Aggies Question Rick Perry's Conservative Values

The Bryan/College Station Eagle ^ | 10/11/11 | Vimal Patel

[ziravan]

"Yet another sign Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign is facing challenges: Conservative students from his beloved alma mater are criticizing him for supporting in-state tuition rates for some undocumented students."

[ziravan]

"The fact that he continues to defend his stance is troubling," said Justin Pulliam, a member of the Texas Aggie Conservatives. "He's not an all-around conservative candidate."

[trumandogz]

Nice to see that they are now teaching Intro to Logic at Texas A&M.

[SatinDoll]

LOL!

[sklar]

Cincinatus... paging your wife...

[Fawn]

"He's not an all-around conservative candidate."

YA think?? LOL.

[NautiNurse]

Leave Rick Perry alone!

[Happy Rain]

That’s why we let them in the SEC;)

[Theodore R.]

I just read that KS also has this law, but a freshman lawmaker from Wichita, Leslie Osterman, tried to get it repealed in 2011. The repeal measure died in a state Senate committee.

[BobL]

Typically, when the people closest to you start questioning your integrity, then it’s over.

Perry went to A&M, and he’s not fooling them.

[thackney]

Not just Kansas, but also California, Connecticut, Illinois, , Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin have passed laws requiring In-State tuition benefits for illegals.

In 2008, Oklahoma then passed HB 1804 which ended its in-state tuition benefit, including financial aid, for students without lawful presence in the United States. The Act allows the Oklahoma State Regents to enroll a student in higher education institutions permitted that they meet special requirements.

In-State Tuition and Unauthorized Immigrant Students
National Conference of State Legislatures
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=13100

[thackney]

Follow up to the Oklahoma exception:

Further review of HB 1808 shows that the exception reads very similar to Texas law. You can still get in-state tuition provided you graduated from OK HS, lived there for 2 years with parent/guardian and applied for legal status. However, if there is no way to apply without risk of deportation, the last part is waved.

http://okpolicy.org/files/HB1804_ENR.pdf
Section 3242

The Texas law requires 3 years in Texas, not 2.

[TexasFreeper2009]

I don’t think Perry can win unless he makes a 180 on this.

And I am not sure Perry’s personality will allow him to cave on this after he has dug in.

Everything else is meaningless, this one issue is what’s killing him.

[ReaganBaby26]

Thanks for the info, I knew all the states but I didn’t know the details. No, I don’t agree with it, but it’s amazing that it’s not just Texas, isn’t it. ;)

[TADSLOS]

Typically, when the people closest to you start questioning your integrity, then it’s over.

Perry went to A&M, and he’s not fooling them.

Aggies know horse manure when they see it, especially when it's coming from one of their own.

[ReaganBaby26]

I will be disappointed if he did. That is what attracts me to him, his strength of conviction and not backing down.

No I don’t agree with the in-state tuition but it is not the monster that so many would love for us to believe. 98% of the issues I agree with him on and I love that he doesn’t back down.

[thackney]

I have been surprised by the number of people trashing Gov Perry for signing this bill while having the same law in their own state.

[SharpRightTurn]

“I don’t think Perry can win unless he makes a 180 on this. And I am not sure Perry’s personality will allow him to cave on this after he has dug in. Everything else is meaningless, this one issue is what’s killing him.”

He probably wants to hit Willard as a flip-flopper (and rightfully so) and so doesn’t want to open himself up to the same charge. But it also looks like he is a true believer of an open border policy (ala Jorge B. and Juan M.). Therefore, even if he came out with a mea culpa and adopted a strong position on sovereignty, border control, and immigration enforcement it would be suspect.

I’ll say it again: if Willard and Ricardo are the two leading candidates, as so many like to tell us, then our choices are pathetic.

[DTxAg]

I have been surprised by the number of people trashing Gov Perry for signing this bill while having the same law in their own state.

It's easy to support a candidate who's never had to face the issue and who says 10 years after the fact that he would not have done it.

[TexasFreeper2009]

Backing down when you are wrong is not a bad thing.

And Perry is flat out wrong on this issue when you look at it from a national perspective. Perry, in case you haven't noticed (LOL) is very focused on Texas, and when Texas and Texas alone is considered ... the policy sort of make sense.

But when you expand the argument (as Santorum did) and say that you are giving tuition brakes to illegal aliens that you are denying to your fellow American citizens from other states... that's a losing issue, because your basically insulting everyone else in the nation.

Perry can't win with this hanging over his head, he has to end this. And the only way he can is by changing his position.

Of course it will hurt his planned attacks on Romney, because Romney will try and say that Perry flipped on immigration every time Perry points out Romney's flips on abortion, gay marriage, gun control, ect.

But it's better to have your future attacks on Romney weakened than to have your candidacy destroyed.