Rand Paul "Open to Voting for Senate Immigration Bill"

[FrankRep]

Rand Paul open to voting for Senate immigration bill


The Hill
May 26, 2013


Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that his chamber’s immigration bill needs to be improved, but that there’s still a chance he could vote for it.

Paul said that he could end up backing immigration reform if Senate negotiators will work with him on his push to certify that the border is secure. Paul though warned that the bill also goes in the wrong direction on work visas.

“I support immigration reform. At this time, I think the bill needs to strengthen border security. It also needs to expand work visas,” Paul said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I will support a bill that fixes it, and I do want to support a bill,” Paul added.

Paul though said that he was against a pathway to citizenship for people currently in the country illegally, a key plank of the Senate bill.

“I just don't want to create a new line, or give a new preference to people who are here undocumented,” Paul said. “But I am all in favor of letting undocumented workers become documented workers, and finding a place for them.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the immigration measure with a bipartisan vote last week, but Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) also said recently that he's not sure the bill has 60 votes in the chamber yet.



Related Articles:

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Neither Marco Rubio Nor His Amnesty Plan Is Conservative

 

[jtstellar]

'if you want it passed you must come to me and put in some stuff that pretty much only a couple others support at this point' = 'there's a chance i would vote for it'? that's like ron paul saying he would endorse mitt romney if he agrees to withdraw troops from afghan and abolish the federal reserve. holy fuck are democrats desperate

 

[sailingaway]

The thing is there is some really bad stuff in there and it would be really nice if someone were creating a rallying point against it, highlighting the bad points, which even if he votes against it at the last minute, he is clearly not doing. He has a different approach.

I tend to agree that at the last moment he will likely not vote for it.

 

[Warlord]

He's been saying the same thing for months... will you chill out.

He's in stealth mode.

I suspect Rand knows very well Warlord's rule:

Anything Schumer does is bad and must be voted against/stopped/filibustered/exposed/ridiculed/flooded with non-germane amendments/ruined/poisoned/bogged down in committee/destroyed.

But they're not going to be so obvious in their strategy and public statements..

Yeah he'll support it if they completely gut the bill and replace it with his language.

Likelihood of this happening?

 

[Brett85]

He's just saying this in order to not alienate Latino voters but will almost certainly end up voting against this bill in the end.

 

[matt0611]

I don't think he's going to end up voting for it. I think there's too much in it that he doesn't support.

 

[FrankRep]

He's just saying this in order to not alienate Latino voters but will almost certainly end up voting against this bill in the end.

Rand Paul needs to be careful not to alienate his base (anti-Amnesty) supporters.

 

[AJ Antimony]

I don't think he's going to end up voting for it. I think there's too much in it that he doesn't support.

Especially once the Senate as a whole starts rejecting GOP floor amendments

 

[supermario21]

Rand's problem is that he has some common interests with the Gang of 8 but the way they get there is incompatible. For example, the Gang wants a pathway, so does Rand, but he doesn't want them paying penalties and having to go back. Rand wants border security to be a complex arrangement where reports are produced by border states and voted on in Congress but the gang doesn't want that. Rand wants to get rid of E-Verify and have no Biometric ID card yet the gang seems to favor both. I think Rand is trying to talk a good game on immigration, where he doesn't sound bigoted and someone hispanics can trust if he is the nominee, yet will not vote on it because it's a horrible bill and is anti-liberty.

 

[anaconda]

I don't understand why this is newsworthy. Isn't this exactly what Rand has been saying for months? Work visas and border security. No separate line to citizenship.

 

[AlexAmore]

He'll be able to say he voted against the immigration bill because of [Insert red meat] and yet he supported immigration the whole time when he lobbied for expanding the work visas.

He's playing both sides brilliantly. Not only that but he'll be VERY newsworthy when a "supporter" voted against the immigration bill *GASP*

 

[Warlord]

Rand Paul needs to be careful not to alienate his base (anti-Amnesty) supporters.

Yeah but he's not going to sound anti-Amnesty. He's posing as a supporter of the concept like a super-secret agent (if all conditions are met) but he has set the bar high and he's never going to get any of what he wants because Schumer is an asshole and has cooked up a deal between unions and the Chamber of Commerce. They're stuck with a bad bill now and sooner or later it will be decision time. Rubio is already running away from it and Goodlatte in the House is asserting himself saying he doesn't care what the Senate does the House will act on its own and he's going to be in control.

Rand is just trying to sound reasonable while he plunges the dagger in Schumer's back.

 

[rich34]

I understand Rand's hand here. He's trying to move to the center on this issue possibly slightly right of center that way he can have these cards to play in the general. My concern is if he plays to far to the center on this he might just not make it that far to play his cards in the general. I'm still of the opinion that a good republican like Rand can win on the republican ticket by simply being himself without having to play games. The white vote will still decide the presidential elections at least for two more cycles before the pandering has to get bad. Problem is the damn democraps are trying to rush this shit through so they can widen their base so he's gotta ride the fence a little on this issue, but he risks losing the primary or at least losing a ton of potential supporters to a Rick Santorum type. Even though in reality any republican elected like Bush, will push amnesty in a heart beat once in office. Rand is really in the lead imo although it's early so he's really having to walk a tightrope right now. It's going to be tough on him, but if he can pull it off, he's the MAN!

 

[PatriotOne]

"Rand Paul's Support Just Dropped: "Open to Voting for Senate Immigration Bill""

What's with the anti-Rand thread title in his forum? Not to mention there's nothing new there so not sure why you would state his support just dropped. Did you take a poll or something or did you just use your crystal ball?

 

[anaconda]

What's with the anti-Rand thread title in his forum? Not to mention there's nothing new there so not sure why you would state his support just dropped. Did you take a poll or something or did you just use your crystal ball?

I don't see anything new or different from Rand on this issue. So I'm not clear on how his "support" would suddenly drop. I probably missed something.

 

[Brett85]

My concern is if he plays to far to the center on this he might just not make it that far to play his cards in the general. !

The Republican Party doesn't exactly have a history of nominating immigration hawks for President. (Bush and McCain) The kind of comments you read on free republic about how any type of immigration reform at all equals "amnesty" is simply a fringe minority position. The vast majority of Americans support the general concept of immigration reform, although they may not support the Gang of Eight Bill.

 

[PatriotOne]

I don't see anything new or different from Rand on this issue. So I'm not clear on how his "support" would suddenly drop. I probably missed something.

I don't either. I'm sure Sailingaway is working on changing the negative thread title as we speak.

 

[LibertyEagle]

So, basically, he's "open" to voting for it if they change the hell out of it.

 

[FrankRep]

So, basically, he's "open" to voting for it if they change the hell out of it.

The media will have fun spinning this story and make Rand Paul look Pro-Amnesty. Bad move Rand, Bad move.

 

[LibertyEagle]

The media will have fun spinning this story

And you helped by posting their title. It doesn't accurately reflect Rand's stance, but yet you helped them spread it. In fact, I just heard that you had originally posted that Rand's support dropped and other cute little things in the title. How dare you, Frank.

and make Rand Paul look Pro-Amnesty. Bad move Rand, Bad move.

His main competition right now is Rubio who was IN the Gang of 8. Rand's view is not going to freak them out at all.

Have you forgotten who got the Republican nomination last go round?

And Frank, if you care anything about Rand at all, think about what you name threads about him. Otherwise, you are furthering the untrue meme that the media is trying to push.