If you're reading this post, you probably already know generally who Marco Rubio is and his meteoric rise to a candidate for U.S. Senate. It appears that there's lots of chatter about Rubio's position on illegal immigration. Critics argue that Rubio is pro-amnesty and equivocal on illegal immigration at best. The following is an objective compilation of the facts followed by a non-objective opinion and analysis. 1. According to bordercontrolnow.com, an April 17, 2008 Miami Herald article reported that Speaker Rubio had conspired with other House representatives to stymie House bills 73, 159, 571, 577, and 821, all related to combating illegal immigration. The crux of the allegations is that Rubio had decided the bills would die even before the start of the 2008 legislative session. Moreover, Speaker Rubio failed to give his critical support of the bills so that they could make it out of the House and Senate committees and onto the floor for a vote.
2. In a thorough interview with the Conservative Republican Alliance sometime in March of 2009, Candidate Rubio explained the circumstances. Rubio begins by saying that he does not know why the bills never made it out of the committees. Then, Rubio asserts that because a legislative session consists of only 60 days, he mandated the committees to combine the 6 bills into 1. Unfortunately, according to Rubio, the committees failed to do this and, therefore, the bills never made it out of the committees onto the floor. Essentially, Rubio points to an insurmountable procedural hurdle.
Notwithstanding, however, in the same interview, Candidate Rubio explains, at some length, his current position on illegal immigration. Rubio claims that he is "strongly against amnesty" and illegal immigration, and that he fully supports border enforcement. To bolster his position, Rubio reasons that rewarding illegal immigrants by legalizing them demoralizes legal immigrants and law enforcement agencies. Rubio emphatically asserts that he will never support "blanket legalization amnesty."
Rubio concludes with a political caveat stating that illegal immigration is a federal issue and that Republicans need to be cautious in their "rhetoric and attitude" in discussing illegal immigration because "people have come to believe that not only are we against illegal immigration, but that we actually hate the immigrant." (Rubio presumably refers to the "the immigrant" in the abstract sense.)
3. On May 13, 2009, National Review's David Freddoso interviewed Marco Rubio. Among the issues discussed was Rubio's position on illegal immigration. Here's the relevant Q & A.
"FREDDOSO: You'd be succeeding Mel Martinez. How would you rate his performance as senator?
RUBIO: I would just say that Mel is a friend, someone I admire and respect . . . There's nothing about Mel that I am disappointed in today. I think he's done the best he can under the circumstances. On immigration, he voted for a package I probably would not have voted for, because I believe we've got to secure the borders in our existing system first before we can even begin to have a conversation about the other elements of immigration. But I have nothing but good things to say about Mel."
4. On May 16, 2009, Miami Herald blogger Beth Reinhard reported the following:
"In response to a question about immigration, Rubio dropped his previous pleas against harsh attacks on illegal workers. He said he would not have voted in favor of the legislation - backed by Crist and Sen. Mel Martinez - that would have allowed illegal workers to earn legal status, which he called 'blanket legalization'."
5. Last but not least, on June 2, 2009, Marco Rubio stated on The Ed Morrissey Show: "I am for securing our borders, and I am not in favor of amnesty."
It certainly appears that Marco Rubio has had some conflicting views on illegal immigration. I'm still not sure what actually happened to the Bills back in 2008, and I'm not willing to take what the Miami Herald reports as fact. The thought that Rubio and other House reps conspired to kill the bills seem a bit far-fetched. Regardless, the possible hurdles that face a bill in the state legislature are numerous. And yes, the 60-day time frame is one of them. During each session, legislatures work to make new laws, change old one, and essentially "clean house." It makes sense that Rubio wanted 6 bills combined into 1 for legislative efficiency. Moreover, making it out of the committees is only the first step of the long assembly process of an idea becoming law. In 2008, with the makeup of the state Senate, even if it did make it out of the committees, it is highly unlikely that it would've passed in the Senate. If the Senate wouldn't have killed it, Governor Crist certainly would have.
Since then, Marco Rubio has been pretty clear on where he stands on this critical issue, as is evidenced by his interview with CRA, Freddoso, and Ed Morrissey. Rubio is certainly no Tancredo (which I think may be more of a good thing than bad), but he appears to have the necessary will to fight for a robust federal policy against illegal immigration.
In all, illegal immigration is one issue, albeit a critical issue. Equally critical, however, are his positions on the role and size of government, the role of the judiciary, domestic economic policy, foreign policy, national security, and social policy, to name a few. When combined, Marco Rubio seems to be the candidate we need in that Senate seat in order to have a fighting chance against the Democrats going forward. But again, we have about 15 months to go until the Primary election That's a long time in politics. Regardless of what your position about Rubio is now, let's try not to strangle the baby in the crib with premature judgment calls.
Stay tuned for updates.
At your service,
American Confucius
9 comments:
I don't want waffles.
Illegals have helped kill Ca. budget. It is a burden that I am NOT willing to pay for.
I am sick of politicians lying to appease the crowd they are in front of.
Lisa: Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
No one likes waffles, not even liberals. But, up to now, I don't think Rubio has waffled on anything. He's certainly been less than unambiguous on the issue, but I can't point to anything that is clearly a switch in position.
Moreover, I don't necessarily hold a switch in position negatively against the politician. For instance, we can remember Romney's waffle on his positions on social issues. What was important to me was that he had ultimately embraced the correct position in the end and his other positives outweighed any suspicions I had of him.
Additionally, President Obama waffled on his decision to publish the interrogation pictures. I'm grateful that he did since it probably saved many U.S. soldiers. Liberals screeched and hollered. I don't necessarily think Romney or President Obama are unprincipled or lack integrity for their enlightenment.
Lastly, Rubio is very young. He is still developing politically. He's entering the majors. If you're a conservative and agree with him on other issues, I think it's fair to step back a little and give him some room to calibrate his positions. And I'm sure that from now until July 2010, we will be absolutely certain where he stands on all the issues that are important to us.
Again, thanks for visiting.
MARCO RUBIO IS A HARD CORE CONSERVATIVE! WHO HAPPENS TO BE AGAINST AMNESTY! THIS MAN IS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN BEAT LIBERAL CRIST AND HE HAS OUR VOTE! GO MARCO GO!
Rubio is a Maranno Jew.
There are more than enough Jews in DC, we do not need another.
At what point do we just admit that America is governed by Tel Aviv by way of AIPAC?
Why not elect a nice Polack, Kraut, Italian or Irishman to the Senate?
How in the world did this nation ever survive back before we had the Jews to tell us how to behave????
http://www.sephardim.com/namelist.shtml?mode=form&from=R&to=R&Search=Search
Oh Thou "Holier than Any", check the above link, left column, near the
bottom, for the name "Rubio";
Not that it is neccessary, in that whenever you find a name with a
precious metal or gemstone mentioned in it it is 95% certain a Jew is
wearing it.
Perhaps if you took some time off from your habitual sanctimony and
did a little research, you wouldn't need to have people like me
correcting your foolishness.
If you find my alleged "bigotry" so disgusting, go commiserate with a
couple of Palestinians, perhaps you will find a sympathetic ear there.
Yr. buddy,
Trey
ps: it is interesting that the biggest purveyors of outraged
righteousness and eternally hurt feelings on the web are all named
"Anonymous"
Is this a coincidence or are you guys all related?
Illegals are NOT immigrants they are criminals. I am looking to support a candidate who is 100% in favor of deportation of all illegals and full enforcement of immigration laws.
Where does Rubio stand on immigration??
Illegal immigrants AND the politicians that enable them are criminals.
A politician that make statements that in any way offers comfort of support for illegal aliens should be prosecuted and if found guilty should be sentenced to lifetime exile in some pleasant garden spot of a nation such as Zimbabwe or Liberia.
Rubio is my US senator, unfortunately. He is the silver tongued devil of the right, just as Obama is on the left. They both will say and do whatever it is that reaches their end goals. In other words, they are both lying SOB politicians! I've had it with lying LAWYER politicians. We have enough LAWYER politicians in DC who have f*cked up enough policies to last two generations.
Please know that I'm a Floridian and former Bay Stater (Mass.) where I voted for Romney and support him completely, as he was consistently conservative on the illegal immigration issue. Romney will turn this country around as I watched him turn around Mass. from the mess the Democrats created prior to him taking over. He is a turnaround specialist and obviously very good at it. However, he cannot choose Rubio as his VP running mate without looking like a hypocrite. Romney has been consistent on cracking down on illegals as he vetoed The Dream Act while governor of Mass. Romney also required all Mass. state troopers to check the immigration status of all persons arrested in Mass., not just pulled over. Romney would do best to pick someone consistent on the illegal immigration issue, like US Rep Lt. Col. Allen West (R-FL)! As an immigration activist (and not the "amnesty" kind), I KNOW Rubio and he and his RINO Miami Hispanic House buddies all conspired IN ADVANCE of the legislative session to "never allow the illegal immigration bills to see the light of day." They all yucked it up, laughed about it. As Speaker, Rubio could have pushed that through, but they have all year after year, allowed it to "linger" and then "die" in committees. These politicians must think we've all just fallen off the turnip truck! Not all of us. I'm spreading the word. Rubio is not to be trusted!!! ROMNEY/WEST 2012! Check out: www.flimen.org and www.numbersusa.com Until just under a year ago (mid 2011) Rubio had an F- "grade" by Numbersusa and then he and his former FL state rep buddy David Rivera, now freshman US Rep, and already charged with ethics violations, co-sponsored ONE illegal immigration bill and suddenly their "grades" both raised to a B-. The entire first year plus of Rubio being in the US Senate gave him an F- for "failure to act" and a year before the presidential campaign starts up, the GOP is working hard to scrub his TRUE RECORD clean. It won't work. Gov. Rick Perry's campaign tanked before it got off the ground and so will Rubio's aspirations to be VP. I will be sure to spread the word wherever necessary. I've had enough of RINO's! p.s. You won't find it on the internet any longer as it's been "scrubbed clean" but on the "We are Florida!" (PRO ILLEGALS/PRO AMNESTY) website, Rubio was one of the "persons of influence" who committed to OPPOSING E-VERIFY FOR ALL US EMPLOYERS! He did this just this past year for the FL legislative session knowing it was a contentious issue. He tries to play it both ways and that will no longer suffice.
One last thing to all "conservatives" -- turn off Fox News, and start doing your own research on the internet! Stop listening to Rush and Levin, whom I used to listen to and trust. However, their daily rantings and tearing down Romney day after day, until it became obvious he will be the GOP nominee, completely turned me off. Don't they or their producers know how to research the FACTS?!? Apparently not.
Just doing a '"search" with key words will bring up so many issues you are interested in. I did a search "Marco Rubio kills illegal immigration bills" and came across MANY links, including this blog. The Miami Herald, The Naples Daily News, The Orlando Sentinel, etc. -- all covered the "conspiring before the legislative session" to KILL all the illegal immigration bills, six of them, that were by the way, similar to AZ and OK's, some of the toughest in the country. FL State Rep. Gayle Harrell (R) has filed several, but they went nowhere with Rubio and his Cuban Miami RINO buddies at the helm. I'm not racist/ethnist, whatever, just observant of the FACTS. Rubio even looks smarmy if people would stop and truly watch him speak. He is not experienced enough to be on the VP ticket and he's a sellout, which most Americans don't want. The majority of Americans are opposed to any kind of amnesty of any kind. Enough is enough. I see the abuse of food stamps, WIC, welfare, etc. If the House would just pass HR2885, which would require ALL US employers to use the E-Verify system, which is currently voluntary, then we wouldn't have this problem. HR2885 would phase it in over two years, so nobody can claim, especially small businesses, that "it's a hardship." E-Verify is not used until AFTER employment, so nobody can scream discrimination either. I'm sick of seeing Americans and legal residents out of work, losing their homes, while these illegals are taking those jobs and benefits and milking our tax dollars through entitlement programs! Any vote for a DemocRAT is a vote for amnesty for illegals. The Democratic party has been hijacked by far leftist socialists who are hellbent on ramming amnesty through, as those are their future voters. Get people hooked on their "free stuff" and they'll vote for you for life. I don't think this is what our founding fathers envisioned when they fought for independence from England. And I believe they were being taxed a whopping 5%! Wouldn't that be nice?
Please vote REPUBLICAN and vote all those RINO's --
Republicans in Name Only! The midterm 2010 election was what ushered in the more conservative tea party candidates like US Rep. Allen West, and the Dem's are already hard at work trying to oust him from office. Please support his reelection bid!
Check out: www.thedustininmansociety.org Read how 16 year old Dustin Inman was killed instantly by a drunk driving ILLEGAL with a NC drivers license! He rammed into the car while stopped at a red light on father's day weekend about 10 years ago. He was the only child of Billy and Kathy Inman. Mrs. Inman was paralyzed and has had numerous surgeries since. Approximately 25 Americans a DAY are killed in the US at the hands of an illegal alien, either through murder, drunk driving, etc. Isn't one too many?!? DEPORT THEM ALL AND CUT THEM OFF -- PASS E-VERIFY NOW!!!
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