In an op-ed piece at the Washington Post, Dana Milbank describes how the Tea Party has turned on one of its own, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), for his immigration plan. Members of the Tea Party convened on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to voice their concerns with Rubio's bill.
Much of the scene was familiar: the yellow flags, the banners protesting tyranny and socialism, the demands to impeach President Obama and to repeal Obamacare. But there was a new target of the conservatives' ire: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and his "amnesty" plan for illegal immigrants. The loathing of this onetime darling of the movement — Rubio rode the tea party wave to office in 2010 — could be seen in the homemade signs on the East Lawn of the Capitol proclaiming, "Rubio RINO" (Republican In Name Only) and "Rubio Lies, Americans Die." Rubio antagonism became a main theme of the event, held by Republican Reps. Steve King (Iowa), Louie Gohmert (Tex.), Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and other opponents of the bipartisan Senate immigration legislation that Rubio negotiated.
The lawmakers called to the microphone the Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector, who delivered a sustained rebuke of the turncoat. "Marco Rubio," he charged, "has not read his own bill."
Read Dana Milbank's entire piece at the Washington Post.
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