Thread: Rush Limbaught: Democrats Beating GOP on Immigration

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Democrats Beating GOP on Immigration

August 15, 2005


RUSH: I want to talk about something that I warned you people about many times, certainly in the past month and beyond, and the subject is immigration -- and what was my warning? My warning was to the Republicans: "If you don't get a handle on this, if you don't come up with some kind of policy fast, if you don't make it look like this is a big issue that you care about, the borders, national security, and a bunch of illegals in this country taking jobs, if you don't get on this, the Democrats are going to beat you to it, and this is going to have a profound effect if the Democrats are able to pull this off, as soon as the 2006 and certainly the 2008 elections," and, lo and behold, here I am. I'm minding my own business over the weekend. I'm getting up, and as always I'm reading the newspapers on the Internet. (story) "Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, New Mexico, declared a state of emergency along New Mexico's 180-mile border with Mexico on Friday pledging $1.75 million to beef up law enforcement and tackle increasing crime. 'Recent developments have convinced me,' he said, 'that this action is necessary, including violence directed at law enforcement, damage to property and livestock, increased evidence of drug smuggling, and an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants.' He toured the area near the busy border town of Columbus by helicopter and on the ground Friday before announcing the new initiatives. The Mexican government, which has long opposed any increased border fencing immediately criticized Richardson's actions which is I'm sure what the governor wanted. Southwestern New Mexico residents praised the moves and said even more are needed.

"'This is a great beginning,' said Luna County commissioner Rick Holdridge by phone. 'What the governor has done is right on the money.' He and others said that a broader solution is needed to address the problems caused by hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who cross the border into New Mexico every year." I knew this was going to happen -- well, I didn't know it. I had a concern that this was going to happen. You know, Mrs. Clinton has been edging this way on immigration. She's been talking tough about it, and I have long thought that this issue does provide an opportunity for the Democrats to create at least a Ross Perot-like character or candidacy that would siphon votes away from the Republicans. It's an interesting dichotomy that you have. The Democrats are not crazy about being anti-immigration, illegal immigration because they're eager for the illegals to become voters. The Republicans, you know, some of their business people like the cheap labor offered by illegal immigrants, and, of course, the political opportunity to recruit them as members of the Republican Party. This is not what the American people want. The American people are not interested in what the political party's interests are. The American people are concerned about the fate and the future of the country. And when they don't see either political party echoing those concerns, it's not good for either of them and now the Democrats appear with Governor Richardson to have taken the first move to placate the people.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: John Fund, of OpinionJournal.com, has written about the move by Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico. He's got a piece called "Run For The Border: Democrats Try to Outflank the GOP on Immigration." He writes, "President Bush is vulnerable on immigration. Earlier this summer House Republicans bluntly told him that his proposal to admit guest workers would be dead on arrival unless accompanied by more border enforcement. 'All my constituent town meetings want to talk about is immigration and why Washington is still spending so much money,' Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas told me. Indeed, 17 of the 37 GOP House and Senate members who responded to a National Journal survey last month identified immigration as the issue 'most on the minds' of their constituents," and it doesn't surprise me. I've been telling you people this. You can't go to California without this being the #1 topic that comes up, particularly southern California. It isn't going to matter. You just can't do it. It's all anybody is concerned about. "One Republican identified immigration as the issue on which 'the mismatch between the federal government's inaction and the realities at home is the greatest.' The same survey identified why Democrats think they have some running room with their base on immigration. Only two of the 35 Democratic members of Congress who were surveyed mentioned immigration as being the top concern among their voters." Now, that is irrelevant to me. I don't care where the Democrats are on this. The Democrats are off the map anyway. The Democrats, all they care about is the war. We know that the internal polling that Stan Greenberg has done for the Democrats has shown them that even... What did the survey say?

It said that the Democrats are so distrusted when it comes to morality and values issues, Democrats are so distrusted that it wouldn't matter if the economy went into depression. It wouldn't matter, because the Democrats do not appeal to people on the area of morality and ethics and this sort of thing. So it doesn't surprise me they're not concerned about immigration. Sheila Jackson Lee gave it up for the Democrats when she said that these people want to come vote legally. It's clear what these people are concerned with. It's clear what the Democrats are concerned with when trying to legalize the vote for felons. They're trying to broaden their base and they can't broaden their base any more than they have with Americans because there's nothing they're doing that's appealing to people beyond the nuts that they already have. But if you can get these illegals in here and hornswoggle them and then give the felons a right to vote, then, bammo! Well, then you're broadening your base, and so it doesn't surprise me that there's no concern here. You might say, "Well, why is Governor Richardson doing what he's doing?" The idea is not to build up the Democrats; the idea is to fracture the Republicans here, folks. The idea is to split the Republicans. The idea is to get some Republicans who were fed up about a number of things and then the immigration at the top of the list say, "Okay, I've had it. This party is not responding to my needs, this party is not listening to me, this party is not doing what I want." Look at all the spending that's going on. Look at that highway bill so full of pork that when it was signed it smelled like bacon. You've got Linc Chafee driving around Rhode Island here in his car describing for everybody all the pork that he brought home, these guys are so proud of the highway bill and it's just nothing but a massive spending hill.

The highway bill has become the new omnibus spending bill where all the pork is just dovetailed and tucked right into it and don't think people don't notice this. It's got them fit to be tied. This is supposed to be a conservative Republican administration with fiscal restraint and responsibility. And they do some things right, like the tax cuts and all this, but then here comes this massive bill, and don't say, "Well, Rush, the president signed it." Well, he did, but you had a whole bunch of Republicans vote for it as well, because it's just ladled with pork. So you take some issues that some of the base on the conservative side, not all that comfortable with. Then you throw the Democrats trying to siphon off some of those people with immigration, that's all it will take, regardless what the Democratic National Committee does about immigration. Now, Fund, in his piece -- and it's too long for me to read to you the entire thing. You ought to read it, though, because his basic premise is that the Democrats' move on this is totally phony, that Hillary is phony about it, because she got 85% of the Hispanic vote. She's really not going to do anything to anger them. She's not going to come out against illegal immigration. She's going to say just enough to make it look like she's shifting her position to make herself attractive to some recalcitrant Republicans. He says the same thing about Richardson. Here's what Fund writes about Hillary: "'Hillary won 85% of the Hispanic vote in New York for Senate in 2000,' says her former adviser turned adversary Dick Morris. 'She thinks she can outbid the Republicans for Hispanic votes in 2008 while bringing Reagan Democrats home with vague rhetoric about getting tough and employer sanctions she has no intention of implementing.'"


So, you know, the Democrats are making a move but it's a typical Democrat move. They don't mean it. It's all for show. It's "How can we fool 'em today?" and the worry is that it might siphon enough people off because they'll go with anybody who they hear saying what they want said about this, somebody they can agree with. Now, Fund says that, "In New Mexico, Gov. Richardson has done much the same thing. He now blasts the federal government for not showing 'the commitment or the leadership to deal with border issues.' He is demanding that officials on the Mexican side bulldoze an abandoned town on the border that serves 'as a staging area for illegal drugs and illegal aliens.' But Mr. Richardson sang a different tune in late 2003, when he showed up at a rally for the 'Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride' and told them, '¡Viva la raza! . . . Thank you for coming to Santa Fe. Know that New Mexico is your home. We will protect you. You have rights here.' Jaime Becerril, one of the organizers of the freedom ride, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the participants favored a new amnesty program. He called immigration 'a byproduct of colonialism and capitalism.' Further evidence of the governor's zigzag policy on immigration came in April when he vetoed a 'No Fear' bill, which would have prohibited state and local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal authorities to detect or apprehend people based solely on immigration status. But then he quietly issued an executive order that had much the same effect. Earlier this year, he also signed legislation giving some illegal aliens the right to in-state tuition rates at public universities. 'The governor is all puff and no cigar,' says David Pfeffer, a Santa Fe city councilman who abandoned the Democratic Party this past March when he concluded its members 'were closer to Michael Moore than to me.' He expects the governor 'to run for national office while saying one thing while he does something else back home.'"

So the point here is that it's a move to the left simply for show. But why? It's because they think it will work. They know how upset, they can read these polls, and they know. They don't have to read polls. All you've got to do is go to one of these states and talk to people. They know how upset so many of us are about this lax border policy we have and no apparent effort to do anything about it. I warned you people this was going to happen. In fact, I even got some e-mails from people, "This is your fault that Richardson did this! You gave them the idea, Rush." Come on, folks, wake up. Nobody had to give them this idea. This is the elephant in the room sitting out there that nobody wants to talk about -- and these guys are political strategists first. These people are political connivers. These are the people that, you know, they can't even be honest about what they really believe or they would be sunk. So they're out there, they're having meetings behind closed doors, "What do we believe? Three hours and we didn't do much but get a good start but we'll be back in touch with you." Three hours to give you. That's not what they're doing. Three hours in a closed door meeting to figure out how to make people think they're for things they're not and how to make people think they're against things they're not. And this is probably one of the by-products of some of those meetings. Yeah, let's get a border state Democrat governor to come out against. That will wake people up, and it might. You never know. It's clear the mainstream press -- I don't know where they're going to do on this. I can't imagine the mainstream press running stories on how Hillary and Governor Richardson are saying one thing and doing another within the span of the last two years, and I'm sure they're counting on that, but it's just a red flag up there, folks. It's a red flag that's waving in the wind.

Can someone distill this down to a coherent paragraph or so?

Is he trying to say that the GOP better get on the border issue because the DNC is, except they don't really mean it?

My warning was to the Republicans: "If you don't get a handle on this, if you don't come up with some kind of policy fast, if you don't make it look like this is a big issue that you care about, the borders, national security, and a bunch of illegals in this country taking jobs, if you don't get on this, the Democrats are going to beat you to it, and this is going to have a profound effect if the Democrats are able to pull this off, as soon as the 2006 and certainly the 2008 elections,"

This is all Rush wants to do "make it look like this is something the Republicans care about."

Sorry Rush, you have not devoted enough time to this issue yourself, sure you throw it out every so often just to say you have mentioned it. But you have never pounded the issue like you should have if you really cared.

We will not be fooled by Johnny come lately's either Republican or Democrat.

We have been watching and we know who is with us and who is against us, and we will remember in November.

You can bet on it.

Hush Bimbo is such a Republican party/Bush bootlicking hack. Oh no Hush don't warn the Republicans about the immigration issue because your a concerned citizen who worries about the sovereignty and security of your nation, oh no. Only warn the Republicans about the immigration issue because god-forbid they might lose a few seats and hence lose their majority. Hush Bimbo is a fraud. I lost all respect for him a long, long time ago. Same thing with O reilly too. Hannity I can cut alittle bit of slack because at least he is calling the Republicans to task more and more.

Savage, John and Ken, Terry Anderson, George Putnam and the like are the real deals. They don't care about political party nonsense, they want what's best for their country and while you may not agree with them 100 percent, you know they care about America.

No screw Hush Bimbo. If John Kerry were presidunce instead of Bush and he was advocating amnesty for illegals, CAFTA, No Child Left Behind and the like, we know Hush would be railing like their is no tomorrow, but when Bush wants all that you only here token talk from Hush about all of it. Hush only cares about two things:

Money and Republican party power

Is he trying to say that the GOP better get on the border issue because the DNC is, except they don't really mean it?

That is pretty much it.
Neither side really WANTS to do anything until they are FORCED into it--and thay are getting forced into it.

Originally Posted by Darlene

My warning was to the Republicans: "If you don't get a handle on this, if you don't come up with some kind of policy fast, if you don't make it look like this is a big issue that you care about, the borders, national security, and a bunch of illegals in this country taking jobs, if you don't get on this, the Democrats are going to beat you to it, and this is going to have a profound effect if the Democrats are able to pull this off, as soon as the 2006 and certainly the 2008 elections,"

This is all Rush wants to do "make it look like this is something the Republicans care about."

Sorry Rush, you have not devoted enough time to this issue yourself, sure you throw it out every so often just to say you have mentioned it. But you have never pounded the issue like you should have if you really cared.

We will not be fooled by Johnny come lately's either Republican or Democrat.

We have been watching and we know who is with us and who is against us, and we will remember in November.

You can bet on it.

Amen.

Hush Bimbo is a globalist (MOD EDIT: WATCH THAT LANGUAGE!) in sheeps clothing. He is a total fraud through and through. He is the Republican version of Al Franken. If I wanted to hear his kind of nonsense I would listen to stump speeches from Ken Mehlman or however you spell his name.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, or all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. Hush has sold his soul to globalism a long time ago. He will soon become as irrelevant as black and white TV. Go take a couple of pain killers Hush and talk to someone who cares.

Darlene,

You and I think alike. I caught the very same comment. We don't need politicians to try and trick people and make it look like they are tough on illegal immigration, we need them to BE tough on illegal immigration!

W

I'm hearing all the conservative talk radio hosts trying to tell the Republicans that they have blown it because of the border situation and illegal immigration.

All I can say is I thank God each time they at least go into it. I'm not trying to make excuses for them, as they could be doing much more. But thank God when they do go into it.

Yesterday, Bill O'Reilly out and out told Bush he was "copious" for the borders. (his word).

But, boy do we need their help. Even though we need for them to do more, we need to still encourage them as much as possible. That's just how I feel, because the radio reaches so many people.

I'm surprised GWB hasn't intimidated them into stopping. Could that happen? Do you think? If so, how could he do that?

Darlene,

My warning was to the Republicans: "If you don't get a handle on this, if you don't come up with some kind of policy fast, if you don't make it look like this is a big issue that you care about

The very first time he brought this topic up, it was for the same reason.

Not that illegal immigration is hurting the nation, but that it might cost the Republicans votes if they didn't appear to care about it.

He's still saying the same thing.

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Darlene,

You and I think alike. I caught the very same comment. We don't need politicians to try and trick people and make it look like they are tough on illegal immigration, we need them to BE tough on illegal immigration!

W

I will have to say a AMEN on this