Boehner eyes mid-June immigration vote

OK gang - let's all hold hands and, on the count of three, jump off the cliff together.

The GOP is now officially on a suicide watch. Can we say it agin, this time with feeling?

1. Passing an immigration bill in the House means a conference committee with the Senate and their "comprehensive reform" bill. No matter what the GOP passes, we are going to get the Senate version shoved down our throats.

2. Passing immigration reform will not bring one single Hispanic voter to the GOP side, and will alienate a few million conservatives.

3. The bill is likely to make the GOP a permanent minority.

Allah is disgusted with the process as well as the bill:

Outrageous. Not the fact that the House leadership wants to do something on immigration; that’s been common knowledge for 18 months. What’s outrageous is the timing, which, if this AP report is accurate, would confirm our most cynical suspicions about just how gutless and unaccountable Republicans are on this issue. I remember critics predicting last year that Boehner wouldn’t bring something to the floor before the House primaries for fear that a backlash among conservative voters would knock out a bunch of incumbents. He’d wait until just after the primaries had ended to do it, so that conservatives would be powerless to exert any influence over the process.

I'm as pro business as the next guy but this is ridiculous.

At this point, it doesn’t matter what the bill looks like. You can guess — some sort of modest ENLIST/DREAM amnesty with new security measures built in, designed to irritate conservatives as little as possible. It’s not the substance of it that’s so egregious, it’s the scrupulous unaccountability they’ve demonstrated in trying to pass it. They could have been honest brokers about this by pushing a bill last fall and letting the political chips fall where they may. If that meant primary challenges, so be it; a party that’s as committed to serving its masters in the business lobby as the GOP is should be willing to brave that risk. If the public, including the Republican electorate, is as eager for reform as they claim, they would have been just fine. Instead they’re waiting until practically the minute the primaries are over to reveal their plan, which, let’s face it, is a form of deception.

If Boehner jumps, there will be a move among some prominent conservatives to form a third party - a useless, counterproductive idea that would only hand Obama a congressional majority to really make a hash of things.

Instead, I suggest holding your Rep and Senator accountable by forcing them to pledge to vote against immigration reform . As it stands now, it will only take 17 or so Republican congressmen to vote in favor of the GOP reform bill to pass it in the House. If the proposals are modest - and they will be in the House, the bill is likely to pass.

But the conference report is an entirely different matter. If enough Republican vote aye on a final bill that incorporates most of the Senate's provisions, the resulting revolt by the right will tear the party apart and Obama may get his congressional majority. This is an Ur issue for most activist conservatives and Boehner should realize what he's in for if he goes ahead with this scheme.

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