Jun 07 2007
Tancredo Declares War On What’s Left Of The Conservative Coalition
Tancredo, the ‘visionary’ of the immigration hypochondriacs, has declared open political war on those conservatives who support the comprehensive immigration bill now being debated in the US Senate. He will work to defeat politicians who do not bend to his ‘vision’:
Rep. Tom Tancredo ratcheted up his presidential bid and anti-illegal immigration crusade today with a hot-button Web ad declaring: “Tom Tancredo: Defeat amnesty politicians.”
…
Tancredo said he would spend more time traveling to Republican-held congressional districts around the country. There, he hopes to pressure GOP incumbents in their own backyards, threatening to work for their defeats unless they help block the immigration reform bill now pending in the Senate.
When I said the conservatives had declared an end to the governing coalition and would not broach anymore dissent (meaning they have declared all common ground closed) I was not exaggerating. Tancredo has declared his litmus test. No other issue matters. If you support doing anything that allows the 12-20 million workers to stay – including fines, back taxes and clean criminal records – then he will work to defeat you. All other issues are secondary. This is the mindless obsession that permeates the immigration hypochondriacs. They are losing the battle and have decided to take everyone down with them.
The GOP is a wounded, minority party right now. And Tancredo is throwing gas on the wounds and trying to strike a match. H/T Harold Hutchison
If the GOP cannot stand up to Tom Tancredo, then how can I trust them to stand up to Kim Jong-Il, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Ayman al-Zawahiri?
Harold,
Have you noticed how my comments section is now just an echo chamber from the handful die hard immigration opponents patting each other on the back? Everyone else has decided to stop trying to talk to them (it is pointless of course). And now they have the comments to themselves and think they are winning this thing. Out of the 1200+ registered readers on this site I would guess a majority read and barely comment (I know I did that when I used to read blogs, not write one).
I think the nation is ready for as many good ideas as we can get into the Bill. perfection is a ridiculous measuring stick for legislation. This ain’t no Mary Poppins (Practically Perfect In Every Way). But it has enough good new ideas with teeth it will make a big difference over the mess everyone on the fringes is trying to salvage.
And I think they have retreated from the far right – who is not listening anyway. And thus the echo chambers are now in full swing, filled with a small number of nodding heads.
Yea, so Tancredo gets to play “Ned Lamont” to the Republican office holders supporting the immigration bill. Watch the Independent ranks swell as the Republican incumbents get forced to into being Independents ala Lieberman. Worked real good in CT…. I guess the Republican party will at least get their holy purity back.
I knew this was going to happen. The Buchanites gave Clinton I, the Tancredidiots will give us Clinton II.
The far right republicans had years to do something about immgration, they chose to do nothing.
You mean there ARE Conservatives left that support this bill?
Yes Steve and in fact there are Conservatives that have done nothing on immigration since 1986 and continue to do nothing now. Enjoy your purity.
I’ve noticed too, AJ (right, as if I could overlook it, LOL) — the same five or six people on every one of these threads, saying over and over that this bill is the iceberg that will sink the Titanic if passed, and if the rest of us speak up to say we’re sick of the one-issue bunch who won’t stop hollering but don’t have any solutions except to holler “secure the border first,” we get yelled at and told to go read the bill. Terrye has been called a liar, BigLSUSportsFan has been called an exploiter of slave labor, I myself was told only last night that I had inferior reasoning skills and told to stop pretending I care about security (when I was talking about something else entirely), and of course AJ himself has gotten the lion’s share of the rudeness here. (Another blogger, Debbie Schlussel, made a guest appearance on one of these threads to tell AJ directly that he is not just wrong but flat-out batshit crazy.)
Memo to hardliners: The rest of us aren’t listening to you. Thank goodness there are other people to talk to about illegal immigration, or else I for one would just throw up my hands and walk away from the subject.
And I’ll say this again: You hardliners spent a whole year screaming about the Mexican “invasion,” and now you’re screaming that the first bill proposed to deal with the problem is an unmendable abomination and that leaving the “invasion” unchecked is preferable to letting the bill pass. The Right is jumping the shark over this. At the very least, their angry harangues are deeply off-putting, and angry harangues are starting to look like a habit of theirs, for they’ve been indulging this habit at least since the Harriet Miers nomination.
Message to soft liners:
It is undeniable that our immigration policy is a central facet of our anti-terrorism policy. Virtually all of the terrorists targeting this country are aliens who need to be in the United States to carry out their attacks.
Unfortunately, the authors of the Kennedy amnesty bill don’t see the connection between immigration laws and terrorism. As a result, the bill creates two wide-open doors for alien terrorists.
SECURE THE BORDER!
Libertarian Comments:
The Senate voted yesterday to grant amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegals who had been previously deported from this country, and then returned, and to those who were ordered to leave and remained. The more they flaunt our laws the more we try to put them on the “path to citizenship.”
And let’s not forget the crime. Last night I noticed no less than two news stories about illegal aliens getting drunk and killing someone in a drunk driving accident. One of these illegals had already been arrested and deported from this country twice. A whole lot of good that did.
Neal Boortz
You know, I can’t help but notice that despite the Mexican “invasion” and our wide-open borders (~1500-mile Mexican border, ~3000-mile Canadian border, plus coastlines), the only terrorist incidents we’ve had since 9/11 were perpetrated by the “Beltway Sniper.” That’s it. Despite what some seem to see as Bush’s total apathy about our borders and therefore about security, Bush has done such a wonderful job in frustrating terrorist attacks that people now act as if 9/11 was a fluke.
“Secure the border” my ass.
Out of the 1200+ registered readers on this site I would guess a majority read and barely comment
Count me in that group, AJ. I visit almost every day, sometimes several times a day. I haven’t commented much on this topic because I don’t have any really strong feelings for or against this bill, and I’m willing to see what the final bill looks like before praising or criticizing it. I would have to say that, based on past experience (I remember the 1965 and 1986 bills), I have little faith in the Federal Government to enforce much of anything of consequence in the final bill (assuming it passes House/Senate Conference and Bush signs it). So, at this point, arguing over whether various aspects of the bill are good or bad is pretty much an exercise in futility. The proof will be in the pudding, and only time will tell whether or not anything was really accomplished.
I’m fortunate that I live in a geographic area (rural Northeastern Indiana) where horror stories involving illegals are few and far between. I tend to see a lot more of the “good side” of immigration than the bad. There’s a new house going up next door to me. The crew that poured the foundation was almost all Hispanic, and the quality of their work and their work ethic was exceptional. I never saw any of them leaning on a shovel while the rest worked. A new Mexican restaurant opened last year in the nearest small town. The food is great, and each time we go there, the English of the family who runs it gets a little better. Harder workers I have never seen. I have no idea whether any of the crew on the house next door or the family who owns the restaurant are, or have ever been, illegal. I just see people who are working hard to achieve the American Dream.
Tancredo is an the crazy aunt in the attic you wish to hide. Even those that support his views on opposing this bill(NOT HIS RADICAL TANTONIST VIEWS) realize that. That is one reson why his electio bid is getting no ground.
Tancredo’s alliances with unsavory organizations should exposed
I also have been doing a lot of perusing of the various political blogs. Its sad to see the hypocrisy coming from the far right. They are the first to jump on the far left for radical behavior but find no fault in their own huffing and puffing.
Oh well, we’ll see if the immigration survives the Senate and then move over to the House.
Lets get an immigration bill done!!!!!!
Only 2.6 Trillion!!!!!!!!!!!
Amnesty Will Cost U.S. Taxpayers at Least $2.6 Trillion
Robert Rector
Heritage
6/6/07
EXCERPT:
The Senate is currently considering a massive immigration reform bill, the “Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007” (S. 1348). This bill would grant amnesty to nearly all illegal immigrants currently in the United States.
The fiscal consequences of this amnesty will vary depending on the time period analyzed. It is expected that many illegal immigrants who are currently working “off the books” and paying no direct taxes will begin to work “on the books” after receiving amnesty, and therefore tax payments will rise immediately. By contrast, under S. 1348, benefits to these immigrants from Social Security, Medicare, and most means-tested welfare programs (such as Food Stamps, public housing, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) will be delayed for many years. In consequence, then, the increase in taxes and fines paid by amnesty recipients may initially exceed slightly the increase in government benefits received. In the long run, however, the opposite will be true. In particular, the cost of retirement benefits for amnesty recipients is likely to be very large. Overall, the net cost to taxpayers of retirement benefits for amnesty recipients is likely to be at least $2.6 trillion.
Who Are the Illegal Immigrants?
According to the most widely accepted estimates, there were 11.5 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States in the spring of 2006.[1] Because the number of illegal immigrants has, on average, increased by roughly 500,000 each year, the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. in 2007 is probably around 12 million to 12.5 million; however, these estimates are uncertain, and the actual number of illegal immigrants may be higher.
As Chart 1 shows, some 49 percent of illegal immigrants are adult males, 35 percent are adult females, and 16 percent are foreign-born children. Living in illegal immigrant families are another 3.1 million U.S.-born children of illegal immigrant parents.[2] Because they were born inside the U.S., these children are considered citizens, not illegal immigrants.
Illegal immigrants now make up about 4 percent of the U.S. population, meaning that about one in twenty-five persons currently in the U.S. is here unlawfully. Illegal immigrants make up nearly one-third of the foreign-born population in the U.S.
As Chart 2 shows, more than half (56 percent) of illegal immigrants come from Mexico. Another 22 percent come from other Latin American countries, and 22 percent come from Asia, Europe, and Africa.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/wm1490.cfm
ConservaticeRed,
LOL! You bought that hook, line and sinker – didn’t you! Since the CBO claims the immigration bill will reduce immigration by 25% that means we will have the problem we have today with a smaller influx.
So why doesn’t it cost us $2.6T today? The numbers are so high as to be laughable. With a US economy in the $13T range, how is it less than 5% of the population can cost us 20% of our GDP? See why people should keep their math skills up? You do some simple laugh tests when someone presents you some numbers to see if they are even realistic. These numbers are a joke. But hey, if you buy these I have some beach front property in AZ you may want to invest in….
BTW. 12 million people paying $1,000 dollar fines is $12 Billion. If you add in an average number for back taxes and penalties that could be another $1,000 per person. Or $24 B. See, you can score this a lot of different ways. Now how much would it cost to round up and deport these 12 million? Hmmm. I don’t see that number anywhere in this report – do you?
The price of doing nothing will be higher – I guarantee it. Where are those numbers?
Our local school board has just informed us that we will need to spend $100 million on new schools to accomodate the expected increase the number of new students over the next 10 years. Our County Commission has told us that to raise that much money our property taxes will have to be doubled. We have a housing boom in this area but most of the new construction is in retirement communities where the residents do not have, nor are expected to produce, school age children. So where are all these new students coming from? Our area is overrun with dark skinned people speaking OTE (Other than English). WalMart is usually filled with them and each one has a hoard of stair stepped children in tow. Many of the retirees in this area, and most of the local citizens have fixed or limited incomes. Just how we are supposed to afford this increase in taxes is beyond me. But what makes me the maddest is this. Why should we be taxed into poverty to provide an education for Mexico’s people? Most of us do not require, not can we afford the services of these foreigners. I suspect that the local Catholic Church is responsible for luring them here and is helping them access public services for the poor. Ten years ago there was a call for volunteers who could speak Spanish to assist the 40,000 non English Speaking residents in filling out official forms to receive welfare benefits and services. Today there are more than 100,000 of them here and the number is growing every day. Don’t tell me that they are here to take jobs Americans won’t take. This is a depressed area where jobs are scarce. We have young men pilfering through garbage and picking up cans on the highway while these foreigners are doing the construction jobs they once did. Just how long do think it is going to be before these jobless and desperate young men decide to do what the government is failing to do, eliminate this unfair and illegal competition for the few jobs that are available? I predict that if the government doesn’t do something to right these wrongs, American citizens will. We have had race riots in this country before and we could have them again. Only this time it is going to be the unemployed and the under employed whites who do the rioting.
Threatening violence to get your way, Momdear1?
Of the 10,000 sexual child predators arrested in the U.S., 85% are NON-CITIZENS………..
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-redator07jun07,1,1377668.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed
Welcome to America. Here’s a kid. Have fun. We won’t punish you just provide counseling for the child when you are done with it.
sorry
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-predator07jun07,1,1377668.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed
Yes, Tommy T has been conducting strikes against fellow Pubbies for years now. Just ask Chris Cannon. And Tom’s hit woman is Bay Buchanan. TT enjoys bragging about the time ‘Karl Rove told me to never darken his doorway again…’ He said it in the debate Tues night and he told the story again on Cavuto yesterday. He spins it like the incident demonstrates the evil dictatorship of Bush-Rove beating up on the poor guy who is just trying to keep America safe, and afraid of the feisty Rep. who has the guts to speak truth to power.
What a laugh.
TT leaves out the part where he is also now reviled by most of his colleagues. They all have his number — even the ones who used to be on his Imm Reform Caucus. (My Rep. is one of them!) Tancredo is a laughing stock (but a dangerous one) among all but the hardliners who are happy to use the most despicable people and groups to help execute their plans.
The original ‘Rove tells TT to kiss off’ story was published in The New Republic, March 2005. It’s quite entertaining… TT was on his cell phone while driving and Rove became so animated that TT had to pull off the road.
Here’s another cute little sliver of TT’s big adventure:
[SNIP] Outrageousness seems to come effortlessly [to Tom Tancredo]. When The Denver Post profiled an illegal immigrant high school student with a 3.9 grade point average, Tancredo tried to have the boy deported. During his reelection race last fall, he aired campaign ads that included images of devastation from the Beslan school massacre in Russia and in which he declared, “Am I supposed to ignore the possibility of something like this happening here? Not on your life!” In one recent speech to activists in Washington, D.C., Tancredo averred that the Chinese government is “trying to export people” as a “way of extending their hegemony.”
and this:
[SNIP] During the 2004 election, a political action committee he founded, Team America (which is chaired by Pat Buchanan’s sister, Bay) funded primary opponents running against two of his pro-immigration GOP colleagues, Arizona’s Jim Kolbe and Utah’s Chris Cannon. Such fratricidal tactics are verboten within the GOP ranks, and bringing the subject up leads him to brag about another fierce dressing-down from another highly feared Republican. “Ooh, doggies!” he says. “[Tom] DeLay called me in and said, ‘You’re finished, kaput. You cannot think of making a career in this place!'” As with his Rove encounter, Tancredo seems to wear this as a badge of honor. “I’ll never get a committee chair, I’ll never be a subcommittee chairman, whip team member, cheering squad, I don’t know, whatever the hell. I will never be any of those things.”
Well ,the guy is a Tanton tool and he has no other issue. It’s not surprising he would seize the moment to capitalize on it, at all costs.
SallyVee, I am glad to see that you are more worried about Tom Tancrado’s alledged connections than you are about children being molested by illegal immigrants.