Wednesday night’s GOP YouTube debate began with a heated exchange between Giuliani and Romney over who was the bigger hypocrite. Both claim tough stances on the immigration issue, but Giuliani gets to dance around the question of whether New York City was/is a “sanctuary city”, and Romney has the dubious distinction of a contractor employing undocumented laborers while doing work at the Massachusetts Governor’s Mansion during Romney’s tenure.
After this post at Alternet, I wonder if Tancredo, whose immigration stance is probably the toughest (most xenophobic?) of the GOP field, might also have the best claim on the “hypocrite” label:
When Republican Representative Tom Tancredo isn’t railing against the “scourge” of illegal immigration on the presidential campaign trail, he relaxes in the 1053 square foot basement recreation room of his Littleton, Colorado McMansion. There, he and his family can rack up a game of billiards on their tournament size pool table, play pinball, or enjoy their favorite movies in the terraced seating area of a home theater system.[...]
When Tancredo hired a construction crew to transform his drab basement into a high-tech pleasure den in October 2001, however, he did not express concern that only two of its members spoke English. Nor did he bother to check the workers’ documentation to see if they were legal residents of the United States. Had Tancredo done so, he would have learned that most of the crew consisted of undocumented immigrants, or “criminal aliens” as he likes to call them. Instead, Tancredo paid the crew $60,000 for its labor and waited innocently for the completion of his elaborate entertainment complex.
During the renovation process, two illegal workers hired by Tancredo were alerted to his reputation for immigrant bashing. They went straight to the Denver Post to complain. Tancredo “doesn’t want us here, but he’ll take advantage of our sweat and our labor,” one of the workers complained to the Post on September 19, 2002. “It’s just not right.”
So, is there anyone who is still unclear on the concept of why so many Americans distrust politicians?
