Dems to Push Immigration Reform; GOP Pouts

Now that the silly shutdown season is over, let’s revisit an issue that affects, oh, tens of millions of Americans, shall we?

According to President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, that sounds like a plan. But don’t get all expectant yet, because — and this is confirmed by multiple sources — the GOP is still part of the federal government.

You’d imagine that, after the 2012 election drubbing and subsequent navel-gaze masquerading as a meaningful soul-searching exercise, Republicans might acknowledge what seemed so obvious to them just a year ago — that immigration reform, as bitter as it tastes to a conservative purist, is central to any chance the GOP has of regaining the White House in 2016, not to mention prevailing in myriad districts where foreign-born voters comprise a key, and growing, voting bloc.

But, as in the sordid episode of the late and lamented shutdown, you just can’t keep a Republican from harpooning himself in the butt, particularly in matters of rational, data-driven, so-obvious-it’s-painful strategy.

Enter Rep. Raul Labrador R-ID (above, testing a new immigration cure-all), the savvy and subtle carrier of crafty water for his party, who has no problem throwing a tantrum to the New York Times, because President Obama hurt him last week, and he’s upset. And when Raul Labrador pouts, all of our lips feel a little heavier:

“I think what [President Obama] has done over the last two and a half weeks, he’s tried to destroy the Republican Party,” Representative Raúl R. Labrador, a Republican from Idaho, said Wednesday. “I think that anything we do right now with this president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind, which is to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies.”

And what about Speaker John Boehner? Word was that he let the hard right hang themselves last week, simply to teach them a lesson about power. So, he should be ready to roll up starchy sleeves and embrace the one issue that could eventually deliver him a partner in the White House, correct?

Er…

Mr. Boehner would like to make progress this year on immigration, a spokesman said Friday. “The speaker remains committed to a step-by-step process to fix our broken immigration system,” the spokesman, Michael Steel, said.

In other words, don’t hold your breath. Until Spring 2016, that is, when surprise Presidential nominee-presumptive Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) is advised by aides that there’s something called ‘immigration’, and it matters to millions, and he is losing early horse-race polls to Hillary Clinton by 59 points in the Hispanic community.

Don’t make it this easy, GOP.

By: rhb

Rob is a NYC-based Internet entrepreneur. He's also a businessman and job creator (wait: doesn't demand create jobs?) who understands the sense, and the eventual predominance, of the progressive agenda.