was there.
You're truly absurd in making that assumption, given the wide range of federal dictates to the states over the last seventy years.
And this disregards the fact that you have nothing other than your own personal IMAGINATION to support the notion that Fred was motivated by 10TH Amendment concerns in casting his vote.
If you'd bother to read the entire article, you'd see that's not the case.
“So Latinos aren’t actual Americans? Could have fooled my wife”
The 5 kids of a Latino illegal alien who broke our laws and then started procreating are Americans, under the US Constitution. That doesn’t mean I want them to gain a critical political mass in my state and then pass laws requiring me to subsidize them. If the US Congress passes a law to stop that, I say more power to them. Even assuming it’s purely STATE benefits that are being awarded, the fact remains that it is FEDERAL law that illegals broke to get here. The US Congress has the right and the obligation to stop states from rewarding the breaking of federal law. Sorry you disagree so strongly.
“The debate is on, your turn”
Actually, the debate won’t be on until Fred starts explaining his past votes. He may give an answer that satisfies me, and gets my vote. Romney is not nearly as strong a candidate as I thought he’d be, so I’m looking for something better whether you believe it or not.
But THE issue for me is illegal immigration. And I need to look into Fred’s eyes in a debate and believe that if Congress passes amnesty he will veto it and that he will order ICE and the Justice Department to prosecute employers who hire illegal aliens to the hilt.
If he convinces me of that, he will probably get my vote. But he’s got some explaining to do to convince me of that, in light of HIS past votes. Just like Romney has some explaining to do, which he hasn’t done all that well in some cases.
How about working towards educating people to how the system works and then educating people on the issues?
If we can pry them away from the latest celebrity news, great.
Wow, I am just amazed at your response. Please understand, I am not trying to put you down, I'm just disappointed with your assessment of the situation.
You think I like this reality?
Yep, who cares about the 10th and limited federal government? Surely not the Dems. And apparently you don't either.
Now, show me in the Constitution where that is an enumerated federal power.
I TRUST the republican candidates to do what they say. So I'll judge Thompson by his announced policies, and I won't worry one bit about something Romney did as Massachussetts governor. Rudy creates a unique problem because he stands by certain liberal opinions, although I trust whatever pledges he makes on judges, etc.
BTW I heard Romney say things about Bush's immigration proposal that would not earn Romney my vote (in a primary).
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