Posted on 03/27/2015 7:15:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I’m tempted to accuse Team Walker of feeding this bit of oppo to MSNBC to take some heat off of their own rolling clusterfark on immigration. But I’m sure author Benjy Sarlin, a smart guy who follows this issue for the network, hit on it himself. (Wouldn’t Walker’s team have leaked it to Fox to maximize Cruz’s embarrassment among conservatives?) To a lefty, the tangle of GOP primary politics on amnesty must be irresistible: Why is Scott Walker taking a beating on the right for supporting legalization when Ted Cruz, Mr. Conservative, also supported legalization in the form of work permits as recently as 2013? How can Ted Cruz be the “anti-amnesty” candidate in the field when his position — at least as of two years ago — is basically indistinguishable from Walker’s and (gasp) Jeb Bush’s?
Sarlin went to Team Cruz with a question. Does he still support work permits for illegals or, like Walker, has he shifted further to the right just in time for the GOP primaries? Answer: Yep, he’s still on the legalization express.
Asked by msnbc about where Cruz stands now on legalization, campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said that the senator has been “consistent” and confirmed that the views he expressed in the Tribune had not changed. While Frazier said Cruz believes a path to citizenship “flies in the face of the rule of law,” she declined to apply the same label when asked about legal status in the right circumstances.
“I think his main priority is dealing with the border security component and making sure that we know who is coming into the country and making sure that we have control over who is coming into the country and then we can deal with what to do with the people who are already here,” she said…
[Mark] Krikorian told msnbc Cruz’s position easily fits the bill [of amnesty].
“It’s the same thing: ‘I’m against amnesty, but amnesty doesn’t include giving people work permits,’” Krikorian said. “Really? The Obama didn’t give amnesty to all those people.”
That last bit is a fun new addition to the many Cruz/Obama comparisons floating around political media since Cruz’s campaign launch this week. It’s an amazing testament, though, to how deeply GOP pols fear the growing Latino demographic that even Ted Cruz — Ted Cruz — refuses to go whole hog in pandering to righties on this while otherwise running for president as the most complete, principled conservative since Ronald Reagan. Somehow, of the roughly 1,400 Republican candidates set to jump into the race this year, not a single one (that I know of) takes the Romney line that self-deportation is the solution to illegal immigration. The next time you hear a Democrat grumble that the party hasn’t “evolved” at all since its loss in 2012, remind them that work permits for illegals is now the baseline even for alleged “fire-breathers” like Ted Cruz.
All of this makes me wonder, in fact, whether Cruz is really eyeing the presidential nomination or the VP slot. If he’s thinking about the former, he might as well embrace self-deportation and be the total conservative dream figure that tea partiers want him to be. Banging the drum on that would distinguish him sharply from every other man in the field in the eyes of border hawks, of which there are many in the primary electorate. Sure, it would hurt him in the general election, but as a relative longshot for the nomination, he can’t worry about that now. Might as well go full metal conservative, try to win the primaries, and then let the chips fall where they may against Hillary. The fact that he resists dogmatic conservatism on this point (and really only this point) means he’s willing to trade a notable bit of extra right-wing cred for a little cred with moderates, something that doesn’t obviously benefit him in the primaries — as a presidential candidate. As a vice-presidential candidate, though, it benefits him a lot. Jeb Bush might balk at putting Cruz on the ticket if he’s running around talking up self-deportation; having him on record as pro-legalization, though, makes him more salable to the Latino voters that Jeb will be trying to impress. And of course righties will forgive Cruz his heresy on this point since he has fewer heresies than anyone else running. Is any tea partier going to be less excited about the thought of Ted Cruz being one heartbeat away just because he supports work permits? C’mon.
Feel free to elect Democrats to your hearts content. The truth is the truth. The train left the station twenty years ago. That part of the immigration fight is over.
There’s still a big fight and lots of important issues for our nation, but you can take your ball and go home if you want.
For me, I’d rather a Cruz or Walker on amnesty than any Democrat. I think we’ll get a better deal that way, but a deal is already worked out.
I have said the same, that it is hard to tell who is running in order to round out a ticket as VP, and who will settle for nothing but the main prize.
The question is who would agree to run to share a ticket with say, Jeb Bush? He is so liberal that Cruz could be a pick for him to round out his ticket.
And, would Jeb Bush be willing to serve anyone as VP, not that anyone would want anything from him but his already 100 million dollar war chest?
We once again have so many running that the best funded establishment pick can run up the middle for the nomination.
It has ALWAYS worked before. So, my question is what really has changed?
I do not believe anyone is into the deporting business. There is no reason to believe it.
No one says he will “deport” all illegals.
That word is absent entirely, except occasionally used in reference to only illegals with criminal records.
The visual is trains, planes and automobiles to ship them home. That visual has been out of the question. Never heard it discussed.
Attrition maybe, by going after the Chamber of Commerce, but no planes, trains and automobiles.
There is no reason to think this will ever happen. We will be lucky if the border is even locked down before years pass.
Without a sovereign United States, what difference does it make? Just commies on the left and commies on the right. People just play acting/imagining that they really have a choice on every single issue you can think up.
That ‘you’ll elect a democrat’ garbage was worn out to me long ago. They’re all democrats. Some have (d)s next to their name and others have (r)s. There is only one way to save this nation now. See my tagline.
Let’s make all welfare recipients illegal.
Maybe then, they too will start to work and make enough money to not only support themselves but send money to family back home in Mexico/Africa/wherever.
Think about it.
We have millions of lazy Obama voters collecting welfare. They were born here, speak the language and know the culture.
On the other hand, we have some 30 million illegals who crossed a perilous river, trekked across a scorched desert and raced across a dangerous highway to find opportunity in a land where they do not speak the language and the citizens do not necessarily like them; YET, they manage to not only support themselves through hard work but often send money home to family south of the border.
What is the excuse of our welfare Obama voters?
Let’s make all welfare recipients illegal.
Maybe then, they too will start to work and make enough money to not only support themselves but send money to family back home in Mexico/Africa/wherever.
Think about it.
We have millions of lazy Obama voters collecting welfare. They were born here, speak the language and know the culture.
On the other hand, we have some 30 million illegals who crossed a perilous river, trekked across a scorched desert and raced across a dangerous highway to find opportunity in a land where they do not speak the language and the citizens do not necessarily like them; YET, they manage to not only support themselves through hard work but often send money home to family south of the border.
What is the excuse of our welfare Obama voters?
My post was regarding illegal immigrants. You (im guessing) have paid into the system your whole life. It’s a differrent situation at this point.
I knew it...I just knew it! I didn’t know how long it would take, but I just knew that those professing their undying love for Cruz a week ago would turn on him if he was 100% perfect in every way. I’ve been proven right.
I’m absolutely convinced No candidate will ever meet the perfection criteria that those here on FR demand. I’m also a bit confused as to why those perfect FReepers who will not tolerate anything less than perfection don’t run for office themselves? Come on guys...show Cruz, Walker and the rest how it’s done. Show us what perfection is all about...run for POTUS!
To those even thinking of staying home in 2016, I have just a few words for you: GO F#*K yourselves! This limp wristed, childish, self-serving mindset gave Obama a second term to complete the destruction we’re now witnessing. Now you idiots want to give another Democrat (Communist) a chance at running the nation for another four years! You people are the antithesis of a Patriot!
I was referring to your post #11. If illegal aliens are allowed to stay and work under your stipulations, can they receive medicare at 65?
In most cases any money paid in will be gone in no time.
I ask mostly rhetorically. The whole matter and candidates responses to the issue makes my head spin.
I hope the candidates are prepared in debates for the many questions that will certainly come their way.
If not handled with the right tact, they could be made to look all over the place on this issue.
GREAT WEBSITE!
Lists all of TED CRUZ’s positions on the issues.
#4. No anchor babies. No DREAMERS.
Cruz supports temporary work permits. I believe he said 5 years but I may be wrong on that.
He has stated that he does not believe in rewarding someone who broke the law to get into this country with citizenship.
He proposed amendments to an immigration bill in 2013 that would have prohibited a pathway to citizenship for illegals.
“Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a newly elected Republican with a penchant for making headlines, filed an amendment that would bar undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States from ever earning citizenship.”
The work permits would give them temporary legal status in that they would be here legally but it would not give them citizenship.
Securing the
border and stopping illegal amnesty is part of Cruz’s 10 pt. plan.
If you had read this article and the well reasoned comments to it, you would realize that Cruz has never advocated the legalization, or regularization of status, of anyone who is residing in the United States illegally.
You have been deceived by those who seek to dispirit and dishearten conservatives by misattribution.
Thanks!
But what about the illegals here now? Can you give a definitive stance on that from Cruz?
A previous post talked about 5 year work permits. Millions have been her more than 5 years.
I’m not sure there is a clear answer to this. And if there is, another problem is that clearly the message has not gotten out.
I would hope that Cruz would be having inner circle actual mini debates to come up with good answers to these questions that make sense to John Q. Public before the real debates.
RE: 29
I honestly don’t know. I don’t know if that is the hill to die on so to speak.
They are the legal ones. Once you make them legal, they jump into the hammock.
I think you should relax. I count all of 2 responses on this this thread that you are using to assess all of Free Republic.
Cruz's answer, through his spokeswoman yesterday, is that he won't speculate on that until the border, and "interior enforcement systems" are secured. Any speculation on that, in his spokeswoman's view, "could encourage more illegal immigration".
To my mind, that's "self deport" without saying so. "Interior enforcement systems" likely include tough employer sanctions and limited access to public assistance in all forms.
Since this is almost a third rail issue, we may just need to trust Cruz. For starters, however, he is already ahead of all the competition. That includes Walker who acknowledged in his television interview that he supported a pathway to citizenship and then recently acknowledged that this is what he said and meant before reversing his position.
My view is that this is smart politics. Given Cruz's thoroughness, I presume that Cruz's brain trust has already beaten this to death and concluded on a strategy.
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