Posted on 11/09/2007 6:22:08 PM PST by Doofer
Romney puffs up his record.
Summary
Mitt Romney casts himself as tough on illegal immigration in a new ad in which he says that, as Massachusetts governor, "I authorized the State Police to enforce immigration laws." He doesn't mention that his order never took effect. It came in the closing days of his administration and was rescinded by his successor, as we wrote back in August.
He also promises, "As president, I'll . . . cut funding for sanctuary cities." Maybe so, but as governor he took no action against several such towns in his state.
We find Romney misleading on both counts.
Analysis
Romney's ad began airing Nov. 1 and has run in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Cops on the Case
Romney claims he put state troopers on the trail of illegals in his state.
Romney: As governor, I authorized the state police to enforce immigration laws.
Well, yes. But, as we noted in August, he didn't do so until he had less than a month left in his term. He was already considering running for president, and the new governor-elect was expected to rescind the arrangement.
Romney began talking about giving troopers the power to make arrests on immigration charges earlier in 2006, but he didn't sign an agreement with the federal government - a necessary condition for that authority to be granted - until Dec. 13 of that year.
Romney was scheduled to leave office Jan. 4, 2007. Democrat Deval Patrick, who had won the race to succeed Romney, had already said the program was a "bad idea" because troopers were busy enough as it was.
Sure enough, Patrick rescinded the agreement within his first week in office so troopers could "focus on enforcing Massachusetts laws." The policy never had a chance to take effect, because those troopers chosen to carry it out hadn't yet begun a required six-week training course.
Gimme Shelter
Romney shifts to promise-making mode as he continues:
Romney: As President, I'll oppose amnesty, cut funding for sanctuary cities and secure our borders.
Romney might well get tough on sanctuary cities in the future, but he didn't when he was governor.
During his tenure, at least four Massachusetts cities enacted or renewed legislation declaring themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. Brookline and Cambridge reaffirmed their longtime status as sanctuary cities in so many words.
Somerville and Orleans didn't officially deem themselves "sanctuaries," but Somerville affirmed its "long-standing policies in support of all immigrants," while Orleans forbade city officials from turning in illegal immigrants without probable cause.
We asked Romney's campaign if he had acted against these cities, but they didn't provide us with any examples. As far as we were able to determine in our own research, Romney made no attempts to penalize, censure, or cut funding to them.
“But, as we noted in August, he didn’t do so until he had less than a month left in his term. He was already considering running for president, and the new governor-elect was expected to rescind the arrangement.”
He “changed his mind” on a lot of issues, just in time to run for POTUS.
Could it be that Saint Romney is a liar?
**gasp**
What is it with Mass. and flip-floppers?
Hunter’s criticism of Romney over this issue is well aimed. We need someone in the white house who isn’t a johnny-come-lately on this issue.
Road to Des Moines Conversions on Immigration (Hunter Press release)
News Which Cannot Lose ^ | 10/25/07 | Duncan Hunter/staff
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1916889/posts
“What is it with Mass. and flip-floppers?”
lol, regardless of party affiliation.
GWB-part II. No thanks, dude...
Well, somebody just dug.
Yeah, and he’s a lifelong hunter too ... if you consider twice in 50 years to be lifelong. It’s all just a matter of one’s perspective. I won’t be voting for Romney-come-lately.
Most of us went hook, line and sinker for this crap with Bush II, the first time out. Not again. This guy’s conversion was waaaaay too late in the game.
I posted this Dan Balz, Washington Post writer article, but it was deemed as flame bait.
CAVEAT EMPTOR everyone!!!!
I'm not a Hunter supporter but one test I have in determining if I'll vote for a candidate is that I'm able to believe the words coming out of their mouths and Romney fails that test for me unfortunately because is if was more trustworthy I could get behind enthusiastically if my chose fails in the primaries.
He’s laying his bets on spending mass amounts of money on fooling the masses. He’ll show up in a state, buy up as much ad space as he can and then say whatever he needs to say to push his poll numbers way up.
It’s why he’s doing well in Iowa, NH and SC but not the rest of the country. That’s where he’s dumped a whole lot of cash.
My dilemma is, could I vote for him over Hillery, I hope I do not have to make that judgment.
Who else was worried about “sanctuary cities” or getting police involved in immigration, at this time? Actually Romney was a little ahead of the curve!
But at least Romney didn’t have illegals working at his home for most of the last ten years has he?
That would indicate a crack in his record of perfect consistency on issues dear to the conservative movement.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/01/illegal_immigrants_toiled_for_governor/?page=1
“That’s bad enough. But, as Michelle Malkin has revealed, under Giuliani, New York was an illegal alien sanctuary and “America’s Mayor” actually sued the federal government in an effort to keep New York City employees from having to cooperate with the INS:
“When Congress enacted immigration reform laws that forbade local governments from barring employees from cooperating with the INS, Mayor Rudy Giuliani filed suit against the feds in 1997. He was rebuffed by two lower courts, which ruled that the sanctuary order amounted to special treatment for illegal aliens and were nothing more than an unlawful effort to flaunt federal enforcement efforts against illegal aliens. In January 2000, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal, but Giuliani vowed to ignore the law.”
If you agree with the way that Nancy Pelosi and Company deal with illegal immigration, then you’ll find the way that Rudy Giuliani tackles the issue to be right down your alley.”
excerpt: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16762
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