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Posted on 04/30/2015 8:56:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Via the Weekly Standard, he’s not saying anything here that he hasn’t said before. He supports immigration reform, but not comprehensive immigration reform — only a piecemeal security-first approach will work, the same view now taken by Marco Rubio. But Cruz fans who haven’t paid attention to him on this issue may assume, incorrectly but understandably, that he naturally takes the most conservative position that an electable Republican presidential candidate can take. Not so: It’s Scott Walker(!) who’s staked out the right side of the field by demanding that American wages be a variable when considering target numbers for legal immigrants, hinting that maybe legal immigration levels need to drop rather than rise. Walker’s defenders argue that he’s not saying anything controversial there; of course you’d want to know how a certain level of immigration will affect what American workers are paid. His break from the rest of the field is a matter of emphasis, not a matter of introducing something new into the debate.
Fair enough, but it’s interesting to watch Ted Cruz, Mr. True Conservative, talk about this subject at length and not provide the same emphasis. Watch below from around 44:00 to 50:00 and then again at 1:29:00 to 1:36:00. In 13 or so minutes, wages don’t come up. On the contrary, Cruz’s emphasis is on the fact that he wants more legal immigration, at least among better educated immigrants who might qualify for an H-1B visa. It’s interesting that a guy known for having his finger on the pulse of grassroots conservative/tea party sentiment isn’t following Walker’s lead but rather stressing his own relative moderation on the issue. There are obvious political reasons for that — he’s addressing the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here, and as one of the few GOP candidates who opposes a path to citizenship, he needs a way to show general-election voters that he’s no Tancredo when it comes to immigration. But it’s telling that he’s not worried about Walker getting to his right on the hottest hot-button of the GOP primaries. Maybe he figures that, between his stellar tea-party track record on all manner of policy plus Walker’s conspicuous flip-flopping on immigration (which still includes support for a path to citizenship), he can afford to place his emphasis on being pro-immigration — so long as it’s legal. Or maybe Cruz suspects that Walker’s wink-wink at reducing legal immigration levels actually isn’t a position that an “electable” Republican can take. He wouldn’t be alone in that belief, if so.
Try to watch both immigration Q&As below as they’re both worth your time. Cruz spends most of his answers accusing Democrats of being the main obstacle to reform because of their fanatic, self-interested insistence on citizenship for illegals, a criticism that’s valid but also ironic given that Cruz himself continues to support some kind of legal status for illegals and surely knows that that will lead to demands for citizenship eventually. (He notes in passing at around 1:31:00 that his amendment to the Gang of Eight bill didn’t attempt to eliminate work permits for illegals, just citizenship.) Anyway, your exit question: Is this comment, from elsewhere in yesterday’s Q&A, really the best way to pander to a racial group?.......Continued
“But why isn’t Cruz fair game for his liberal position in support of unending (and increasing) mass legal immigration?”
Assumptions!
On immigration at least, Barbara Jordan was right. And there is hardly anything pro-Constitution about mass immigration. In fact it would be the opposite, since mass immigration is undeniably importing many more supporters of un-Constitutional big government Democrat politics than limited government, pro-Constitution principles.
And do you really want to play the game of guilt by association? I’ll take that any day in terms of aligning those in favor of less immigration against those in favor of unending and increasing mass immigration. Yeah, we’d have Barbara Jordan on our side, but you’d have pretty much everyone else on the Left and pretty much every organ of the Left. You have almost all Democrats today. You have the mainstream media. You have Obama. You have Hollywood. You have the professional ethnic grievance groups. You have radical university professors and administrators.
It’s no contest.
Get away from me, you dirty lying commie.
What do you mean? Cruz is on record for wanting to increase H1B visas by 500%. And he has spoken in more general terms about support for increasing legal immigration in general.
These aren’t assumptions. They are straight from Cruz himself.
That you resort so quickly to juveline name calling strongly suggests that you’re a leftist at heart.
Refute one thing I said. You can’t. Where did I lie?
You big tent GOPe republican’ts can ESAD with a side salad of Barbara Jordan.
So you have no answer, other than ridiculous name calling.
What is it with this hero worship? Cruz is not a perfect being. He’s just a man, with strenghts and weaknesses like anyone else. On most issues he is probably the best candidate the GOP has, but he is liberal on legal immigration. Why can’t you admit that?
Is Cruz off limits for criticism?
So it’s obvious you can’t respond to specific points. You just say things, very stupid things, and go about your way.
You don’t even realize that ‘big tent Republican’ philosophy encompasses your support for mass legal immigration, in the mistaken assumption it will bring Hispanics into the tent.
Anwyay, how do you feel about being in league with Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, the mainstream media, La Raza, and Gutierrez in support of pro-Democrat mass immigration?
You are a liar spreading lies about Cruz’s full position on legal immigration. I won’t discuss anything with a damned liar.
You’re not seeing the big picture of taking the 500% increase from what is legally allowed in AFTER enacting enforcement on the border against illegal immigration.
There is NO enforcement right now.
Do you think he is pushing for amnesty then add a %500 increase?
I don’t think so.
Where have I lied? If you’re going to make the charge, back it up jerk.
I understand that you’re embarrassed that your absurd Barbara Jordan point was so easily dismantled and refuted. I understand that you have no response to the fact that the leftist forces in support of mass immigration (and in opposition to Jordan on this one issue) is a long and frightening list. But it’s no reason to make false charges. You made a very stupid point. Just accept it.
I would be happy if Cruz were to reveal a position on legal immigration that doesn’t involve a large annual influx of mostly natural Democrats. But he hasn’t done so yet.
I’m never embarrassed to out a miserable lying Barbara Jordan follower of social justice government. Go sell your crap to someone else.
Actually he has, but your too stuck on one upping a fellow freeper to understand it.
But that would still be an increase on the one million or so legal immigrants we admit each year. I’m not talking about the number of illegal aliens who make it in each year, just legal levels. It would go from approximately 65,000 H1B visas a year to 325,000, an increas of 260,000 legal immigrants per year.
I commend Cruz for being consistenly good on illegal immigration. He does not support a path to citizenship, which is great. I think allowing (most of) them to stay will eventually make citizenship inevitable (afterall, who but a latino-hating racist would want to deny a legalized illegal full citizenship...is what you’d hear about 5 seconds after a legalization-without-citizenship-bill is signed into law), but I’ll give Cruz the benefit of the doubt in thinking that he thinks that can be avoided.
But as to H1B visas again. If Cruz thinks we needs such a massive increase so much (despite their being no real shortage of such workers and graduates),then why not call for the increase against a decrease elsewhere? Why not call for abolishhing Ted Kennedy’s absurd Diversity Lottery visas? That’s 50,000 a year right there? Why not call for drastic reductions in refugee and asylum visas? That would lessen our chances of getting scum like the Boston Marathon bommbers or the wannabe Somali jihadists out of Minnesota. Why not cut of chain migration by restricting family based visas to spouses and minor children? My point is, there are a lot of places that could be cut to make way for the additional H1B visas Cruz thinks we are in such dire need of. Why does it always have to be more overall?
“Actually he has, but your too stuck on one upping a fellow freeper to understand it.”
When has he done so? See my last response to you. Has Cruz called for reducing slots given to these Democrat-importing categories?
You can’t grasp simple concepts can you? Does agreeing with Jordan on this one issue make one a follower of social justice government?
If so, what does that make you? If you support mass legal immigration, then you are on the side of pretty much the entire Left. Do you not understand that?
I say again, the list of Leftist supporters of unending and ever increasing mass legal immigration is long and frightening. The list of Leftists who support reducing legal immigration is much smaller, and in your case, consists of one long-dead Congresswoman.
Quit spreading lies about Ted Cruz, you lying liar.
Hear, hear!
What lies? Name one?
Are you so enamored of Cruz that you take any criticism of him as personal, or out of bounds?
And as far as going elsewhere; unless blind worship of politicians is part of being conservative, I’ll put my conservative views up for any to judge.
And as far as the question of legal immigration goes, how do you think most conservatives feel about it? If told the truth that we admit a million or so legal immigrants per year, would most conservatives want to maintain that level, or reduce it, or increase it (like Cruz)? It’s fairly obvious that support for ‘increase it’ would come in a distant third place.
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