House GOP aide: Hannity’s “evolution” on immigration could give cover to wavering lawmakers
Supporters of a new law were thrilled Friday with the news that two prominent conservative thinkers, talk show host Sean Hannity and columnist Charles Krauthammer, both expressed support for legalizing illegal immigrants.
Hannity used the movement’s chosen phrase, calling for a “pathway to citizenship,” saying he had “evolved” on the matter, while Krauthammer, in his Friday Post column, described the GOP’s hard-line stance on illegal immigration as the single policy shift required to bring Hispanics back to the party…
The biggest questions swirled around Boehner and his always unpredictable Republican caucus, which remains heavily influenced by tea-party conservatives.
A House GOP leadership aide said Friday that many rank-and-file members seemed to be “getting it,” and that Hannity’s statement was “giving cover to those who might ordinarily want to do it but wouldn’t or couldn’t.” Still, the aide said, “we’re talking about a massive piece of legislation, and those are difficult to do.”
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Are Hannity and Dr. Krauthammer going to chip in extra to pay for all of the illegals needs? The fact of the matter is, right or wrong, we can’t afford amnesty.
BettyRuth on November 11, 2012 at 9:35 AM
Setup.
the_nile on November 11, 2012 at 9:36 AM
No amnesty.
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 9:36 AM
Hannity is done. I wonder who’ll get his radio slot?
Buddahpundit on November 11, 2012 at 9:36 AM
Murdoch wants amnesty. Murdoch owns Fox. Murdoch owns Hannity. I’ve already emailed his show telling him that he’s a sell out and I’ll never watch or listen to his show again. He’s nothing but a slimy panderer who can live in his gated community with his millions of dollars and not have to be effected by whatever Obama does. Thank God Rush has a bigger megaphone and gets it.
TxAnn56 on November 11, 2012 at 9:39 AM
Idiots. Hispanics are not only Democrats because of amnesty and illegal immigration. They are liberals by big margins on every social and economic question. Its as ridiculous a position as believing that accepting affirmative action would get us significant support from blacks. If you really wanna sell out your principles to go after hispanic voters, get ready give up way more than your opposition to amnesty.
Valkyriepundit on November 11, 2012 at 9:40 AM
Amnesty= 20 million more Dem votes. And that’s just the beginning.
Caving on amnesty is not going to help Republicans or attract significantly more Hispanic voters. After Reagan’s amnesty, the first George Bush actually won a lower percentage of the Hispanic vote than did Reagan in 1980. As someone else on here said, the Left is not trying to pass amnesty in order to help Republicans.
Amnesty = equivalent of national suicide.
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 9:40 AM
Pandering will not work.
The Dems will claim credit, as they did for civil rights, even though more GOP voted for the CRA than Dems.
The Dems and MSM will say the GOP reluctantly went along with amnesty.
Hispanics will continue to vote Dem, not only for this, but also for free stuff.
This story comes from WaPo, which is no doubt trying to create a shift in the GOP that isn’t really there.
Wethal on November 11, 2012 at 9:40 AM
Rick Perry evolved during the primary. Amnesty in non-name only was also part of the Gingrich “evolution” too. The problem is that it won’t win the GOP one additional vote.
Question for Hannity, Perry, Gingrich and others (e.g., Bush)… In 20 years who are the next batch of illegals we’ll have to “evolve” over? The world’s warring Muslim nations? African nations? Maybe even collapsed European nations? Endless illegals.
rhombus on November 11, 2012 at 9:41 AM
The left is not trying to pass amnesty because they think it will help Republicans.
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 9:41 AM
If amnesty is passed, the first thing I’m going to do is sue the U.S. government for the thousands of dollars I spent getting my wife and mother-in-law legally into the country and naturalized.
RoadRunner on November 11, 2012 at 9:42 AM
Once you “evolve”, I guess you can’t go back to rule of law, sovereignty and demographic preservation because it would be to “devolve”. He can’t rescue himself from this.
Buddahpundit on November 11, 2012 at 9:44 AM
Allen West should get Hannity’s Fox time slot. I have no desire to watch Sean Hannity make stupid steak dinner bets with all of his liberal pals out to control my life anymore.
Here’s the fork, Sean. Go ahead and stick it right in that empty head of yours.
Punchenko on November 11, 2012 at 9:45 AM
Wouldn’t surprise me if the screwed over Romney for this.
the_nile on November 11, 2012 at 9:45 AM
This really pisses me off. Hannity is a joke.
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Reagan didn’t win any more Hispanic votes when he “evolved” either. Those who fail to learn from history…
rhombus on November 11, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Even though I vehemently disagree with Perry on in state tuition, he did that in 2001, so he’s always been soft in that area. The hypocrisy of Hannity is that he “evolved” in 3 days. Funny, I never heard him months before the election saying something like “we may have to deal with comprehensive blah blah” or “I’m starting to re-think the issue”. No, the orders came down from above and like a good little soldier who didn’t want to lose his cushy slot, he rolled over. He’s done in my book.
TxAnn56 on November 11, 2012 at 9:47 AM
You what now?
He has the capacity for critical thought of a nail clipping and is a one trick pony.
He’s actually worse than Noam Chomsky. Chompers may be (incredibly) wrong but he can at least claim an above average IQ. Hannity is a jack-wagon but he gets great ratings like Bill O’Reilly so there’s obviously a market there.
But he is not a conservative thinker, he’s a list of rigid talking points with a teleprompter.
Oh and ‘You’re a great American.’
CorporatePiggy on November 11, 2012 at 9:49 AM
Murdoch wants amnesty. Murdoch owns Fox. Murdoch owns Hannity. I’ve already emailed his show telling him that he’s a sell out and I’ll never watch or listen to his show again. He’s nothing but a slimy panderer who can live in his gated community with his millions of dollars and not have to be effected by whatever Obama does. Thank God Rush has a bigger megaphone and gets it.
TxAnn56 on November 11, 2012 at 9:39 AM
~~~~~~~
Hannity makes me ill, and has for years…he is beyond stupid. I could not agree more with you on every point.
ellifint on November 11, 2012 at 9:49 AM
i stopped listening to hannity, when he started kissing mitts butt.
renalin on November 11, 2012 at 9:50 AM
Then Hannity should fire his security team and move down here to Brian Terry dead country. Get a ranch on the border, and let his kids play outside.
wolly4321 on November 11, 2012 at 9:51 AM
Does anyone remember all of those anti-amnesty/pro border security specials that Hannity taped while riding a horse along the Mexican border? It was around the time Bush was trying to push his amnesty deal through.
What a phony Hannity is!
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 9:52 AM
“conservative revolution”. election of a lifetime!!! the mule use to bray.
i wanna stick that all american football down his big fat throat.
renalin on November 11, 2012 at 9:52 AM
Amesty would be the end of the republic, Texas would turn blue, and the GOP would never win a national election again.
It’s so obvious, why are these supposed “conservatives” are climbing on board the national suicide wagon is a mystery to me.
Rebar on November 11, 2012 at 9:53 AM
Rush does get it and knows he works for the American people. Well, at least the better half of the American people.
Punchenko on November 11, 2012 at 9:54 AM
I love how all these so called GOP mouthpieces don’t even wait util the dust has settled to take account of what happened and what the actual voters want.
Blake on November 11, 2012 at 9:58 AM
No. The Texas legislature passed in-state tuition for illegal immigrants almost unanimously in 2001, and Rick Perry signed it into law.
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on November 11, 2012 at 9:58 AM
Does anyone remember all of those anti-amnesty/pro border security specials that Hannity taped while riding a horse along the Mexican border? It was around the time Bush was trying to push his amnesty deal through.
What a phony Hannity is!
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 9:52 AM
~~~~~~~~~~~
I do! Phony through and through…he does more to hurt the credibility of Fox than anyone else there, IMO ( on the R side)…
ellifint on November 11, 2012 at 9:58 AM
Take your wife and kids on vacation, sans~security to Organpipe NATIONAL Monument, Sean.. camping trip. Go ahead.
wolly4321 on November 11, 2012 at 9:59 AM
Hanity Breitbarts the GOP on Immigration like Breitbart did the GOP on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
No point in voting for another Republican for the rest of the nation’s short future.
astonerii on November 11, 2012 at 9:59 AM
Former Attorney General Ed Meese has recalled many times how Reagan did not like the amnesty provision and, in fact, “called it for what it was.” Nevertheless, on November 6, 1986, Reagan signed the bill, which also included (as he noted in remarks made during the signing) “employer sanctions [and] other measures to increase enforcement of the immigration laws. . .”
“The lesson from the 1986 experience is that such an amnesty did not solve the problem,” Meese wrote in HUMAN EVENTS earlier this year, “There was extensive document fraud and the number of people applying for amnesty far exceeded projections. And there was a failure of political will to enforce new laws against employers. After a brief slowdown, illegal immigration returned to high levels and continued unabated, forming the nucleus of today’s large population of illegal aliens.”
TxAnn56 on November 11, 2012 at 10:00 AM
1. Secure the borders. Both of them.
2. Give the illegals a one time opportunity to come in from the cold. If they have jobs, grant them the ability to stay. If not, back to your native land.
3. Make sure the illegals that are allowed to stay understand that they cannot ever become citizens and cannot vote.
4. Illegals cannot obtain government assistance unless they have jobs or are verified to be self employed. I’m certain the IRS can handle this, with their increase in staffing.
We get rid of the takers and keep the ones that actually contribute to society.
john1schn on November 11, 2012 at 10:01 AM
You have a strange fixation with bashing Breitbart and bringing up gay issues, even when they’re not relevant. I remember you, on the day Breitbart died, gleefully wondering aloud on here if Breitbart died of AIDS. No offense, but you are sick and give this site a bad name.
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 10:04 AM
We have 20%+ real unemployment, we don’t need any of them.
Rebar on November 11, 2012 at 10:05 AM
The only way to highlight conservative positions is to…highlight the ‘correctness’ of leftist principles?
Shell-shocked. There seems to be a lot of that going around.
Once again we are hilarious entertainment for the liberals.
It’s like conservatives going on late night leftie talk shows. They know they will be punked..but the do it anyway.
Dumb.
Mimzey on November 11, 2012 at 10:05 AM
There’s just one problem with that, the 14th amendment, aka the anchor baby problem. The reason why Texas will eventually turn blue is because all the anchor babies who have grown up on dependence now vote Dem. Unless you change that provision, it won’t matter. Besides, the ACLU or Obama will say they’re second class citizens and eventually do something to grant them citizenship.
TxAnn56 on November 11, 2012 at 10:05 AM
Oftentimes I’ve have heard people like Jeb Bush and other establishment types describe immigrants from Latin America as “natural conservatives” and Republicans need to offer amnesty to ensure that they get those votes. Their logic is that since Latin American immigrants are Catholic and have “family values” they would naturally gravitate towards the GOP. I would point out that a country like Italy, which is overwhelmingly Catholic and has good family values, is also overwhelmingly socialist. Why would anyone think that with more immigrants from Latin America the US wouldn’t continue to lurch even further leftward?
antifederalist on November 11, 2012 at 10:06 AM
And Democrats take total advantage of the opportunity. Our team has some real idiots who need purging.
Punchenko on November 11, 2012 at 10:06 AM
It is the exact same set up. Lame Duck Session comes up. Popular “conservative” spokesperson evolves on an issue we detest. By January the voting is all over. I will start using the term breitbarted for this situation.
Illegal Immigration has been breitbarted by Sean Hanity!
astonerii on November 11, 2012 at 10:07 AM
It’s an insane rush to act , but no rush to analyze fully what really happened.
the_nile on November 11, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Every last illegal is a taker, even if they are working. They are taking our sovereignty and abusing it. Not a single one deserves amnesty, not one single one.
astonerii on November 11, 2012 at 10:09 AM
What next – a GOP initiative to improve and strengthen Obamacare?
Yes, let’s outflank them on the left – they’ll never see it coming. /s
Drained Brain on November 11, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Hannity is an idiot. When did CA go from a Red State to the solid blue it is today? When amnesty was passed in 1988. It’s incredible the death wish the GOP has now. I’ve never seen the Dems evolve on anything going to the Right and yet the country continues to move in their directionn. If you move to the Left, don’t be surprised if the nation does as well. Reagan made a major mistake on amnesty and we are still paying for it today. The GOP needs to grow a pair and stand their ground somewhere and articulate a conservative alternative. That means control of our immigration policy. WE can’t allow other countries to determine our immigration policy.
We should allow for guest workers, but no permanent residency unless you have the skills to be successful in this country. And for those who are here illegally, they are going to have to come forward and prove their worth. If you have been on welfare the whole time and have a criminal record, you need to go. They can’t be allowed to skip the process ahead of those who are doing it the right way. Lastly, there has to be better enforcement with an E-verify system and no government benefits for anyone here illegally.
We are a nation of immigrants since no one but Native Americans were originally here. Conservatives do need to understand that the new wave of immigrants are going to come from non-European nations and this is not a bad thing so long as those immigrants come in with a work ethic and the attitude to adopt American values (most do). Conservatives should pay more attention to the Left’s gambit of making this group yet another victim group in need of government benefits. We can’t afford this and it will destroy our country. The enemy to our nation is the unsustainable government spending on welfare programs that will bankrupt us. It must stop.
milemarker2020 on November 11, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Thank you for sharing this. We should be securing the border, not sending the signal that people will be rewarded for breaking our immigration laws. Why are we legalizing millions of new Dem voters who will want more govt assistance. This is madness.
You think the GOP has a demographics problem now? Texas will be giving all its electoral votes to the Dem candidate just like CA does.
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 10:11 AM
I understand that, but I also understand that there needs to be a workable solution, and no democrat is going to simply deport every illegal from the country.
There is no perfect solution.
john1schn on November 11, 2012 at 10:12 AM
I hope Michelle Malkin is on Hannity’s show soon and gives him an earful.
bluegill on November 11, 2012 at 10:13 AM
Solid blue? http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SzzcRXArjI8/UJ6tLsLIxrI/AAAAAAAADKI/F00rm1uqxhY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-11-10+at+12.37.48+PM.png
davidk on November 11, 2012 at 10:14 AM
Given.
But we can enforce the law.
davidk on November 11, 2012 at 10:15 AM
What part of the word “illegal” is not being understood?
How about we just let some of the organized crime family members come out of the shadows and stop hiding? Let them say “Yeah..we’re Mafia” without the stigma of discrimination?..we could limit it though. Just let the ones who have been in the Mafia for a long time get a pass. Amnesty for past and future crimes. But only for those have been active criminals for at least 20 years.
But thats just common sense.
Mimzey on November 11, 2012 at 10:16 AM
Exactly. Time for compromise. IOW, bend forward.
davidk on November 11, 2012 at 10:16 AM
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