What do I think Boehner really intends to do about illegal immigrants? I think he’s torn. He may buy the idea that Republicans have to do something about this—or at least appear to do something about this—in order to appeal to Hispanic votes (I disagree that it would woo their votes from the Democrats, but he’s not consulting me). He also knows that the GOP’s big-money donors seem to want immigration reform passed, and he needs to placate them to keep the money flowing. So he likes to indicate that he would really really love to pass something of the sort (see also this). But every time he says it he is careful to add an interesting caveat, to the effect that “no action is possible until President Obama proves himself a trustworthy partner to Republicans.”Does that seem very likely to happen? That’s Boehner’s out, I think, in case he decides not to do it or in case he can’t convince enough Republicans to do it. He can then say to everyone who wanted it, “I tried, but I couldn’t succeed because Obama’s not a trustworthy partner on this.”
Would fit with my overall impression of him as yet another pol who started out with rightie principles pretty much intact and then became thoroughly Beltway-ized.
While I realize that your rightie principles are right to you, what do the polls say the people say? My take is that a majority want immigration reform, including finding a way for those here now (because everybody, including righties looked the other way for decades while they came in droves) to stay.
ReplyDeleteThere are some fresh polls out there that would bolster your view, but there are also questions about their reliability.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what those polls indicate, the basic principle is whether laws mean anything. Every person here who snuck in rather than following established procedure is technically a criminal. That fact has to be at the forefront of any national discussion. Most of us on the right take the basic position of making sure the border is sealed tight as a drum, and then we can look at the subtle distinctions between the types of illegal aliens already here and how to deal with them.