Numbers USA Says Thompson’s Promises Excellent.. His record: Not So Much. According to the latest reports from NumbersUSA, Fred Thompson’s promises when it comes to his plans for illegal immigration range from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ (according to their rating system).

However, when it comes to his past actions in senate, NumbersUSA only awards him a rating of ‘fair’, and he receives a ‘career grade’ of C. To put that in perspective, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter both have A+’s and John McCain has a D.

What kinds of votes gave Fred Thompson such a rating?

Votes like these:

1996: Voted in committee in favor of the Hatch Amendment to S. 1664 to reduce fines against employers who hire illegal aliens
Former Sen. Thompson voted as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of the Hatch Amendment to S. 1664. The Hatch Amendment stripped the provision from S. 1664 that increased fines against businesses that hire illegal aliens, thus making it less attractive for businesses to hire illegal aliens. The Hatch Amendment passed by a vote of 9-8.

2000: Voted for S.2045, a foreign worker bill with no worker protections. Sen. Thompson voted for the Abraham foreign worker bill to nearly triple the number of foreign high-tech workers. Despite a GAO report finding no evidence of a worker shortage and suggesting fraud in the H-1B program, Rep. Thompson voted for this bill that included no worker protections or anti-fraud measures.

1998: Voted against offering jobs to Americans first. Rep. Thompson voted against the Kennedy amendment(A-2417) to S.1723 that would have required U.S. firms applying for H-1B visas to check a box on a form attesting that they had first sought an American worker for the job. The amendment failed 39-59.

1998: S.1723, Voted to allow American workers to be fired and repalced with a foreign worker. Rep. Thompson voted against the Kennedy Amendment (A-241 to S.1723 that would have protected American workers from being fired and replaced by a foreign worker (H-1B visa holder). The amendment was defeated 38-60.

(All of this information is available at http://www.betterimmigration.com/candid ... _gop1.html )

I have a confession to make. This may shock you, but I am a biased writer. In actuality, I am supporting Duncan Hunter for President… But in all fairness, let me point out that although Fred Thompson has some points of his immigration record that could be considered abysmal, he did make some improvements in the future. By 2000, his record on immigration was much better. At this point in history, people began to realize that illegal immigration was a big problem. Yet this bothers me, and confirms my choice not to support Fred.

In 1983, Ronald Reagan attempted to pass a form of amnesty for illegal immigrants. Duncan Hunter opposed him (although he had regularly supported Ronald Reagan and his endeavors in the past), claiming that it would cause a rush to our borders. Later, Reagan admitted that Duncan Hunter was right and the amnesty was a bad idea. Duncan Hunter has shown that he has foresight. Fred Thompson may end up making good decisions from time to time, but often too little too late. Although we need people like Fred Thompson in government, we need leaders with foresight like Duncan Hunter.

[b]Another example is with China. Duncan Hunter regularly spoke out against increased free trade with China, predicting that we would lose jobs, manufacturers, and that the only thing we would gain is a skyrocketing trade deficit. He was right. Our trade deficit is well into the billions, we have very few manufacturers in the United States, and many parts of the midwest are in an economic crisis as a result (and with our deficit, the rest of the country will be right behind them). On the other hand, Fred Thompson supported Most Favored Nation trade status with China, even AFTER researching himself China’s cheating trade practices. To this day, when Duncan Hunter confronted Fred Thompson with the issue, his only response was that “Free trade has been good for this countryâ€