House Republicans are refusing to vote on immigration reform this year as a punishment for the way President Obama treated them during the government shutdown.
According to USA Today,
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said he is committed to advancing immigration legislation in this Congress, but there is virtually no interest among GOP lawmakers to vote for the kind of sweeping bill that Democrats are seeking.
Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, a conservative who was once a member of a bipartisan House group that tried to draft a broad immigration bill, said the prospects for even smaller bills are slim in the House.
“It’s not going to happen this year,” Labrador said. “After the way the president acted over the last two or three weeks where he would refuse to talk to the speaker of the House … they’re not going to get immigration reform. That’s done.”
Since President Obama wouldn’t let the tea party Republicans deny access to healthcare to 30 million Americans, these same people are going to punish the immigrant community by refusing to vote on comprehensive immigration reform. Yeah, that makes lots of sense.
Once again, House Republicans are revealing that there is no limit to their pettiness. Boehner and his Republicans didn’t get their way on the government shutdown and the debt ceiling, so they are going to take their ball and go home. They stopped short of saying that if the president wants them to do vote on immigration reform he has to agree to make changes to the ACA, but I’m sure that’s coming.
It will come as a shock to many House Republicans to learn that they are being paid by the American people to vote on things. Voting is a part of their job description. When they refuse to vote, they are sending the message that they aren’t interested in doing their jobs.
The real reason why Boehner won’t bring the immigration reform bill to the floor for a vote is that there are enough votes between Democrats and Republicans to pass it. Since it would make the tea party faction angry, Boehner can’t allow the House to properly function.
House Republicans are going to get even with Obama by hurting the Republican Party even more with a group of voters that they desperately need if they are ever going to win another presidential. In their warped view, making the Republican Party less popular with Hispanics will really show Obama and the Democrats who’s boss.
If House Republicans want to put their majority in further jeopardy, and damage their party in an attempt to punish Obama, that’s their choice.
In reality, all they are accomplishing is driving another nail into the Republican Party’s coffin.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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