Posted on 08/29/2013 11:36:03 AM PDT by cotton1706
Advocates for comprehensive immigration reform are claiming victory in the August recess. Their argument? They won because they didn’t lose.
With legislation stalled in the Republican-controlled House, the push to overhaul the immigration system has not dominated the national headlines or evening news during the four weeks that Congress has been taking its annual summer vacation.
Proponents of reform say they entered the recess worried that foes of the effort would flood town-hall meetings and stage large rallies, in a repeat of the Tea Party uprising that threw the push for healthcare reform off track in the summer of 2009.
Despite efforts by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and others, that dynamic hasn’t materialized.
“What’s more important than what we have seen is what we haven’t seen,” said Jeremy Robbins, director of the Partnership for a New American Economy, a group co-founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that is advocating for immigration reform. “August was a resounding win for us.”
The conservative activist Grover Norquist, who is pushing for immigration reform, also cited the lack of major opposition as the dog that didn’t bark in August. “There’s nothing like that,” he told The Hill on Tuesday. “The anti-immigrant stuff is an inch deep and a mile wide.”
At the same time, the modest rallies in favor of reform have fallen short of a groundswell of support.
Advocates say they did not plan their own large-scale rallies but targeted their efforts to individual congressional districts, and they cited endorsements of a path to citizenship by a number of House Republicans as evidence of their success.
“We never approached August with the idea were going to move 100 House Republicans into the yes column,” said Tom Snyder, who is managing the AFL-CIO’s campaign for legislation that includes a path to citizenship.
Snyder and Robbins said on a conference call with reporters Thursday that they always viewed the recess as a potential challenge, citing concerns that Republicans would return to Washington hardened against reform because of opposition from vocal constituents. “Recess is something that panders to the extreme,” Robbins said.
The advocates said they remained optimistic about the chances for final legislation despite the uncertain outlook in the House, where Republicans are likely to focus on fiscal fights until at least October and potentially the entire fall.
A bipartisan proposal from a group of seven negotiators is stalled because Republicans in the group say it lacks support from the majority required by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to call a vote on immigration legislation.
While lawmakers in both parties have said they want to get a final bill signed by the end of the year in advance of the 2014 midterm elections, advocates said there would still be a window of opportunity early next year before the campaigns begin in earnest.
Boehner has said he wants to get reform done, and backers of the effort said their optimism stemmed in large part because of the electoral imperative that many Republican leaders see in winning over Hispanic voters in future national elections.
“The House Republicans either get it done, or they get blamed for blocking it. It’s as simple as that,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice.
Sharry and others have made clear that while they want to help Republicans succeed, they are threatening serious political consequences in 2014 and 2016 if reform dies.
“We would love to be patting the Republicans on the back for finding a way forward,” Sharry said. “But if they don’t, we will be kicking their ass.”
There. Fixed it.
It hasn't materialized largely because the RINOs have avoided townhalls.
Perhaps the only good thing that will emerge from the rubble if reform is pulled off will be the final destruction of the Republican Party.
Long live its replacement.
Uh...there were no townhall meetings. Our congress critters went home and hid out for the month.
“Uh...there were no townhall meetings. Our congress critters went home and hid out for the month.”
Exactly!
Oh yeah, the illegals tend to vote for Democrats......
Tend? They DO vote Dem.
They probably are right. We can’t drop the ball on this issue. Its passage will lead to the destruction of the United States.
This amnesty bull**** is really starting to wear my *** out. Now we have so called “civil rights leaders” telling us that WE are violating the “civil rights” of the foreign national illegal aliens. It’s obvious that these so called “leaders” need to lighten up on the booze and the recreational drugs. If the FOREIGN NATIONAL illegal aliens are having problems with THEIR “civil rights”, non-alcoholic and non-drug addicted, NORMAL PEOPLE would recommend that they petition THEIR OWN government and demand their “civil rights” from their politicians. No one has a “civil right” to invade someone else’s country. Those illegal alien lowlifes have no right to come into MY country and demand “civil rights” with a free ride on the FREEway to the Big Pinata. Take that “civil rights” bull**** home and cry to YOUR OWN government about it. YOUR “civil rights” are NOT OUR problem. You do not have a “civil right” to my tax dollars.
BTW: Each one of you need to take at least one of these “civil rights leaders” and “advocates” with you! We’ve got way to many of those ***holes in this country as it is.
I do not think so. Congress still has Economic Issues 2013 US Treasury to hit debt limit by October..That’s coming up quickly, moving debate over this Congress-imposed cap on the national debt onto the legislative calendar right alongside a parallel debate in Congress about approving a budget for the new fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
Right now, Republicans and Democrats appear light-years apart. Many conservative lawmakers are pushing to link a hike in the debt limit with plans for new spending cuts.
How much time will be spent on immigration reform vs the debt limit by October ?
I agree with you 100%
As far as I’m concerned this illegal”Invasion” of our land is just beyond words...thanks to the so called”Political Correctness”
that is totally out of hand. All of this talk about “a way to citizenship” is for the birds AND MOST of ALL, it cheapens our citizenship,and this Administration and others before it.....are just the same as ‘GIVING IT AWAY.....As a Proud American, my citizenship is my most valued possession. Any one who wants to be a citizen needs to get in line & do it legally. And IF they cross our border illegally that will penalize them. As far as I’m concerned that would be enough right there for them to NEVER be granted citizenship, AND this so called ‘”anchor baby” nonsense would have been stopped a long time ago.
Also, English should have been declared the official language of the USA a long time ago.
Our nation could put a man on the moon, they sure as heck could seal up our border...but there have to be people sent to Congress who have the WILL AND THE SPINE to take a stand....oh, and not base every one of there votes on how it will affect their next election.... that goes for BOTH PARTIES.
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