There was a time not that long ago when I thought Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana would make a very good speaker of the House.

It just goes to show you how fast and far the mighty can fall in Washington.

Mike Pence seemed like the great hope of many freedom lovers. He was right on all the issues. He made a great presentation. He seemed like a true man of principle.

All that changed for me when Mike Pence sold out his constituency and his country on border security.

What am I talking about?

Well, Pat Buchanan told half the story in one of his recent columns – "The stealth amnesty of Rep. Mike Pence." I don't know why he stopped short of exposing the whole sordid mess.

Buchanan won't tell the whole story.

Human Events won't tell the whole story.

The American Spectator won't tell the whole story.

In fact, no "conservative" would dare tell you the whole story.

So, I guess that leaves it up to me.

Buchanan is right about the basic problem with the Pence "compromise" on immigration. It is amnesty light. And, just like the president's plans, it takes the focus off what clearly must be step No. 1 in the immigration debate – securing the border. Only when we make the border secure can we as a nation afford to have a debate about what to do with the illegal aliens already here and how many more immigrants we'd like to entertain in the future.

The Pence plan calls for illegal aliens to return to Mexico for one week with an assurance they can come back to their jobs. Once in Mexico, they "register" for work permits. The illegals are amnestitized and on their way to citizenship whether they want it, understand it or not.

Buchanan hints only at "forces" in Washington pressuring Pence to make this end-run around his own colleagues in the House who are fighting the good fight against amnesty by any other name.

Let me tell you who the specific forces are in the case of Mike Pence.

The Krieble Foundation was founded by a great man who loved his country – Vernon Krieble. The Krieble Foundation even supported some of my work prior to the founding of WorldNetDaily.com. Helen is his granddaughter and looks over his foundation to this day.

Now, one thing you need to know about Mrs. Krieble is that she has a horse farm. And on that horse farm are some ranch hands. You know it's tough to find good help these days. Mrs. Krieble also gives away lots of money to conservative groups. So she came up with her own immigration reform plan -- one adopted by the Heritage Foundation.

Heritage endorsed the Krieble plan and helped bring it attention. It bears a striking resemblance to the Pence plan. And, oh yes, over the years, it just so happens, Mike Pence has benefited immensely from campaign contributions from a variety of political action committees, many of which get massive funding from the Krieble Foundation.

In Washington, this is called: "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine."

And even though Mike Pence has an extraordinarily good record in the House. And even though he is good-looking and well-spoken. And even though he was among only a handful of congressmen who seemed to get it – I'm scratching him right off my list of contenders for the position of House speaker.

He's blown it.

He's sold out.

And if he will sell out to Helen Krieble for a few shekels now, he will no doubt sell out later to someone else in a similar situation. In other words, he has lost my trust.

Don't expect the "conservatives" to join me in this about-face. Many of them, too, are looking for handouts from Helen Krieble and affirmation from the Heritage Foundation.

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Related link:

The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation

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