I love Rush Limbaugh, but his flip-flop on Mitt Romney is getting out of control.
Rush recently said Mitt Romney is “not a conservative,” but Limbaugh had once characterized Gov. Romney as the one “candidate on our side who does embody all three legs of the conservative stool,” which he described as “national security/foreign policy, the social conservatives, and the fiscal conservatives. The social conservatives are the cultural people. The fiscal conservatives are the economic crowd: low taxes, smaller government, get out of the way.”
Rush is certainly free to change his mind, but what began as criticism mostly limited to mischaracterizing Romney’s view on global warming has now become full-fledged dishonesty.
In last night’s debate, Newt Gingrich raised some eyebrows by signaling his support for an amnesty program for illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for 20 or 25 years. Today, Rush Limbaugh is defending Gingrich while simultaneously attacking Romney over his comments on Meet the Press in 2007.
Rush is being intentionally dishonest, however, in quoting and airing only a brief clip of what Romney said.
Here’s how Rush quotes Romney: “My own view is consistent with what you saw in the Lowell Sun, that those people who had come here illegally and are in this country–the 12 million or so that are here illegally–should be able to stay sign up for permanent residency or citizenship…”
Rush clips Romney there, in mid-sentence.
In his full remarks, Romney contrasts his view with the amnesty plan favored by President Bush and Senator McCain, saying that illegal immigrants should merely have the same ability to apply for residency or citizenship as everyone else, which may involve them having to return to their home country first.
The Romney quote clipped by Rush continues, “..but they should not be given a special pathway, a special guarantee that all of them get to say here for the rest of their lives merely by virtue of having come here illegally.”
Below are Romney’s full comments in context:
MR. RUSSERT: Immigration, an issue that is very important in this country and to the Republican primary voters. The Boston Globe interviewed you two years ago, and there’s a tape of that conversation where you expressed support for the policies of George Bush and John McCain on immigration. Let’s watch and listen.
(Audiotape)
GOV. ROMNEY: I think an amnesty program is what, which is all the illegal immigrants who are here are now citizens,
Unidentified Man: Mm-hmm.
GOV. ROMNEY: …and a walk up and get your citizenship. What the president has proposed,
Man: Mm-hmm.
GOV. ROMNEY: …and, and what Senator McCain and Cornyn have proposed, are, are quite different than that.
Man: Mm-hmm.
GOV. ROMNEY: They require people signing up for a, a, well, registering and receiving, if you will, a number, a registration number, then working here for six years and paying taxes…
Man: Mm-hmm.
GOV. ROMNEY: …not taking benefits–health, Medicaid, food stamps, and so forth–not taking benefits, and then at the end of that period, registering to become a citizen or applying to become a citizen and paying a fee. And, and those are things that are being, being considered, and I, I think that that’s–that those are reasonable proposals.
(End audiotape)
MR. RUSSERT: Reasonable proposals.
GOV. ROMNEY: Hm.
MR. RUSSERT: The Lowell Sun, your home–one of your hometown, state home papers, said this. “Governor Mitt Romney expressed support for an immigration program that places large numbers of illegal residents on the path toward citizenship.
“`I don’t believe in rounding up 11 million people and forcing them at gunpoint from our country. With these 11 million people, let’s have them registered, know who they are. Those who’ve been arrested or convicted of crimes shouldn’t be here; those that are paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process towards application for citizenship, as they would from their home country.’”
This is George Bush and John McCain.
GOV. ROMNEY: Now let’s, now let’s look at those very carefully, OK, and you’re, you’re a careful reader. In the interview with The Boston Globe, I described all three programs that were out there, described what they were, acknowledged that they were not technically an amnesty program, but I indicated in that same interview that I had not formulated my own proposal and that I was endorsing none of those three programs. I did not support any of them. I called them reasonable. They are reasonable efforts to, to look at the problem. But I said I did not support–and I said specifically in that interview I have not formulated my own policy and have not determined which I would support. And, of course, the Cornyn proposal required all of the immigrants to go home. The McCain proposal required most of them to go home, but let some stay. And the Bush proposal I, frankly, don’t recall in that much detail. But they had very different proposals. My own view is consistent with what you saw in the Lowell Sun, that those people who had come here illegally and are in this country–the 12 million or so that are here illegally–should be able to stay sign up for permanent residency or citizenship, but they should not be given a special pathway, a special guarantee that all of them get to say here for the rest of their lives merely by virtue of having come here illegally. And that, I think, is the great flaw in the final bill that came forward from the Senate.
MR. RUSSERT: But they shouldn’t have to go home?
GOV. ROMNEY: Well, whether they go home–they should go home eventually. There’s a set per–in my view they should be–they should have a set period during which period they, they sign up for application for permanent residency or, or for citizenship. But there’s a set period where upon they should return home. And if they’ve been approved for citizenship or for a permanent residency, well, thy would be a different matter. But for the great majority, they’ll be going home.
MR. RUSSERT: The children they had born here are U.S. citizens, so do the children stay here and the parents go home?
GOV. ROMNEY: Well, that’s a choice, of course, the parents would, would make. But my view is that those 12 million who’ve come here illegally should be given the opportunity to sign up to stay here, but they should not be given any advantage in becoming a permanent resident or citizen by virtue of simply coming here illegally. And likewise, if they’ve brought a child to this country or they’ve had a child in this country, that’s, that’s wonderful that they’re growing their families, but that doesn’t mean that they all get to stay here indefinitely. We’re fundamentally a nation of laws. And let me underscore something here that I think’s awfully important, because this immigration debate can sound anti-immigrant to a lot of people. It’s not intended to be that by myself or, I believe, by the vast majority of others that talk about it. We value legal immigration. We welcome people coming here with different cultures and skill and education, but we are a nation of laws. And our freedoms and our liberty are associated with following the law. We have to secure our border, we have to make sure there’s an employment verification system to identify who’s here legally and who’s not. And then for the 12 million who’ve come here, welcome them to get in line with everybody else, but no special pathway.