Perry’s support of tuition for children of illegals puts him in GOP crosshairs

The Washington Times ^ | 09/23/2011 | Seth McLaughlin

[iowamark]

ORLANDO, Fla. — Rick Perry went out on a limb Thursday by refusing to back off his support as Texas governor for granting in-state tuition to some of the children of illegal immigrants, and painting critics of the law as heartless — remarks that landed him in the crosshairs of his GOP rivals.

The three-term Texas governor said he still supports the program "greatly" and that the Lone Star State needs "to be educating these children because otherwise they’ll "become a drag on society."

"If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart," Mr. Perry said.

The stance also put Mr. Perry at odds with a chunk of the audience, which booed, and opened him up to attacks from the Republican field, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who said the law carries an annual price tag of $22,000 per student and acts as a magnet for illegal immigrants.

"If you're a United States citizen from any one of the other 49 states, you have to pay $100,000 more," Mr. Romney said, alluding to the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at the University of Texas over four years. "That doesn't make sense to me. That kind of magnet draws people into this country to get that education, to get the $100,000 break. It makes no sense."

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania piled on the criticism and called Mr. Perry "soft on illegal immigration" and alluded to a Perry speech from 2001 at which the Texan extolled the virtue of studying a "binational health insurance" program between border areas of Texas and Mexico...

[Ron H.]

I hope that we’ll be finished with Rick Perry soon. He’s clearly not a conservative.

We really owe Rick Perry a big thank you. He has done more to harm his own chances at being President than any of us could have ever hoped to do. Seems all we have to do is just keep giving him all the rope he needs to hang himself. His big mouth will be his own undoing.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

.....but that he called us names - .....

Have we become such a whiny bunch here in the U.S. that when a man expresses that he feels you "Don't Have a Heart" if you want to deny education to people allowed in your country? [WHINE TO THE FEDS] Are we, as a nation so totally self absorbed that everything is internalize -- was your self-esteem bruised? Or are you just here to campaign for your candidate?

Grow a spine.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

There is NO subsidy paid for these students.

[TexasFreeper2009]

actually the supreme court has said that the states MUST provide an education to the children of illegals. Texas just extended that to college.

I see you have to problem with 70% of Romneycare recipients being illegal aliens!

http://americaswatchtower.com/2010/10/27/illegal-immigrants-cost-massachusetts-taxpayers-38-million-a-year-under-romneycare-is-this-to-be-expected-under-obamacare/

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

Oh please...that “You don’t have a heart’ thing got blown way out of porportion..The media loved that and jumped on Perry...along with Fox’s “focus group” that the moderator ran that right into the ground and then fox and all the MSM went nuts about it.

Wow, sure is nice to see conservatives just being pulled right along where the media wants you.
It may have been not the best way to say it, but I took it as conservatives DO have a heart.

Remember the name of the game for media, including Fox and even Rush...is to first get ratings and great soundbites!

when it comes to “crowd psychology” conservatives can be led around like sheeple too.

[Ron H.]

I’m so glad you decided to post some of your idiotic tripe to me as I’ve been itching to tell you just how sorry and pathetic I think you have become. You personally disgust me to no end. Take a hike broad. I used to have some respect for you but you have shown me just how wrong I was for thinking that. Buzz off!

[catfish1957]

CW...

I was leaning Perry, and took the bait. Now myself and 75% of the Freepers who did, regret it.

[free me]

She’s gone off the deep end.

It’s both sad and pathetic to see.

[catfish1957]

Or as I say.... A politican with a heart means he has his hands in our pocketbook.

[SteveAustin]

The bigger problem with Perry isn’t the fact he called us names. The bigger problem is that he gave an impassioned defense for Mexican immigration at each of the debates.

That is fine if the big business boys down in Texas want to rationalize that this is a good thing socially while getting their cheap labor. But for the rest of us, it sucks.

Texas is the gateway state for all of this garbage. Texas has had opportunities to solve this and they don’t want to. Rush is 100 percent correct that unless Texas solves this, they will dilute that State into the next California and at that moment those electoral votes will forever go into the D column and we will always have a liberal President and socialist country.

[catfish1957]

I have sent my third request to Jim DeMint to join this race. We need about a 1000 other Freepers to do the same.

[Liz]

"A politician with a heart means he has his hands in our pocketbook."

Heh---we gotta get that on a tee shirt.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“Critics of Rick Perry are inferring that illegal immigrants get a ‘free college education’”

No I think critics are pointing out that Rick Perry supports illegal immigration and then that can be extrapolated to amnesty.

Illegal means you are not supposed to be here. So if you are illegal you sure should not be attending the state university. Its not right for Texas and its not right for any state. Its “ILLEGAL”. That is why people are upset with Perry and if he doesn’t get off this jag his campaign is going to implode.

[McGruff]

Perry’s support of tuition for children of illegals puts him in GOP crosshairs

Could be his Waterloo or Fonzi skiing moment.

[Polybius]

Perry’s support of tuition for children of Murderers and Rapists puts him in GOP crosshairs (An Alternate Universe story)

Once upon a time, in Alternate Universe Earth, a liberal flip-flopper named Romney, who had once supported abortion, gun controls, something called Romneycare and had tried to be just as liberal as somebody called Ted Kennedy when running for Senator, decided to run for President.

An extremely liberal, some would say Marxist, President was already in office so the road to the Presidency was through a Party called the GOP whose base was very conservative.

The polling leader in the GOP nomination race was a Governor of a state called Texas who, must be admitted, was overconfident, a poor debater and had foolishly decided not to practice very much for the debates. Romney a skilled debater, decided that he would set a trap by making Murderers and Rapists an issue.

Some politicians had advocated spending Billions of dollars building a Wall around every city to keep out Murderers and Rapists. That sounded like a very impractical idea to Perry since Murderers and Rapists would simply jump over, cut through or dig under the Walls with ease. Perry said that more Police "boots on the ground" were needed to stop the Murderers and Rapists.

The day of the third debate, Romney was joined in his plan by many of the other so-called "dwarves" that did not have much of a chance. The poorly prepared Perry was a pork chop in a pit bull kennel.

All night long, the cry ran out, "Build Walls! Build Walls around every city to keep out Murderers and Rapists!"

All night long, Perry said that building Walls was a waste of money since any Murderer and Rapist faced with a 20 foot Wall could simply rent a 21 foot ladder. What was needed was more "boots on the ground".

All to no avail. Romney's plan was working.

"If Perry is against The Walls, then Perry is FOR Murderers and Rapists!"

Then came the clincher: In Alternate Universe Texas, the children of convicted Rapists and even Murderers on Death Row paid in-state tuition rates if those children had grown up in Texas during their high school years. (That is even true on our own Earth.) Alternate Universe Texas did not believe in punishing innocent children for the Sins of the Father. The conservative Texas Legislature had even voted 98%, 177 to 4, to keep things that way.

But, Romney pushed his point during the debate: If Perry agrees with 98% of the conservative Texas Legislature that the sons and daughters of Rapists and Murderers who grew up in Texas during their high school years should be charged in-state tuition rates, then Perry was FOR Rapists and Murderers.

At one point, the poorly prepared Perry (his mother warned him that he should have practiced for the debates) was so frustrated that he blurted out, "If you say that we should not educate children who have grown up our state for no other reason than what their fathers did by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart."

The next morning, the headlines read: "Perry says that those who oppose Murderers and Rapists have no heart."

The plan worked.

Perry was attacked on all sides and his polls sank while Romney soared to the top of the polls in the GOP nomination race.

Then, in January 2013, a man was sworn in as President of a country called the United States. At best, that man was liberal Romney and, at worst, that man was a Marxist named Obama.

Which of the two men became President?

That is another story. This story only deals with how a liberal called Romney played conservatives like a cheap fiddle.

[Manic_Episode]

Yet once again, NOT the conservative position.

The pattern, the pattern, the pattern.

[P-Marlowe]

Barring any new entrants to the race, he can still get my vote back, but I expected far better of him in his third debate than what I saw.

These are not "debates". They are soundbite factories. You get a loaded question from an adversarial moderator and you get one minute to respond. I don't watch these debates because they are counter-productive. In a real debate there is a limited number of questions and the participants are given the questions before the debates, all the participants are given the same question and the participants are given sufficient time to make their positions clear.

If given five minutes to explain his position instead of 60 seconds, I think Perry might not have had to make the error of an appeal to emotion. There are logical and economical reasons to support the Texas Dream Act. But you can't do it in a quick soundbite.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

I believe it is a good idea to hold Perry’s feet to the fire re illegal aliens. (As well as other candidates)

The Republican politicians are just as bad as the Democrats when it comes to stopping illegal aliens.

The Republicans like illegal aliens because it keeps wages down.

The Democrats like illegal aliens because it represents future voters.

The American public is fed up with illegal aliens.

At some point the Trade Union Bosses will join with Tea Party Conservatives to jointly get rid of illegal aliens.

[Polybius]

LINKING ERROR IN POST 55. CORRECTION:

Some politicians had advocated spending Billions of dollars building a Wall around every city to keep out Murderers and Rapists. That sounded like a very impractical idea to Perry since Murderers and Rapists would simply jump over, cut through or dig under the Walls with ease. Perry said that more Police "boots on the ground" were needed to stop the Murderers and Rapists.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

“””If you’re a United States citizen from any one of the other 49 states, you have to pay $100,000 more,” Mr. Romney said, alluding to the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at the University of Texas over four years. “That doesn’t make sense to me. That kind of magnet draws people into this country to get that education, to get the $100,000 break. It makes no sense.” “”

---

And what are the magnets that drew Obama’s aunt and uncle to illegally feed at the government trough in Massachusetts?