TribBlog: Riddle Me This

Did state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, really say minorities were opposed to immigration reform because they were used to “entitlements”?  That’s what Trey Martinez Fischer D-San Antonio, tweeted yesterday in anticipation of their scheduled debate on CNN over immigration. It turns out he was right. According to Riddle, Arizona-styled immigration in Texas could be a tough sell because "when you have people that are used to entitlements, then they like the entitlements and they want the entitlements to keep coming."   The CNN debate was postponed Monday because of the BP oil spill, and again today because of the alleged New York City bomber. But, not to worry, Martinez-Fischer's staff said that, barring any breaking news, they were set for Wednesday at 10:35 AM.

Today staffers from Riddle’s office called and said they didn’t really know where Martinez-Fischer was coming from when he posted his tweet.

“I don’t remember her saying anything like that, and she doesn’t remember saying anything like that,” said staff member Jonathan English. Asked, perhaps, if Martinez-Fischer’s staff poured over old committee transcripts or the House records for the controversial little nugget:

“My guess is that some place on some committee log from seven years ago she said something that could maybe construed to mean this but nobody here can confirm that,” said English.

Apparently Martinez-Fisher’s office can confirm, by way of a radio interview Riddle gave with Houston’s KPFT, 90.1 FM. Riddle was a guest on Partisan Gridlock with Geoff Berg. And it wasn’t a few years back. It was last Friday. Riddle’s response to whether representatives from districts with a considerable minority population would vote for Arizona-styled immigration laws starts the “entitlement” talk. It begins at 2:10.