Grassroots leader applauds senator for putting citizens’ immigration concerns above special interests.
Tea Party Patriots co-founder and national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin told Breitbart News on Monday that she, her organization, and their network of conservative activists nationwide are happy Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has come out publicly against the immigration bill that he at one point helped push through the Senate.
“Tea Party Patriots are glad to see Sen. Rubio has finally listened to his constituents and understands the 1,200 page comprehensive immigration bill the Senate passed is not the right path for our country,” Martin said in an email. “We hope those elected representatives in the House pushing for immigration overhaul understand Rubio’s arguments and will prevent any steps that lead to conference committee with the Senate bill.”
Rubio came out this weekend in a Breitbart News exclusivethrough his spokesman Alex Conant to say that he opposes House GOPefforts to use piecemeal immigration bills as a “ruse” go to conferencewith the Senate’s comprehensive bill. Rubio has also said he wants atrue piecemeal approach to immigration, not a comprehensiveapproach.
Progressive media outlets have reacted negatively to Rubio’s stance, printing a litany of complaints now that the senator has rejected the platform of pro-amnesty special interests currently campaigning in Washington, D.C. The New Republic ran headlines claiming Rubio has “flip flopped.” MSNBC’s Benji Sarlin quotesthe George Soros-funded National Immigration Forum (NIF) executivedirector Ali Noorani as saying Rubio’s change of direction is a “realmystery.”
“He gets some heat from the right and, before you know it, the boywonder retreats and dissembles,” Frank Sharry, the president of thepro-amnesty America’s Voice, added in a quote Sarlin provided in hisMSNBC article.
ThinkProgress, a media arm of the left-wing Center for American Progress (CAP), argued that Rubio has had “many stances” on immigration.
Martin’s response to Rubio’s renewed respect for his constituents’ desires shows the conservative grassroots that despite the power big business and the Republican establishment still wields, their voices can win out over those special interests.
Rubio, once considered a frontrunner for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, saw his poll numbers take a big hit among conservatives over the summer–still trending downward at the beginning of October–in response to his campaign to pass the Senate’s immigration bill. While he emphasized border security and enforcement, the bill’s actual result would be unconditional legalization for illegal immigrants and, according to the CBO, depressed wages for American workers.
The powerful grassroots response to this legislation–including the Black American Leadership Alliance’s D.C. “March for Jobs,” protesting the bill’s effect on workers–showed Republicans that even once-Tea Party darlings like Rubio could become vulnerable if they were not faithful to the voters who put them into power. Despite the assurances of the establishment and lobbyists for Silicon Valley and other pro-amnesty business coalitions, these Republican politicians’ futures depended on satisfying the people over those interests.
Now, it seems, Rubio has realized this and moved toward removing the wedge this bill placed between him and his constituents–and the media representing pro-amnesty corporate and political interests are not happy. As the battle over immigration policy continues in the House of Representatives, it appears these journalists will seek to discredit Rubio for fulfilling his duty as a representative of the people, while the grassroots such as Tea Party Patriots may find themselves championing him once again.
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