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Posted on 05/19/2007 10:05:40 PM PDT by restornu
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Be of Good Cheer!
“Now is the Time” is a great ad. I love the scenery and music in the long one that follows it. His media people are doing a good job for him with these videos.
Where’s Ike when we need him?
Does any candidate have an ad like that? If not, there is no reason to chide Romney for not doing what other candidates haven't done.
Go Mitt!!!
I really don’t follow your logic here, Plutarch. Not chiding or holding our congressmen and candidate’s feet to the fire has led to our current situation. A little chiding might be good for all of them. Perhaps they might be inclined to actually fund and enforce our current laws?
Romney is trying. He’s on the right side of the issue — thank goodness for small miracles. But he needs to take his plan a step further. Making the illegal aliens legal isn’t addressing the issue. The issue, of course, is out of control immigration (legal or illegal). I like that he wants to secure the boarder, but the creation of another revenue stream for the federal government with his tax penalty doesn’t instill much hope in me. Now if he were to add that he would deport those individuals without a valid id then I could get really behind him. If he wants my vote I need to know he’s not pandering.
I dare say, if he did make a statement like that he would grab a good portion of the vote from blue collar dems which might offset the evangelicals who refuse to vote for a Mormon — a handful of those can be found here on FR.
Romney, Hunter, and possibly Fred Thompson are my top picks for the primary at the moment -- I've donated to the first two. I’m hoping one of ‘em breaks out of the pack with a *very* strong anti-illegal immigration message.
Sorry, can’t buy Mr. Mitt-Flopper.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI
So far I’m looking at Fred Thompson, or if Gilchrist ever decides to run...
Immigration
Governor Romney: “I’m against an amnesty and against anything that provides an incentive for people to come here illegally.”
(Matinee Mitt, National Review cover story, June 20, 2005)
Governor Romney: “I don’t think there should be a pathway to citizenship for people who are here illegally.”
(Romney: Reform immigration, allow students to stay, The Des Moines Register, March 23, 2007)
Governor Romney strongly opposes the McCain-Kennedy approach to immigration reform or other amnesty measures offering benefits to those in the country illegally.
Governor Romney: “McCain-Kennedy isn’t the answer. As governor, I took a very different approach. I authorized our state police to enforce immigration laws. I vetoed a tuition break for illegals and said no to driver’s licenses. McCain-Kennedy gives benefits to illegals that would cost taxpayers millions. And more importantly, amnesty didn’t work 20 years ago, and it won’t work today.”
(CPAC 2007 Speech, March 2, 2007)
Governor Romney: “Immigration has been an important part of our nation’s success. The current system, however, puts up a concrete wall to the best and brightest, yet those without skill or education are able to walk across the border. We must reform the current immigration laws so we can secure our borders, implement a mandatory biometrically enabled, tamper proof documentation and employment verification system, and increase legal immigration into America.”
Governor Romney: “We need to make America more attractive for legal immigrants for citizens and less attractive for illegal immigrants. I want to see more immigration in our country, but more legal immigration and less illegal immigration.”
(AP, June 23, 2006)
Mitt Romney opposed a bill that would have allowed illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses. “Those who are here illegally should not receive tacit support from our government that gives an indication of legitimacy,” the governor said, echoing arguments that opponents have voiced in the Commonwealth and in other states considering similar license measures. “If they are here illegally, they should not get driver’s licenses,” he said.
(Scott S. Greenberger, “Romney Stand Dims Chances Of License For Undocumented,” The Boston Globe, 10/28/03)
Romney vetoed a bill in 2004 that would have permitted illegal aliens to pay the same in-state tuition rate paid by citizens at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts.
(Office Of The Governor, “Romney Signs $22.402B Fiscal Year 2005 ‘No New Tax’ Budget,” Press Release, 6/25/04)
Romney arranged a federal and state agreement enabling Massachusetts State Troopers to investigate immigration status and arrest illegal aliens they encounter during the normal course of their duties.
(Troopers would arrest immigrants, Boston Globe, June 21, 2006) (Governor Romney, ICE Sign Immigration Enforcement Pact, Dec. 13, 2006) (Video: Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio debates LULAC spokesman about MA pact with ICE)
Governor Romney fought efforts to weaken Massachusetts’ English Immersion Law. “But yesterday, Romney press secretary Shawn Feddeman said the governor will fight all attempts to slow the implementation of English immersion, known on the ballot as Question 2. ...He will veto anything that weakens or delays English immersion, Feddeman said.”
(Anand Vaishnav, “Romney Firm On English Timetable,” The Boston Globe, 1/24/03)
Governor Romney increased funding by nearly 30% ($8 million) in Fiscal Year 2006 for English as a Second Language, adult literacy and adult secondary education for legal immigrants residing in Massachusetts. The increase enabled statewide adult basic education programs to accommodate approximately 4,000 more students each year.
(Romney Expands Adult Basic Education for Immigrants, January 28, 2005)
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was named as Honorary Chair for the Romney for President campaign in Arizona. Sheriff Arpaio, better known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff”, has gained a nationwide reputation for his tough stance on crime, illegal immigration and border security in the nation’s fourth largest county.
“I like him,” Arpaio said of Mitt Romney. “He’s a man of principle, of good character. He did a great job in Massachusetts and I feel he’s going to make a great president.”
“I’m sure the governor believes in my philosophy too,” Arpaio said. “He sure would not be asking for my endorsement if he didn’t believe in what I’m doing.”
(Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Tells FOX News Why Mitt Romney Picked Him for Presidential Campaign, Fox News, Feb. 28, 2007)
Video: Sheriff Arpaio Explains Why He Endorses Mitt Romney For President, Fox News
Video: Neil Cavuto Interviews Sheriff Arpaio About Mitt Romney Endorsement (McCain, Giuliani, Hunter, and Tancredo mentioned)
Romney proposes an immigration plan with the following features:
1. Strong border and internal enforcement and security. Romney strongly supports a wall, fence or other effective restraint along the U.S.-Mexico border.
(Romney calls for border barrier, The Dallas Morning News, April 12, 2007)
2. An enhanced, fair and workable employee verification system with tamper proof, bio-metric ID that eliminates the burden and uncertainty of the current workplace enforcement system. Employers that hire workers without the proper credentials are subject to fines.
3. A temporary worker program that enables willing foreign workers to be matched with participating employers to meet increasing workforce needs.
4. Provisions that will allow undocumented workers to earn legal status so that they can continue to remain in the workforce. People who are here illegally should not be granted citizenship or get any benefit by being here and should go to the back of the line behind all those who have applied for citizenship.
For the 12+ million illegal aliens in the country now, Romney favors deportation of criminal illegal aliens and deportation of illegal aliens who refuse to get off public welfare assistance.
Watch the video of Mitt Romney discussing his immigration plans during a townhall meeting in New Hampshire.
http://www.freerepublic.com/~unmarkedpackage/
For the 12+ million illegal aliens in the country now, Gov. Romney's plan calls for the immediate deportation of all illegal aliens convicted of a crime and deportation of all illegal aliens who refuse to get off any form of public welfare assistance. Of the remaining immigrants that entered the country illegally, they are required to register under the new biometric-ID program for employment verification and then are subject to a realistic attrition program to return home as Romney explained to Hugh Hewitt in a recent interview on 5/16/07:
Mitt Romney: [First] we secure the border, two, we have an employment verification system, and three, of the 12 million who are here, I’m telling them go register, go get your card, we’re going to have a realistic attrition program. And it’s an RAP, realistic attrition program. If they, for instance, have a child in school, we may let them complete the school year, and then they return home. When they are home, they’re able to apply for permanent residency, or for citizenship, or anything else they’d like to apply for. But they get no advantage by having been here illegally. And that for me is the key thing. If somebody is going to get a special pathway by having come here illegally to be able to stay, or become a citizen, then that’s rewarding illegal activity. It’s not fair to those who stood in line. And in my view, it’s a form of amnesty.Hugh Hewitt: Now Governor, in McCain-Kennedy, there was a provision for the awarding to illegal immigrants of social security benefits for the years they had spent working in this country. Do you favor that?
Mitt Romney: No, I think that’s another mistake in the bill. There are a number of things that are wrong in it. The provision of social security for illegal aliens, I think, was a mistake. The provision that said that you could get in line to become a permanent resident or citizen by paying three of your last five years of taxes, that was a mistake. And the whole concept that people who are here illegally would receive an advantage towards being able to stay here, relative to people who’ve been waiting in line in their own country, that doesn’t make sense to me, and it says to people globally, hey, if you want to get ahead in coming to America, don’t wait in line in your home country, but go over there on a tourist visa, and stay over. That’s the wrong signal.
This is all very good information. It is by far (hands down) the best plan being offered by any of the current top tier candidates. Now all former Governor Romney needs to do is rework his video/commercial (add the parts about deportation) and repeat the main points of the plan over and over and over.
People are looking for someone to save the day. If Romney becomes the point man against the current bill in the Senate, he could effectively suck the life out of his closest rival’s campaigns for weeks and gain quite a few new supporters. I for one hope he and or Duncan Hunter strike while the iron is hot.
It almost goes without saying, anyone of the Republican candidates who support the immigration bill are dead in the water.
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