I am much more concerned with Rick Perry, patron saint of open borders and illegal immigration, than anything he said about Social Security.
You are uninformed about the situation on the border and you are uninformed on governing Texas.
Rick Perry has time and time again requested from Washington DC 1000 troops to SECURE (not "open") the border between Mexico and Texas.
Obama = Washington DC (not a state governor)
Perry calls it (SS) what it is. Bachmann is not facing reality on this (SS) issue.
What is Perry's official/actual stance regarding borders and illegal immigration? I keep reading different takes of it here on FR. Just curious what his actual stance is, if anyone has that info.
I find it incredible how many here, pretending to be conservatives, are attacking Bachmann, Palin, and other GOP candidates, saying they would never vote for them. In other words, they prefer B.H. Obama?!
I am sick an tired of reading about people, who are ill-informed or have simply followed the herd to the chow line, distort the truth about Perry's positions on immigration. I would expect a bit more decorum or intellect from people here at FR.
There is some truth in that. His stance against Texas adopting an Arizona-style immigration law was initially troubling to many conservatives even though his point was that it would be better to force the federal government to enforce the border since that is one of their primary responsibilities. A true statement, but one easier said than done.
He did add a bill prohibiting Sanctuary Cities as an emergency item in the regular session and added it to the call during the special session, but there wasn’t enough resolve in either the legislature or the Governor to overcome the business lobby that was adamantly against the bill. It died in the last special session. It was disappointing to conservatives that the Governor didn’t call another special session to continue the fight, but he maintains that It would have been a waste of taxpayer money to call another special session on an issue that lawmakers would not take action to pass – twice. The governor says that he will continue to support the prohibition of sanctuary cities in the future.
Some have said that when Perry said that the Arizona law “wasn’t the right direction for Texas,” he was taking a position against strict enforcement of immigration laws. Not so – what he actually said was, “I fully recognize and support a state’s right and obligation to protect its citizens, but I have concerns with portions of the law passed in Arizona and believe it would not be the right direction for Texas.” His concern was related to the portion of the Arizona law that required peace officers to inquire about citizenship status. Perry believes that the best solution is to allow officers the discretion to ask if they deem it necessary to carry out their duty.
“Texas has a rich history with Mexico, our largest trading partner, and we share more than 1,200 miles of border, more than any other state,” Perry said. “As the debate on immigration reform intensifies, the focus must remain on border security and the federal government’s failure to adequately protect our borders. Securing our border is a federal responsibility, but it is a Texas problem, and it must be addressed before comprehensive immigration reform is discussed.” Texas has allocated more than $400 million in state funding to secure the border since 2005. In the last legislative session alone, $152 million was earmarked for border security.
Perry has also adopted the National Governor’s Policy, part of which states:
Federal immigration policies should ensure that new immigrants do not become a public charge to federal, state, or local governments.
The federal government must provide adequate information to and consult with states on issues concerning immigration decisions that affect the states.
States should not have to incur significant costs in implementing federal laws regarding immigration status as a condition of benefits.
See the full National Governor’s Association policy on immigration.
In the final analysis, Governor Perry says that the nation cannot have effective immigration policy until the border is secure. Today, the border is not secure and this is where we need to focus our resources.
Here’s a link to On The Issues which has more references to Perry’s statements on immigration-related subjects (too many to include here).
Considering Perry's sorry record on open borders and Mitt's sorry record on socialized medicine, this makes Bachmann the most viable conservative declared in the race.
Either of the boys would be a big improvement over Obozo, but we'd still get essentially a third term for George W. Bush.