Posted on 03/27/2015 7:15:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I’m tempted to accuse Team Walker of feeding this bit of oppo to MSNBC to take some heat off of their own rolling clusterfark on immigration. But I’m sure author Benjy Sarlin, a smart guy who follows this issue for the network, hit on it himself. (Wouldn’t Walker’s team have leaked it to Fox to maximize Cruz’s embarrassment among conservatives?) To a lefty, the tangle of GOP primary politics on amnesty must be irresistible: Why is Scott Walker taking a beating on the right for supporting legalization when Ted Cruz, Mr. Conservative, also supported legalization in the form of work permits as recently as 2013? How can Ted Cruz be the “anti-amnesty” candidate in the field when his position — at least as of two years ago — is basically indistinguishable from Walker’s and (gasp) Jeb Bush’s?
Sarlin went to Team Cruz with a question. Does he still support work permits for illegals or, like Walker, has he shifted further to the right just in time for the GOP primaries? Answer: Yep, he’s still on the legalization express.
Asked by msnbc about where Cruz stands now on legalization, campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said that the senator has been “consistent” and confirmed that the views he expressed in the Tribune had not changed. While Frazier said Cruz believes a path to citizenship “flies in the face of the rule of law,” she declined to apply the same label when asked about legal status in the right circumstances.
“I think his main priority is dealing with the border security component and making sure that we know who is coming into the country and making sure that we have control over who is coming into the country and then we can deal with what to do with the people who are already here,” she said…
[Mark] Krikorian told msnbc Cruz’s position easily fits the bill [of amnesty].
“It’s the same thing: ‘I’m against amnesty, but amnesty doesn’t include giving people work permits,’” Krikorian said. “Really? The Obama didn’t give amnesty to all those people.”
That last bit is a fun new addition to the many Cruz/Obama comparisons floating around political media since Cruz’s campaign launch this week. It’s an amazing testament, though, to how deeply GOP pols fear the growing Latino demographic that even Ted Cruz — Ted Cruz — refuses to go whole hog in pandering to righties on this while otherwise running for president as the most complete, principled conservative since Ronald Reagan. Somehow, of the roughly 1,400 Republican candidates set to jump into the race this year, not a single one (that I know of) takes the Romney line that self-deportation is the solution to illegal immigration. The next time you hear a Democrat grumble that the party hasn’t “evolved” at all since its loss in 2012, remind them that work permits for illegals is now the baseline even for alleged “fire-breathers” like Ted Cruz.
All of this makes me wonder, in fact, whether Cruz is really eyeing the presidential nomination or the VP slot. If he’s thinking about the former, he might as well embrace self-deportation and be the total conservative dream figure that tea partiers want him to be. Banging the drum on that would distinguish him sharply from every other man in the field in the eyes of border hawks, of which there are many in the primary electorate. Sure, it would hurt him in the general election, but as a relative longshot for the nomination, he can’t worry about that now. Might as well go full metal conservative, try to win the primaries, and then let the chips fall where they may against Hillary. The fact that he resists dogmatic conservatism on this point (and really only this point) means he’s willing to trade a notable bit of extra right-wing cred for a little cred with moderates, something that doesn’t obviously benefit him in the primaries — as a presidential candidate. As a vice-presidential candidate, though, it benefits him a lot. Jeb Bush might balk at putting Cruz on the ticket if he’s running around talking up self-deportation; having him on record as pro-legalization, though, makes him more salable to the Latino voters that Jeb will be trying to impress. And of course righties will forgive Cruz his heresy on this point since he has fewer heresies than anyone else running. Is any tea partier going to be less excited about the thought of Ted Cruz being one heartbeat away just because he supports work permits? C’mon.
It’s not garbage. We’re never going to get the perfect candidate and FReeperdreams of mounting a second Operation Wetback will never come true.
So figure out what compromise level you can tolerate. There will be a compromise, even if Cruz is POTUS.
I like Cruz, but there’s no way he will not have to compromise on amnesty. We’re not going to have a second Operation Wetback.
Plus, Cruz will gain little traction with the GOPe. You need the GOPe to win the nomination. Those are the facts and in politics you don’t get to play if you don’t win.
Make them self-deport by denying benefits and punishing employers who knowingly hire illegals.
So you are saying no matter what happend, even with GOP control of all branches, the left wins.
So why bother with elections?
We can sit around in our pajamas posting whatever we want on FR, but it’s just into the ether, FRiend. Politics is the art of the possible.
We live in a country that elected Obama twice. Think about that. Let’s not become an echo chamber of ranting impossibles.
What an incredibly misleading post—trying to make it look like Cruz hasn’t stated his support for legalization (though not citizenship), as long as it isn’t unilaterally done by Obama.
You owe it to your fellow Freepers to at least be honest in your posts.
The first Obama win was somewhat understandable given the “black messiah” effect and the rampant MSM cheerleading.
The second Obama win with $4 gas, 8% unemployment (13% actual), trillion dollar deficits, surging food prices, and Benghazi was downright depressing.
We got here by losing elections. Imagine that Kennedy didn’t steal the election and Nixon followed Ike, what would America be like today?
Go back further and imagine a world without Teddy Roosevelt winning the Presidency. No Wilson or a Coolidge second term and no Harding.
American History didn’t just start, it’s been a long slog the whole way and if history is any indicator government will continue to grow. It started back when Washington was President and hasn’t stopped.
For every dollar government spends there’s some recipient willing to fight tooth and nail in a way we cannot. So we have to play smart, start pushing the state in the direction we want. How do you do that?
Smart compromise is the first one. To enforce laws against illegal aliens you need a broader, more invasive police state than we currently have. I don’t want that. So I’d work on welfare reform.
Look to Mike Lee as a great example of conservative populism. So here’s what I would do: upon the election of a GOP POTUS and the retention or improvement of GOP majorities in Congress in 2016 pass welfare reform that denies benefits to illegal aliens and transfer the savings to the states for instate programs to help poor American citizens. Go for the jugular and make Dems pick between illegals and blacks as a constituency. Welcome blacks back into the party of liberty.
Think judo, not front assault.
The only question is how onerous will that path be and how effective will it be...
- We cannot deport millions of illegals...
- "Dreamers" (brought here illegally by their illegal parents)do have a legitimate point as long as they are not criminals, pay taxes ...
- Both political parties have a skin in the game for various reasons...
- A POTUS can only approve or veto immigration legislation not make law...
All is really moot until we get serious about building a fence...
I'm afraid it will take a nuke smuggled over the border that takes out Houston or LA before that happens...
The FReepers who cling to the idea that we’re not going to have some form of ‘amnesty’ are utterly naïve. Best case scenario we secure the border. The cake is baked.
I know, is it really that hard to figure out...?
There are ways to do "amnesty" right...
Self-deporting is the best way...
No more bennies, no more free education, no more driver licenses,
These who really want to stay will find a way to make a life for themselves without digging into my pocket...
"Dreamers" (children brought here by their illegal parents ) need to have an easy way into citizenship... get a work permit, you have 18 months to get citizenship...if not bye-bye..
We’ll have a hard time dictating DL as it’s a state function, but you could withhold federal funds to states whose DL don’t meet security standards and using foreign documents could be a criteria.
Listen we’re up against it. We have to use conservative populism, politically savvy and pick the smart fights. If a guy like Cruz or Walker softens a position it’s politics. I believe their hearts and minds are in the right place and they’ll act accordingly.
We’re not going to get everything. We need to just keep moving the ball downfield toward our goals. If we do that smartly, we’ll keep majorities for a generation plus which is how the Dems got us here. If Obama didn’t have Dem majorities in Congress, Democratcare would never have passed.
It is GOPe garbage and they trot that stuff out whenever they want people to vote for their socialists. Ted Cruz is already out defending himself. I will give him that. At least he understands why people would be upset and consider it a betrayal. He is working to get his message out.
Either Walker has no clue or he is just like the rest of the E/E GOP, he doesn’t care. If he cared, if he understood, he would not be caught dead in a closed meeting with the Chamber of Commies. Nor would he have hired a gay/abortion loving lib amnesty supporter for communications. I don’t care if he’s worked with her before. That just makes things worse — he’s worked with a gay/abortion loving lib amnesty supporter before. Walker’s actions in the past do not engender trust. The days approaching an election is not the time to decide to take on principles. It makes you look like a flip-flopping Romney clone. I’ve got a Senator Rubio down here who acts that way and speaks out of both sides of his mouth just like Walker. Rubio isn’t presidential material either.
The only person I’m sure of is the LORD. Though I’m not looking for perfect agreement on every topic, I’m positive I’m won’t vote for anyone I don’t trust.
You might like to know that Walker feels the same way about the LORD.
Walker is supposed to be a preacher’s kid. I doubt his current behavior is due to lack of knowledge which makes matters worse.
Walker, Romney, Rubio all say they feel the same way about the LORD. Many e/e republicans say they believe in God while they also believe in gay marriage, abortion and rewarding regular law breakers (illegals). I don’t. You can’t serve God and mammon. Also, double-minded men are unstable in all their ways. These people should put away the etch-a-sketch, tell the truth and shame the devil.
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