MORE BROKEN PROMISES According to the June 26th edition of Politico, the Senate passed the most monumental overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in a generation. The vote 68-32, which meant that 14 courageous Republican Senators crossed the aisle to vote along side of every present Democrat. This bill would clear the way for millions of undocumented residents to have a chance at citizenship, attract workers from all over the world and devote unprecedented resources for security along the U.S.-Mexico border. The June 26th bill also puts the burden of immigration reform on the Republican-led House (if you recall, it was Mitt Romneys 15.6 million defeat in the 2012 Presidential election that caused the GOP to court Hispanics, to begin with). Politico quoted Senator Chuck Shumer (D-NY) as saying that the strong bi-partisan vote we took is going to send a message to the other end of the capitol, as well. Shumer further state that The bill has generated a level of support we believe will be impossible for the House to ignore. Impossible may not have been the word for which Shumer was looking: I think the word, suicidal could be more to the point. Reporters who cover capitol hill strongly believe that, when Democratic votes are taken into consideration along with Republican House members who see the need for immigration reform if they are to increase their Hispanic voter base, believe that there ARE enough votes in the House today to pass immigration reform legislation. House Speaker Boehner, has so far been able to hold off a vote on immigration reform by arguing that any new immigration laws must be addressed on a piece-meal basis, while Obama preferred to consider all immigration laws at once. Realizing that he may have the advantage regardless of how the House passes new immigration laws, has altered his earlier position and now asserts that he does not care which way Congress deals with his immigration law reform package as long as it DOES vote on the bills, and that switch has resulted in even further public opinion slippage for the GOP. House Speaker Boehner steadfastly refuses, however, to allow any portion of Obamas immigration law reform package come up for a vote in the House this year. What GOP leadership is obscuring is that the calendar is even less kind to taking on a complex issue like immigration reform in 2014. The deadline to keep the government funded or face another shutdown is Jan. 15. Then in February or March, Congress will have to raise the debt limit again or risk default. These budget battles could be bruising for the GOP. Then comes primary season in May 2014, when Republicans will be polishing their conservative credentials for GOP voters, who resent any form of amnesty for people in the U.S. illegally. On January 4, 2015, the new Congress begins and the bipartisan Senate bill becomes defunct. If the House is not able to pass any election reform law bills this year, it is even LESS likely that the 2014 Congress will be able to deal with this issue. While I have yet to read or hear a national political reporter confirm my conclusion, it seems quite likely to me that Republicans in general, and Boehner in specific, could very easily expose themselves to GREATER jeopardy by doing nothing than they would ever suffer if they actually enacted meaningful reforms. . .It was, after all, the Republicans who promised after the last election to adopt meaningful immigration reform--Democrats had already done so, and the Hispanic community is not stupid, either! The Republican party leaders would also do well to consider the fact the 2016 election is only 2 years away, and neither the Republicans nor their Tea Party brethren have anyone yet who even APPROACHES being a viable candidate. The Democrats, however, already have Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren. Either Clinton or Warren would wipe the floor with their Republican oppsition, whoever that might be. If a presidential election with either Clinton or Warren on one side, and someone like Cruz or Boehner on the other side, could be viewed as a prize fight, there isnt a referee in America that would allow that fight to go on.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 21:56:00 +0000
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