Larry Kudlow: I've Changed My Mind. Seal the Borders. Stop Giving Out Visas Until We Sort This Out.

"This is war," he says.

Note that this is a pretty big change, because Larry Kudlow was previously an "immigration reformer," which I take to be the usual code for "business-class Republican amnesty supporter."

And now?

Not so much.

I know this is not my usual position. But this is a war. Therefore I have come to believe there should be no immigration or visa waivers until the U.S. adopts a completely new system to stop radical Islamic terrorists from entering the country. A wartime lockdown. And a big change in my thinking.

ISIS and related Islamic terrorists are already here. More are coming. We must stop them.

Until FBI director James Comey gives us the green light, I say seal the borders.

Here’s what we must do: Completely reform the vetting process for immigrants and foreign visitors. Change the screening process. Come up with a new visa-application review process. Stop this nonsense of marriage-visa fraud. And in the meantime, seal the borders. I agree with Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, who argued many of these points in excellent detail on the National Review website on Friday.

Again, why am I taking this hardline position? In the past I have been an immigration reformer, not a restrictionist. But we are at war. That changes everything.

He knocks Donald Trump for putting this in the ugliest, most likely to repel formulation possible (those are more my words and sentiments than Kudlow's), but he's now agreed in broad principles.

Frankly, I don't know whether or not to take this seriously.

Let me explain to you my Conspiracy Theory.

It could be that the business-class establishment is beginning to think that We're serious about rejecting their fifteenth attempt at just-the-tip amnesty.

It could be that they are starting to really fear that their pet political party might actually desert them.

Therefore, it could be that they have decided that in order to maintain control over their party, they will have to abandon (temporarily) their devotion to the Open Borders cause that threatens their control -- if you can't beat 'em, co-opt them and buy them off with trinkets.

Ergo, this could be a sort of trial balloon to see if it's possible for other Establishment Champions to change their claimed position on these issues -- claiming the exigencies of solemn war have changed the facts, ergo they've changed their minds -- and by doing so find a path to political victory that has hitherto eluded their grasp.

I don't know; am I overthinking? I've become much more cynical and radical than I used to be, and I was never what you'd call a happy and moderate individual.

Update: Aquaviva mentions Kudlow is considering running for Senate in Connecticut.

Oh.

posted by Ace at 07:46 PM

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