I think this picture says it all when it comes to Sen. Marco Rubio:
Being Chuckie Schumer’s water boy on this issue has all but guaranteed that he will not be a viable candidate for President. Worse, he tells English audiences one thing and Spanish another. Take a look:
As with the radio ads you hear all day long, this is all about tough border security, right? But on a recent Univision appearance, Rubio said this:
In a Spanish-language interview Sunday with the network Univision, Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform group, made his strongest statement yet that legalization of the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants must happen before any new border security or internal enforcement measures are in place, and will in no way be conditional on any security requirements.
“Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.”
Unbelievable. The idea that we can suddenly legalize every single person in this country in one fell swoop and not expect millions more to pour across the border is ludicrous and defies not only common sense but history – as that graphic above states, remember 1986?
And don’t forget the MarcoPhone: Move Over “Obama Phone,” Say ‘Hola!’ to the Marco Rubio Immigration Phone, AKA MarcoPhone.
And last but not least: in the ad above, Rubio says that no welfare benefits will go to newly legalized immigrants – that is just not true. As the Washington Examiner reports:
Senate panel OKs tax-welfare benefits for newly legal immigrants
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday to allow illegal immigrants who get legal status to begin collecting tax-welfare payments, as the panel spent a fourth day working through amendments to the massive immigration bill and party-line splits began to emerge.
Rather than trying to “improve” this disaster, Texas Sen. John Cornyn should be working to kill it.
David, you didn’t listen to the Univision interview yourself, did you?!!! If the “Washington Examiner” reported it on the Internet, then it must be true, right?!!!!
Horrible reporting by the WE. MSNBC couldn’t have twisted it any worse. — Get a Spanish speaker to watch the interview with you! It was a 8:49 minute segment with 8:08 minutes interviewing Sen. Rubio. Around 8:00 minutes was spent with him saying again and again and again that we need to secure the border and that we need to have a comprehensive reform, that it must be a complete package and not just piecemeal. — The text Univision put at the bottom of the video says Rubio’s plan requires MORE security on the border. At the 2:37 mark, the interviewer stresses in her question that “…your plan requires MORE security on the border…”. He argues that there are places which need much more security such as Tucson, Arizona.
At around the 3:40 mark, he does use the phrasing highlighted by the WE, by the 3:50 mark he his continuing to explain that the legalization and the border security have to come at the same time! He continually talks throughout the interview about applying resources to border security as part of a comprehensive reform package.
The Washington Examiner piece, and this BJP post, COMPLETELY MISREPRESENT the interview of Sen. Rubio. Both should be withdrawn immediately and an apology issued to Sen. Rubio. -LV
Good to read of Leo wading in on the Rubio controversy. As the only supposedly conservative Hispanic of the eight Senators writing the immigration bill, we really need a clarification of Rubio’s position before the Senate votes on the immigration bill. His position could have a significant impact on how Republican Senators vote and the outcome of the Senate vote could significantly influence the vote in the House.
Some group is really pouring money into misleading ads seeking support for an immigration plan backed by Rubio. The first ad used excerpts of Rubio speeches; the current ad only touts his backing. The ads emphasize a litany of requirements an applying immigrant must perform before obtaining legal status. Unfortunately, we know from the 1986 experience that the government cannot be trusted to enforce the requirements once the plan is passed. In fact, we should expect the current administration to waive or excuse the requirements for applying immigrants.
Regardless of your position, pro or con, on the current immigration reform proposals, it’s for certain that Rubio has put himself in a position where his future as a Republican will be made or broken by how the current immigration issue plays out. Rubio owes us answers; the sooner the better.
Leo,
As a matter of fact, I do trust Byron York, as do most people. He’s been a very respected journalist for a long time and went to the Examiner to give them credibility as a start-up. If you don’t believe York, do you trust Human Events? http://bit.ly/11fkFhX
So you are saying that we should ignore the plain words that Rubio said? Because they are in fact part of the bill. He downplays that part of the bill every single day but the fact is that NO BORDER SECURITY is required before legalizing those people that are in this country illegally.
No, no apology forthcoming or necessary. Cheers.
The strongest guarentee of actual border enforcement was shot down this week. The precondition for most conservatives to amnesty provisions has been the border is secured first. The Grassley amendment would have done this. Without this extremely reasonable provision conservatives should reject this bill. The Democrats aren’t showing good faith in he process until they do.
After hearing Senator Rubio’s post controversy explanation of his immigration reform position on the Sean Hannity radio show this week, I have come to the regretful conclusion that Rubio is either extremely naive, lying to us, or stupid. Any of the three should cause conservatives not only to write him off but to seek to discredit him. My opinion is the second applies, Rubio is lying to us to curry favor with the pro amnesty big business crowd, who he believes is still the dominate power in the Republican Party and can best further his political aspirations. Can you say money. As such, he has taken on the role of the judas goat to lead believing conservatives to the slaughter. The bill must be rejected in the House, not modified and sent to the Conference Committee.