RUSH: Here are the details on Ted Cruz. It’s a story from US News & World Report: “Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a newly elected Republican with a penchant for making headlines –” Did you know that about Ted Cruz? Yeah, he has a penchant for making headlines. That’s what they say about Ted Cruz. He’s really a great, great senator — he makes a lot of headlines.

Anyway, Senator Cruz “filed an amendment that would bar undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States from ever earning citizenship.” Meaning they could never vote. “There are an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally, and a bipartisan immigration reform measure would create a pathway to citizenship over the course of 13 years by requiring those people to pay penalties and back taxes, as well as learn English. Conservatives opposed to reform decry the path as amnesty, but Democrats say they will not support reform that does not cope with the immigrants already living in the US. Cruz also filed amendments that he says would ‘strengthen border security measures.'” He wants to, okay, look, these 11 million, whatever we’re gonna do, they will never be granted citizenship. You can do whatever you want with them, but they’ll never be granted citizenship.

Now, that’s similar to a proposal that we made. Okay, we’ll support amnesty on this program with one proviso, and that is that everybody granted amnesty can’t vote for 25 years. Yes. I am accused of purity, and my purity — meaning standing fast to my principles — is leading to Republicans losing elections. Me and my purity and your purity, all of us standing firm on principle, means that Republicans can’t win elections until we punt our principles.

So just to illustrate the point: Okay, I’ll support amnesty, but they can’t vote for 25 years. And let’s just gauge the reaction to that. I guarantee you the people for amnesty will never go for it that way. “What’s the point, Mr. Limbaugh?” The point is to prove nobody cares about ’em coming out from the shadows and nobody cares about ’em being treated with dignity and nobody cares about any of that. They’re looked at as voters. If we make everything else in immigration possible, except they can’t vote, then what happens to the support for it? It would all plummet and fall apart.