Posted on 02/05/2015 6:08:43 AM PST by don-o
The left-wing group Media Matters for America cried flip-flop after Gov. Scott Walker bluntly told ABC News he opposed "amnesty" for illegal immigrants living in the United States.
Walker, the group said in blog post, previously had supported a pathway to citizenship advocated by lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
With Walker garnering plenty of attention amid a crowded field of potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates, let’s put this one to the Flip-O-Meter.
Our standard disclaimer applies: The Flip-O-Meter is not designed to say whether any change in position is good policy or good politics. Rather, it strictly looks at whether a public official has been consistent in his or her stated views on a topic.
In this case, we have visited Walker’s statements on immigration before, notably in August 2013, when we examined how Republicans were framing the issue in the wake of President Barack Obama’s re-election win with strong support from Hispanics.
In the past, Walker has been hard to pin down on the question, and has made seemingly contradictory statements.
So we were struck by Walker’s direct language and tone Feb. 1, 2015 in the "This Week" interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz.
Raddatz: "We know you want to fix the border and fix the immigration system, but what would you do about the 11 million undocumented who are still here?
Walker: "I think for sure, we need to secure the border. I think we need to enforce the legal system. I'm not for amnesty…"
In making the comments, did Walker change his position?
Here are some key past statements he’s made, all in 2013:
-- At a February 2013 national conference hosted by Politico, Walker said fixing the legal immigration system should come first, but said the next step is we "gotta embrace" a "legal pathway"
(Excerpt) Read more at politifact.com ...
FR is now taking advice from Media Matters?
Clearly they know (better than Jeb) that immigration is a touchy issue with conservative voters.
I expect MM to push hard on targeting Walker, trying to damage him enough so we get stuck with Jeb.
MM knows they can beat Jeb.
no, because there is a huge difference between supporting amnesty and supporting a pathway to citizenship that involves the illegals going back to their own country and getting in line to enter like everyone else.
“Walker......previously had supported a pathway to citizenship.....”
He did not say he support a pathway to “amnesty”.
Media Matters is now focusing its’ liberal guns on Walker because they fear him. Have you noticed they haven’t taken any shots at jeb?
Its not amnesty, they will have to pay a $10 fine (err processing fee) before they get full citizenship.
That will teach them to come here illegally.
Cant send foreigners the wrong message or they all will be here.
BTW : Obama is giving illegals the EITC by executive order.
Even Dems say they are against amnesty.
The MM reference is simply a jumping of point for the article’s lede. I though the whole article, when read, supplies some food for thought and perhaps discussion.
I think Walker is still getting his own ideas solidified as to what is to be done on a national level. I have yet to hear what he has to say about the current policy )of BOTH parties) on “nation building” and installing “democracy” at gunpoint.
It doesn’t matter that Media Matters is the messenger, what matters are the actual contradictory words that actually came out of the mouth of Scott Walker.
George H.W. Bush was “Pro Choice” opposing Reagan in 1980, then “Pro-Life” as Reagan’s running mate and VP, then “Pro-Choice” on CNN with Larry King in 1993. Bush 41 then went mum when his sons entered politics calling themselves “Pro-Life”.
I’ve seen this flip flop act before and Walker is doing it like a Bush. We elect him and Walker will act to give us Amnesty or fail to reverse what Obama has done.
Now FR is siding with the Media Matters, a lying left wing org?
When you’re catching flack, you’re over the target...
Can anybody read?
“pathway to citizenship” is code for Amnesty.
We need to resolve the issue of millions of illegal aliens living within our country. That is the more complicated problem and will take some outside the box thinking. And it will involve Mexico and other Latin American countries.
But first we have to stop the secure the borders.
“Walker is doing like Bush”...Let me guess. You’re a Cruz supporter?
does it matter at present?
I would suggest that writers with no real news to report are mountainizing what amounts to a mole hill
I’m a Nigel Farage supporter who knows our politicians say one thing to get elected and then act another way once elected.
We need to stop business as usual politics as practiced by the GOPe in this country.
Cruz has fought the GOPe, Rand Paul has in some cases and Sarah Palin has lifted her voice to oppose the collusion of business and politics as practiced by the GOPe and crony capitalists.
Yeah, I support Cruz and suspect this pile on campaign on FR to support Walker is to help Jeb Bush by drawing conservative support away from Ted Cruz.
Walker’s supporters have been warned of this issue for weeks.
Illegals will be a huge issue in 2016, and it isnt enough to just brush it off as “the lib media attacking whom they fear” when Walker left this flank exposed.
The people supporting his potential run had better hope the glowing image they’ve painted of him follows through quickly. This type of crack in his boat wont stop leaking water because they ignore it.
Maybe, bert. But, I see a lot of concern here that Walker is automatically a non starter due to the amnesty . I though that the article did a decent job of drilling down. And my takeaway is that Walker’s ideas are on the murky side.
To ALL: Can anyone point me to a Cruz statement that he would favor deportation of all illegals? I may have missed it.
Flip-flop?
Nooooooooooooooooooooo!
The new PC term is ‘evolved’.
Keep up, People! The language gobbledygook is also ‘evolving’.
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