Well, that didn’t take long.
In the first standoff between Republican leadership and President Obama following the November elections, the GOP is showing signs it doesn’t have the fortitude to fight the good fight.
There is no good reason for the House NOT to take real action now.
We went from House Speaker John Boehner declaring just days after the election that when it came to Obama’s executive action on immigration, “We are going to fight the president tooth and nail,” to three weeks later the House passing a completely toothless bill that declares the president’s actions “null and void” but has zero strings attached to actually make that so.
Boehner updated his talking points this week, saying on Thursday, “Come January, we’ll have a Republican House and Republican Senate, and we’ll be in a stronger position to take actions.” It is, he said, “the most practical way to fight the president’s action.”
Practical isn’t the same as effective.
“Practical” means business as usual and “we’re backing down.” Indeed, there is the possibility the House will pass a bill next week that funds all government agencies well into 2015, including the Department of Homeland Security—the main implementer of Obama’s executive amnesty program. Despite the fact the GOP will control both the House and Senate come January, it is much harder to take back money once you’ve allocated it.
There is no good reason for the House NOT to take real action now. If leaders need ideas, they can take a look at the public memo put together by my colleagues at Heritage Action that clearly lays out three very workable scenarios the GOP could follow to force Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s hand—and put any talk about not funding the government or a government shutdown on both Reid’s and Obama’s plate.
Heritage Action chief executive Michael Needham is right to say, “The fight is now, not next year. Americans expect real action, not a show vote.”
And not only did voters deliver a resounding message on Election Day rebuffing Obama and his agenda, a new poll out this week by Quinnipiac University shows a growing opposition among American voters to illegal immigration.
In November 2013, 57 percent of American voters said illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the country and be given a path to citizenship. That number has dropped almost 10 points in the past year with only 48 percent agreeing with that statement today.
The same 2013 poll showed 26 percent of respondents believed illegal immigrants should be forced to leave the country. Today, that number is up to 35 percent—the largest ever recorded by Quinnipiac.
There has been a lot of talk from Republicans about how Obama apparently didn’t get the message from the election. Conservatives might rightly ask the same of the GOP leadership.
