Thread: Tancredo speaks out against illegal immigration

Tancredo speaks out against illegal immigration

May 13, 2007

DAVENPORT, Iowa - U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said during a presidential campaign stop Sunday that he isn't against immigration.

However, Tancredo is against illegal immigration _ and its cost to taxpayers.

"Amnesty is coming down the pike," Tancredo said a group of about 20 people at a home in Davenport. "But its a slap in the face to all the people who did it the right way, and to those who are patiently waiting in line to legally get in."

Tancredo, who announced that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination on a Des Moines-area radio show in April, has gained prominence in recent years for his staunch stance against illegal immigration. He has said that immigration will be the main focus of his campaign.

Tancredo said Sunday that he does not apologize for his conservatism, nor for his belief that Americans are not just members of a region, but citizens of a country. He said that the nation's borders are there for to protect Americans, adding that illegal immigration raises health care costs.

Tancredo, a former teacher, also spoke out against President Bushs No Child Left Behind initiative.

"The goals are great," Tancredo said. "But it is not the federal government's role to tell the states what to do. When I say there should be local control of schools, I mean you, as a parent, have control."

Tancredo added that the Department of Education was created by President Carter's administration to appease the National Education Association.

"There is no constitutional role of the federal government to have the Department of Education," Tancredo said. "I dont believe we should have the U.S. Department of Education."

Tancredo said his basic policy about government mirrors that of Thomas Jefferson.

"The government that governs best is that which governs least," he said. "Our government is far too large."

He added that large government just means fewer freedoms and fewer choice. Tancredo said that America has become a welfare state, and national health care would be an even bigger disaster.

"Helping people join health care associations, or starting health saving plans is a great idea," Tancredo said. "I support that, as well as allowing them to buy health insurance from wherever they want. That expands individual freedom and opportunities."

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007 ... 3rds80.txt

I'll throw this article in too since it's in the news today!

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Tancredo: repeal federal gas tax
Sunday, May 13, 2007, 4:58 PM
By O.Kay Henderson
Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo says it's time to repeal the federal gas tax.

Tancredo says the tax was established decades ago to build the federal highway system and that job is now done. Tancredo believes states, then, could keep levying that per-gallon tax and would end up spending the money better than the feds do.

"You also accomplish the task of telling the federal government to go fly a kite when they start demanding things like changing (state) laws with regard to highways: seat belts, speed limits, all the rest of that stuff," Tancredo says.

One of those federal pressure points over the years has been about state laws which require motorcyclists to wear a helmet. Tancredo, a congressman from Colorado, led the push 30 years ago to repeal Colorado's manditory helmet law. "I was in the state legislature -- I'd just gotten elected in '76 -- and I was the sponsor of that bill," Tancredo says.

Tancredo says doing away with the federal gas tax will also do away with the kind of federal bribery over highway rules. "The thing that really annoys me is that the federal government will now come in and say if you want to get money...for highways from the federal government, you're have to do X, Y and Z and possibly have a helmet law," Tancredo says.

Tancredo rode a Harley "Fat Boy" motorcycle -- without a helmet -- from the Black Hawk County Courthouse to a Harley Davidson Dealership in Waterloo on Saturday as part of a rally to bring attention to motorcyle safety.

Iowa is one of only four states which have no requirements regarding helmets for motorcyclists. The other three are Tancredo's home state of Colorado, Illinois and New Hampshire -- the state which hosts the first primary contest in the presidential campaign.

http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm ... 4ED664A7C5