May 31, 2007 6:39 PM
'Enforce the law,' he says
"I must admit to you that the solution I bring to you, I know, is very controversial, it's very scary when I say it. People cringe - oh my goodness, he can't really mean this. This can't really be the answer, but I assure you it is. Summed up in three words: enforce the law."
Rep. Tom Tancredo made that statement at the Iowa Republican Party's Abraham Lincoln Unity Dinner in Des Moines in April.
He uses the line everywhere he goes while campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.
So what is he talking about enforcing?
Apparently not mandatory seatbelt laws.
Check out THIS VIDEO of a rolling interview that's posted on Tancredo's presidential campaign web site. He's driving and talking at the same time.
See if you can tell us which portion of the tape shows evidence that Tancredo is wearing a seat belt. We couldn't find one, so we called Tancredo's people.
Campaign spokesman Alan Moore said he could neither confirm nor deny that Tancredo was wearing a seat belt.
Congressional spokesman Carlos Espinosa read us the letter of the law:
"While it is unclear whether Congressman Tancredo was wearing his seatbelt, members of Congress are protected under Article 1, Sec. 6 of the Constitution which states that members cannot be detained if the House is in session."
On the back roads we speak English, not bureaucratese, so we'll translate: laws, schlaws.
Seat belts aside (apparently), the interview topic itself is fairly interesting.
Tancredo is asked to address a question that has dogged him for years, particularly on the Tancredo Watch web site.
QUESTION: "How do you reconcile your claim to possessing integrity and commitment to principles with your violation of your term limits pledge?"
Tancredo gets that question by leading Colorado's term limits movement, then abandoning his pledge to serve only three two-year terms in Congress. In the interview, Tancredo explains at length how it was a difficult decision. He spoke of his fight against illegal immigration and said he came to the conclusion that if he did not stay in the U.S. House of Representatives, nobody else would pick up the cause on Capitol Hill.
"I just came to a situation where it seemed like if I left, I was going to be leaving an issue without a leader, and so I decided to continue this process. That's really what it was."
Strap on your seat belts, because now we're awaiting a rebuttal from Tancredo Watch. (This means you, "TW.")
June 7, 2007
10:37 AM
bob sikes writes:
Tom is now my congressman after redistricting. Bob Shaeffer was my congressman when he ran, after making the pledge, and stepped down. I congratulated Bob on his integrity for living up to his pledge. But the constituents in that District have been underrepresented since his departure; and we in Tancredo's District would likewise lose if he stepped down. It is amusing that those of you using Term Limits against Tom would be in the bunkers to defend the life tenured democrat politicians in their rights to their offices. When these Republicans made these pledges it was in the hope that all politicians became citizen-lawmakers. Alas, that did not happen so they need to function in the system as it exists.
June 1, 2007
10:09 AM
jflansburgh writes:
I respect where Tancredo's coming from on the whole enforce the law, but here's my question: HOW WILL YOU PAY FOR IT? It's a massive undertaking to fully enforce these laws, and it's why it's slipped for years (and under a GOP Congress, so don't sit there and argue Dems hate security). That's not to say, "Oh, it's too HARD to actually comply with the law so let's just not do it!" is a remotely good excuse, but it's a legitimate concern. Show me the money, Tom.
@ Buff Driver - I'll cut you a deal: you don't wear your seat belt or brain bucket, and I'll tell my insurance company not to use my money to pay for your hospital care and the doctors and nurses in the ER to ignore the Hippocratic Oath when you smear yourself all over I-25 - because it was your personal decision.
June 1, 2007
8:45 AM
Buff Driver writes:
Isn't wearing a seat belt a personal decision? People 'speed' even tho they know if they are caught, they will be fined. If the Rep is willing to pay the fine, he is only risking his own health. If memory serves, Tancredo was the leader in repealing Colorado's motorcycle helmet law. Stupid to ride a 'cycle' without a helmet? I think so...but then, I don't ride. Now if Tancredo could just convince McCain, Kennedy, Salazar, Bush et al to stop wearing their belts, maybe we'll have a better chance of 'burying' the Senate's ridiculous immigration amnesty bill!