(CNN) -- How does Sen. Marco Rubio curry favor with Hispanic voters and at the same time burnish his tea party credentials?

Easy. By saying one thing and doing another.

On May 10, Rubio, a Florida Republican, attempted to reframe his Dream Act proposal to give special visas to children of undocumented workers if they attend college or serve in the military. He said, "But I would just say this is really not an immigration issue; it's a humanitarian issue." On that same day, he quietly submitted a bill that would severely threaten humanitarian assistance to nearly 4 million children living in poverty. These are U.S. citizens. But to Rubio they are guilty by association. Through no fault of their own their parents are undocumented workers.

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There is nothing "humanitarian" about terminating assistance to nearly 4 million American children who depend on such support. And there is nothing humanitarian about his "DREAM Act without the dream," a palliative offer of legality without a clear path to citizenship. Such a proposal is nothing more than crumbs thrown to Latinos, who Rubio apparently hopes aren't paying attention.

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The hypocrisy of Rubio's recent moves paints a vivid picture of the unbridled ambition of an individual who plays on the politics of resentment and fear at the expense of children. Imagine a patient in critical condition bleeding of multiple stab wounds. Rubio talks about putting a Band-Aid on the patient's little finger, while silently stabbing him in the back.

In March I wrote that "Rubio Needs a 'Nixon in China' Moment," insisting that the senator should use his conservative credentials to courageously break the logjam in immigration reform. I was at first encouraged to see him step into this debate, but unlike the rabidly anti-Communist Nixon, who traveled to China to promote détente, Rubio instead travels to key battleground states -- Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, tea party turf -- to peddle his autobiography.

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