Paul calls for immigration reform; Grimes hammers on student debt; McConnell supporters talk coal

cn|2 Pure Politics ^ | 6/11/2014 | Jacqueline Pitts

[Republican Wildcat]

Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul said the lines of communication should remain open on the issue of immigration reform Wednesday after the loss of a member of U.S. House leadership spooked some reform advocates.

Paul joined Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist Wednesday for an immigration teleconference hosted by The Partnership for a New American Economy to outline why reform was needed.

The call was announced Tuesday and then held Wednesday, less than 24 hours after U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his Republican primary in Virginia. Immediately, reports claimed that Cantor’s loss meant sure defeat for immigration reform.

But in the call, both Norquist and Paul were quick to say Cantor’s race would not end the reform debate.

“The idea that somehow one Congressional race out of 435 is a trend or should stop a conversation on immigration reform would be less silly if it wasn’t for the fact that South Carolina had their primary on the same day and a senator who has been very much aligned with comprehensive immigration reform, Lindsey Graham, overwhelmingly won in South Carolina,” Norquist argued on the call.

Paul also used the call to discuss his own proposal for immigration reform he proposed in 2013 that centered around giving Congress the power to make sure the border is secure before giving illegal immigrants legal status. That proposal did not pass.

But Paul said one of the main arguments in favor of immigration reform from a conservative standpoint was the need to end the status quo.

Grimes criticizes McConnell on student loan vote

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes sought to bring a different topic into the race Wednesday by hitting Repubilcan U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell on a vote against a bill dealing with student loan debt.

McConnell voted against a measure Wednesday to allow Americans with outstanding college loans to refinance them pushed by Massachusetts Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

McConnell said Democrats were trying to make the issue of student loan debt into a political game and he did not believe Warren’s bill would solve the problem.

But Grimes said the vote is part of a pattern for McConnell.

“Senator McConnell’s blatant disregard for the hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians crushed by student loan debt is deeply disconcerting. This vote against our middle-class families underscores the fact that my opponent has been in Washington for far too long and just does not get it,” Grimes said.

Grimes went on to call on Congress to pass this legislation as well as a bill to address issues in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

McConnell campaign brings in supporters to criticize Grimes

McConnell’s campaign called in reinforcements Wednesday to continue an argument that Grimes is not as supportive of the coal industry as she claims to be.

After a recorded evidence of Grimes leaving the topic of coal out of a speech in front of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the McConnell campaign held a press conference call with McConnell supporters from eastern Kentucky to discuss the issue.

Speakers on the call included state Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, and the Democratic mayor of Hazard, Nan Gorman, who praised McConnell’s work in regards to the coal industry.

Smith, who recently visited Washington, D.C., to discuss regulations with the Environmental Protection Agency but was turned away, criticized Grimes for getting on the national stage and “forgetting” to talk about coal.

“You put me in front of Harry Reid or a House Democrat, we would speak our mind about coal,” Smith said. “She stands in front of a crowd of Hollywood elites and she can’t remember that? You shouldn’t be Secretary of State if you can’t remember something that important.”

Hear some of the remarks from the speakers on the call here:Full Article with Videos

[EternalVigilance]

Rand Paul throws weight behind immigration reform [AMNESTY] effort

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/11/exclusive-rand-paul-throws-weight-behind-immigrati/

[2ndDivisionVet]

Did everyone get a new turban?

[Bulwinkle]

Bad language ... More bad language....

[headstamp 2]

“But Paul said one of the main arguments in favor of immigration reform from a conservative standpoint was the need to end the status quo.”

You mean the status quo of NOT enforcing existing laws, Randy?

All these hacks do is pile one set of laws on top of the other with never an intention of ever enforcing any of it.

Methinks Paul is getting a full taste of the corporate money flowing into DC from the open borders lobby that Grover represents. They’ve finally got to him.

They can all go to hell as far as I’m concerned. They don’t give a damn about the middle-class.

[odawg]

Rand Paul is tireless in his quest to just see what an obnoxious little twerp idiot he can become. The platform he stands on now is totally different from the one he stood on while conning the voters of Kentucky, and that makes him a run-of-the-mill lying politician.

[fatima]

Jobs.They have failed.

[Kenny]

He’s going to pull the same crap as his dad, act like the traitor nut job he is then screw up our Presidential chances.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The current immigration system is "broken," Randy, because the US feral government refuses to enforce current immigration law.

[Kenny]

Guess they all got the “Double Down” memo from Obama.

[EternalVigilance]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3166595/posts

[oldbrowser]

Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul said the lines of communication should remain open on the issue of immigration reform

There is nothing to reform. Immigration law is not being enforced, so there is no point in changing it.

Lets open up a discussion/investigation into "immigration enforcement". Until that issue is resolved, there is no point in any other communication.

[skinkinthegrass]

that didn't take long; "Rant" Paul/the *itch, are $inging the $ame $ong now..Libertarian, my @$.

[SoConPubbie]

that didn't take long; "Rant" Paul/the *itch, are $inging the $ame $ong now..Libertarian, my @$.

Sorry, but his Open Borders positions are exactly Libertarian.

From the Libertarian Party website:

Today an estimated 12 million people live in the U.S. without authorization, 1.6 million in Texas alone, and that number grows every year. Many Americans understandably want the rule of law restored to a system where law-breaking has become the norm.

The fundamental choice before us is whether we redouble our efforts to enforce existing immigration law, whatever the cost, or whether we change the law to match the reality of a dynamic society and labor market.

Low-skilled immigrants cross the Mexican border illegally or overstay their visas for a simple reason: There are jobs waiting here for them to fill, especially in Texas and other, faster growing states. Each year our economy creates hundreds of thousands of net new jobs — in such sectors as retail, cleaning, food preparation, construction and tourism — that require only short-term, on-the-job training.

At the same time, the supply of Americans who have traditionally filled many of those jobs — those without a high school diploma — continues to shrink. Their numbers have declined by 4.6 million in the past decade, as the typical American worker becomes older and better educated.

Yet our system offers no legal channel for anywhere near a sufficient number of peaceful, hardworking immigrants to legally enter the United States even temporarily to fill this growing gap. The predictable result is illegal immigration.

In response, we can spend billions more to beef up border patrols. We can erect hundreds of miles of ugly fence slicing through private property along the Rio Grande. We can raid more discount stores and chicken-processing plants from coast to coast. We can require all Americans to carry a national ID card and seek approval from a government computer before starting a new job.

. . . . . . . .

Crossing an international border to support your family and pursue dreams of a better life is not an inherently criminal act like rape or robbery. If it were, then most of us descend from criminals.

As the people of Texas know well, the large majority of illegal immigrants are not bad people. They are people who value family, faith and hard work trying to live within a bad system.

[Paladin2]

Will Grimes provide free ammo?

[xzins]

Grimes has already provided free ammo. She isn’t just pro abortion....she’s pro late-term abortion.

No Christian conservative could ever vote for her even if only trying to make a statement against McConnell.

It would be a terrible error to have her gain entry to the US Senate.

[xzins]

Grimes has already provided free ammo. She isn’t just pro abortion....she’s pro late-term abortion.

No Christian conservative could ever vote for her even if only trying to make a statement against McConnell.

It would be a terrible error to have her gain entry to the US Senate.

[skinkinthegrass]

then, we find the article was a hack-job/lie/misinformation from the usual suspects.