It is quite clear that an overwhelming majority of the Senate couldn’t care less what the people think on illegal immigration. These people live and die by polling, but when it comes to polling on an issue that will create a permanent Democrat majority, they will never listen to us. According to the latest FoxNews poll, Obama is completely under water on the immigration issue – white voters disapprove of his job on the issue by 60-32, Independents disapprove by 59-32, and non-college educated disapprove by 56-36. Yet, Republicans are hell-bent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, especially at a time when Obama is stewing in a heaping pile of scandals.
They might not vote for amnesty personally, but Mitch McConnell and John Boehner are undocumented supporters of immigration deform. McConnell’s duplicity has been well documented by now. He lobbies hard for it in private meetings, but refuses to vote for it. John Boehner has long said that he wants to pass “comprehensive immigration reform.” Radical nutcase Luis Gutierrez seems to think Boehner is an ally in his fight to radically transform this country. They are convinced that this political winner is actually a political loser, and they want to unload this issue immediately. They will never see the light on the politics of this issue, unless they somehow fire all their consultants and hire Sean Trende.
To that end, the members of leadership will do everything in their power to make this happen on some level. Whenever they feel something is a political liability, irrespective of the veracity of that estimation, they act out erratically.
Here are my concerns and here is how I see this playing out.
There is no way leadership can slam the Senate bill on the floor following the July 4th recess. There will clearly be a revolt. However, they will slowly bleed the conference dry by refusing to go on offense against this lawlessness and agreeing to the premise of “we must pass something” or “the status quo is worse than anything.” Paul Ryan will work indefatigably with Gutierrez and other gangsters to craft a different bill that is fundamentally permanent defacto amnesty and legalization first, albeit with some shiny objects. Those shiny objects will include provisions to require that illegals declare their guilt in court, delay the path to citizenship or retroactively revoke their status if the enforcement is not implemented! They can and will bring this bill to the floor and say with a straight face that it is not the Senate bill.
Alternatively, they can reject comprehensive bills but opt for piecemeal amnesty instead of piecemeal enforcement. Eric Cantor can try to bring a Dream Act or Ag worker amnesty to the floor. Without first removing the incentives for future waves, such expedited paths to citizenship for some of the poorest people would balloon the welfare state. Based on all the things leadership is saying in private, they are incorrigibly committed to passing some form of amnesty this year. We are the only ones who can stop it.
Most of the House members have been awfully quiet on this issue. It is disappointing that so many House delegations in states where GOP senators are selling out have remained silent. They should be doing media in their states every day disavowing their senators. Yes, we’re looking at you in the Tennessee delegation.
It’s time every member come out of the shadows and state unambiguously where he/she stands on the issue. All conservative members need to unite against any effort to bring any form of legalization to the floor until Obama begins enforcing the laws on the books. They should shame and embarrass the administration with hearing and with cutting off funding for DHS during the budget battle this fall. They should also campaign on this issue and make it the Obamacare of 2014.
The House members are a lot closer to the people than the Senators, but only if they hear from us.