Hi Gordon-
I knew Boehner had put off any discussion on the immigration bill for this year, of which not much remains, but I haven't heard or read anything saying he's taken it off the table for "this coming year". I would have to research that, because I would think that is political suicide for the republicans. I do know that he doesn't want to entertain the current Senate version.
If I were really dogmatic, I too could say that the 'only' reason that democrats want to quickly give citizenship to 12 -13 million illegals is political as well, as it would add a good number of democratic voters to their rolls. But I don't think it would be of much help for the 2014 election, because the pathway to citizenship as I understood it would take years. But it could help with persuading the votes of those who are already legal and able to vote. In that context, I'm not sure how it helps republicans to block any discussion for the next year, as it only reinforces the lefts message that the republicans are against 'foreigners'. Isn't that the reason why those like Rubio wanted to take up an immigration bill? For what remains of this year, I think with the health care problems, this is probably where they want to place their focus.
For my own thoughts on it, and perhaps this is the thought of a number of republicans in Congress as well, I don't like these huge bills that are stuffed with things that only cause further complications. In 1986, Ted Kennedy, after the passage of that years amnesty bill said this, "We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward another amnesty bill like this." Sound familiar? That bill provided citizenship to just a little over a million illegals, this current bill would provide citizenship to 12-13 millions illegals. What would this do to our already strained entitlement programs? What would it do to health care premiums? Maybe we take the hit on these, but is there a guarantee that we aren't revisiting this exact same situation another 20 years down the road?
I happen to actually work with a good number of those from Latin America, and consider a woman from Mexico, that I often work with, as being one of my best friends. In fun, she often calls me her 'brother'. From being around her, and those she works with, I find the majority of them to be really nice, good natured, often very religious (of which I'm not), family oriented and extremely hard working. If the republicans were smart, and often they aren't, I don't see why they can't be republican supporters. My friend votes for republicans.
Concerning Cruz, and the dismantling of the ACA, I'm not sure that today he seems quite as crazy as when he was telling people of the coming disaster from this bill. As I said at the time, my problem with him was more on style than substance. But I consider Reid and Pelosi as being just as crazy, only they actually hold leadership positions. Obama, just this past Thursday, concerning the policy cancellations said, ".....there is no doubt, that the way I put that forward unequivocally ended up not being accurate". Meanwhile, on the very same day, Pelosi said at a press conference, "What the president said was completely accurate." In the mental wards, they call this a classic symptom of denial, and they look at readjusting your medications.
