Matt Bevin, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s primary challenger, told a group of Kentucky voters that American workers are less productive than immigrants.
“For those who think that all these fifteen to twenty million [illegal immigrant] people are here just to take advantage of us and ride the system, you’re wrong,” he said at a diner in Jessamine, Kentucky, in March.
“Most of them are not… but I’ll tell you what, there are more people like that even proportionally that were born here in this country,” he added. “That’s a fact… Healthy immigration is what has made this nation great. It is what will keep us strong, it is what will make us great in the future.”
McConnell’s election team slammed Bevin’s comments.
“Bevin says that illegal immigrants are better workers than law-abiding Americans, who he implies are lazy,” said a statement from campaign spokeswoman Allison Moore. “Bevin thinks hardworking citizens are the problem, and slandered every single Kentuckian in the the Commonwealth. He should be ashamed of himself.”
Bevin’s spokeswoman, Rachel Semmel, declined to comment on the statement, stayed on the attack, and said McConnell didn’t try to block the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration deal last June.
“Mitch McConnell… has voted for amnesty three times, co-sponsored an additional amnesty bill with Democrats, and went into hiding during the Gang of 8 amnesty debacle,” she said.
McConnell’s team said the speech shows Bevin supports an amnesty for illegals.
“Sen. McConnell voted against the [Senate] immigration bill that Bailout Bevin once blasted as amnesty, and yet now he appears to support” that bill, said Moore. “This flip-flop is yet another example of Bevin’s shocking hypocrisy.”
Both candidates downplayed their support for some legal changes that would make it easier for American companies to hire foreign professionals for work in the U.S. The foreign hires are sought by businesses and lobbyists who say they’re facing a shortage of top-ranked American experts. But numerous studies say there is no shortage.
“Sen. McConnell supports merit-based immigration that would make it easier for high skilled professionals who earn their degrees here to come here, rather than the quota system we have today,” said a statement from Moore.
“The growth of our economy relies on American businesses being able to legally employ the world’s best and brightest,” Bevin’s spokeswoman said. “Legal immigration has always been a means to ensure that this is possible and that our nation remains economically strong. As a small business owner and job creator, Matt understands the need to streamline and simplify the work visa process for high-skilled workers.”
Bevin should have known better than to insult the people he's trying to get to vote for him. If what he said is true, he better hire some CONSERVATIVE adviser before he sinks his own campaign BEFORE the primary!
Mr McConnell,what part of illegal dont u understand?????
He's ALREADY sunk his campaign! I can't tell the difference between him and McConnell – so I won't vote for either!
Wow, and he was able to leave the group of voters without a scratch? Umm, the 15 to 20 million illegals learn to 'ride the system' from the 30 million already here that were amnestied in the 80's and 90's. Rather than focus on problems facing Americans, this moron defends illegals??
Bet the above article does not contain all of what was said by Bevin. It wouldn't be the first time that someone's thoughts are abreviated and/or TWISTED for effect… No one in their right mind should support dirty back-door dealing RINO McConnel in light of his corrupt performance laced with THREATS to Conservatives & Tea Party . No way!! Matt Bevin at his WORST is a far better choice than McConnel.
No cure for stupid.
It seems like Allison Moore was lying from what this article said above. Bevin said that "healthy" immigration helps to keep this country strong. That is not illegal immigration as Allison Moore would have you believe. The fact is that both McConnell is for amnesty and Bevins is against it, from what I get from this article.
Whitefalcon
have any idea where I can get the actual conversation ?
If we need illegal immigrants to replace lazy American workers then employers should be required to pay them Union wages and give them benefits American citizen's get or got. Corporations base the price of their products on how much it takes to manufacture and distribute them. They use the Union wage's as a base for that pricing. When the corporations get illegals to work for less than family supporting decent wages, they never lower the price of their products to reflect their savings, they just enjoy the extra profits! If they pay less for their workers then they should lower their prices the same amount to reflect the savings in production. If they cant find American workers then how would that be a problem?
The Daily Caller reported on this and seems to have gotten the "skew" started. HERE is the video of what Bevin actually said – nowhere did he say that American workers are less productive than immigrants. Listen to the entire thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fINawO89Xa4 .
Here's video if you'd like to share with doubters – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fINawO89Xa4 .
Here's the actual video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fINawO89Xa4 .
What part of illegal alien do people not understand? No ILLEGAL aliens! Go through the immigration process as it now exists in law. Where's Operation WETBACK when it's needed?
Sheesh, all the negative commentors seem to have forgotten that more than 50% of the legal citizens in this country do not pay federal taxes. THESE are the ones Bevin is comparing to. And he's right, they are non-productive freeloaders and their numbers far exceed the number of illegals in this country. Let's get that part straight.
Heck, The Tea Party Economist had this article today also, and here's an excerpt: "“The estimated number of individuals ever covered by Medicaid remained steady at 72.7 million in FY 2013, compared to 72.2 million in FY 2012,” http://teapartyeconomist.com/2014/04/08/medicaid-…
I don't live in KY but Bevin wants to join the likes of Rand Paul, MIke Lee et al in Washington to further the conversation about the LEGITIMATE role of federal govt, and how it has grown into a monster that is acting outside its constitutional bounds. I would vote for him in a heartbeat.
I'm sorry to disappoint youbut while Mr.Bevin reasonably talked about having an enforced immigration policy,he clearly implies that illegal immigrants,who HE says are here just to work fire their family, SHOULD be put at the end of the line for citizenship.NO. Illegal immigrants should not be deported wholesale,BUT the MOST they should be able to seek, IF they comply with the hurdles we set,should be a green card.They should never be able to become citizens unless they return to their former countries. The ONLY exception should be the so-called dreamers who were brought here (not who jumped the fence when they were 16),when they were 13 or younger.As it is, ALL illegals who have children here are giving birth to citizens.While this should be addressed prospectively, for now and in the past it is the law that should apply.Last year we stopped over 65,000 coming here from the Middle East alone.Many were suspected of coming the the 100s of training camps in Latin America (especially in Mexico,Paraguay,Venezuela and Argentina)for terrorism.Interdicted people should be returned to their country of origin or jailed,if criminals.Obama has counted them within his deportation numbers without precedent.Without those numbers,his enforcement numbers would be fewer than half than the second Bush's record,which was a joke. In addition,our LEGAL immigration policy must be restored to what it was before Kennedy led the charge to make immigration by skilled workers more difficult and opened the flood gates to people coming here with no skills or formal education,thereby hugely inflating the number of people who need federal or local help,or both to survive.When our parents and grandparents legally entered this country they had to agree to assure the federal government that they would NOT depend on government largess to be able to stay here.They had to work,as hard as necessary to pay their own way-unless physically disabled,THAT should be renewed as the US standard for legal immigration.
Watch the actual footage before you form a judgement. He was unscrupulously taken completely out of context by the Mitchell campaign.
Yes, deportation is harsh, but if it were actively and thoroughly pursued, we wouldn't need to "strengthen our borders" nor claim there is a need to "reform" our immigration laws. It is the fact that once you "make it" into America, you are here to stay, that encourages and will continue to encourage illegal immigration.
That deportation is not a realistic solution in liberal-controlled America is well understood, but what is not well understood is that without the harshness of total deportation, nothing will be effective in ending the illegal immigration problem.
Typical puff-the-citizenry rhetoric from the McConnell camp. BS.
March unemployment, using BLS 145,742,000 employed with 247,258,000 non-inst population adjusted to 66.511% (average 1997/2008) means 164,454,000 comparable workforce yields comparable 18,713,000 (11.4%) unemployment! The difference between that and 10,486,000 (6.7%) reported is 8,227,000 people living without a job or U/C comp! BLS’s 34.5/hr work week (34.5/40.0) means 145,742,000 reporting for work shared 125,702,000 jobs, and 20,040,000 (12.2%) jobs didn’t exist in America. (GE, GM, etc. moved them to China) Total “joblessness was 38,752,000 (23.6%) in a nation that needed every one of them to fight their way out of debt to become self sufficient and productive!
Government amnesty’s 11 million March 2012 illegal alien $402 billion cost means each was subsidized $36,545 tax free at taxpayer expense. If that had been paid as legal wages @ 25% employee tax & 30% employer tax/fringes (55% total) gov/fringe revenue would have increased $221 billion from productivity. If they illegally “shadow” worked for $6 cash free, that $12,480 brings take home revenue to $49,025 tax free. Average BLS 34.4/hr Dec, 2012 citizen take home was $31,903, and they’re taxed to subsidize criminal “tax free” aliens who are protected by the omnipotent progressive powers of Obama, Holder, and rino globalists. A full time Dec 2012 worker ($23.78/hr) cost the employers $64,300/yr while criminal tax evading employers pay ($6) $12,480 yr. and pocket $51,820 each, which is $518,200 for ten, etc. It’s a colossal criminal enterprise that is destroying the USA! Know your enemy by his deeds and actions!
A perfect case of political suicide. Perception is reality. Mitch wins.