“There is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse.”
–Thomas Sowell
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently declared that Democrats would take up immigration reform “this year,” defying the conventional wisdom that the issue is too perilous for the party to push during an election year. But maybe it’s Republicans who should be nervous—because a high-octane immigration fight could drive a wedge between the Republican Party and the Tea Party right.
“It becomes a very explosive argument when you talk about legitimizing immigrants,” says retired GOP Rep. Tom Davis, the former chair of the National Republican Campaign Committee. “From a Republican point of view, there is a dilemma.”
The Republican Party got badly burned when Congress last considered immigration reform in 2006 and 2007. Some GOP legislators, including Sen. John McCain, championed a bipartisan bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. But this proposition outraged the conservative base, who decried it as an “amnesty” for law-breakers.
[…]
The emergence of the Tea Party has only widened this rift within the conservative movement. […] Recently, these two factions have started to clash out in the open. Last month, Armey called anti-immigrant crusader and former Republican representative Tom Tancredo a “destructive” force in the GOP, adding that “the Republican Party is the most naturally talented party at losing its natural constituents in the history of the world.” His comments prompted a vehement backlash from conservatives like Michelle Malkin, who slammed Armey as an “amnesty stooge.”
[…]
WIth the rise of the Tea Party, even the elements of immigration reform that most Republicans agree on—namely tougher border security—may create “difficulty for some conservatives, as an imposition on business, a government mandate,” says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former top adviser to McCain’s presidential campaign. “A lot of immigration reform is very interventionist.”
Deport Murdock!!! .. Let common sense return to the republican party..
Undocumented immigrants usually end as lowly construction employees, caregivers, gardeners, lawnmowers, carpenters and the like. These are jobs that Americans don’t want to do. Cast out them all and what would happen to America? A state of filthy grannies staying on grassy old houses?
I believe that this so-called “reform” issue is just another Red Herring, from the Party of NO. Another hot button idea, they’re exploiting, as they have Abortion and others. Covering up for far more important concerns, like Identity Theft, and citizen’s privacy, that they choose not do deal with. So they smoke screen issues, take their place in the news. And spur voters to get back to electing their puppet candidates.
I think what they fear the most is voting numbers falling so low, that general elections get called off. And major reforms get put into place, to restore the eroded representation of the citizenry, over corporate interests. They don’t want a second American Revolution, to mess up their sweet deal. So they pretend to care about these lesser issues. That they make more of a deal about, than they’re worth.
So what if we’ve got illegals invading America, when Big Oil gets away with destroying our economy and environment. And hardly any of the politicos say squat. In fact they’ve been blaming Obama, for suggesting new drilling. When it was actually the GOP, and Sarah Palin, that first pushed the idea. Remember, “Drill Baby Drill”? But now they’re NOT OWNING UP TO ANY OF IT. It’s only Obama’s fault, as usual. His fault for going alone with THEIR environmentally reckless ideas.
Many republicans are trying to block immigration reform. It doesn’t only affect Mexicans, but many legal immigrant residents too. I hope after the midterm elections the republican party becomes an even smaller minority!