Posted on 08/22/2013 5:59:36 AM PDT by Alter Kaker
Senior GOP aides of a super PAC linked to Speaker John Boehner are lobbying House Republicans to pass the Senate Gang of Eight immigration bill, legislation that Boehner has said he will not bring to the House floor.
The lobbying effort is coming under the umbrella of the American Action Network, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) action tank led by former senator Norm Coleman, which is touting the major positive economic impact of the Senate bill in e-mails sent to individual House Republican offices.
AAN is housed in the same office as the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC associated with Boehner, and the two organizations share senior aides, including Brian O. Walsh, the president of both organizations, and Dan Conston, the spokesman for both.
Boehner spoke at a fundraiser for CLN earlier this summer and also headlined the organizations inaugural event. The groups website has posted links to numerous news stories that refer to the group as Boehners super PAC.
The AANs e-mail, sent to GOP offices, touts the number of jobs the group estimates the Senate bill would create for the congressional district and state of that office. The group also released an embeddable widget that allows users to find out how many jobs the Senate bill would create in the district of their representative.
Conston, the spokesman for both AAN and CLN, said the analysis, based on the Senate bill, is simply about broadly showing the local economic benefits of reforming a broken visa system a problem House Republicans want fixed.
If similar studies are produced showing the economic benefit of House legislation, you can be sure well produce a similar product, he added.
Still, AANs efforts to tout the Senate bill ruffled feathers on the Hill where some aides were not pleased to feel pressure from Boehners super PAC to pass legislation that Boehner and the rest of GOP leadership has dismissed as dead on arrival in the House.
The Speaker has been clear that the Senate bill will not be considered by the House, and that we will insist on fixing our broken immigration system through a step-by-step approach that starts with securing our borders and enforcing our laws, Cory Fritz, a Boehner spokesman, said when contacted about the AANs push for the Senate bill.
The American Action Forum, a third organization housed at the office where AAN and CLN both reside, 555 13th Street NW, Suite 510 West, is a 501(c)(3) think tank led by noted GOP budget guru Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
Conston noted AAN has supported the Houses step-by-step approach on immigration in the past. For example, a press release announcing an effort to push the House GOP to embrace immigration reform broadly launched at the outset of the August recess said, We support the Houses effort to deal with immigration reform in a methodical step-by-step conservative way. Conston also said AAN has supported immigration reform since before CLN was brought into existence in October 2011.
During consideration of the Senate bill in the upper chamber, senior GOP aides aligned with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, and others helped push the bill across the finish line, the Huffington Post reported in June.
“Super PAC” implies “super bribes.”
Why can’t we all just get along, right?
Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, they’re just regular guys, right?
Doesn’t their point of view have as much value as ours?
Shouldn’t we just compromise?
I SO hope the “Freedom Party” ascends to the national stage if the GOP bows to amnesty. The GOP will need to be destroyed for that kind of treachery.
Bastard should be tarred and feathered.
The GOP is over.
Boehner may actually be historically seen as responsible for ending the GOP. What a complete failure.
Norm Coleman, another liberal GOP loser. The man rolled for his senate seat.
So does this defund Obama-care govmt shutdown distraction make it easier or harder for Bohner to pass amnesty?
I am am not sure myself. Maybe amnesty will be put on hold till a budget agreement is worked out and passed, or maybe not.
Someone asked me recently: why do you wish to destroy the republican party. He is basically a RINO btw. I said simple, why do we need two parties who basically follow the same course of action and frankly I don’t intend to be complicit in that relationship.
He looked as if he had been hit by a pie in the face after registering that comment.
A distinction of one is not a difference at all.
Tyrant B. Hussein Obama, (aka Barry Soetoro), continues his unopposed efforts to expand Totalitarian Obamanation in Liberty-based America.
Were are the Republican opponents of Tyrant Obama?
Why have the Articles of Impeachment for Tyrant Obama not been issued by US House Speaker Boehner, or Welfare Republicans Cantor or Ryan?
Have Welfare Republicans formed a pact with Welfare Democrats to protect Tyrant Obama?
Ah yes, the same Norm Coleman who was prominently advising Romney and the GOP to not even attempt to repeal Obamacare ...
This guy is a dangerous, opportunistic fraud, and people like him who have wormed themselves into the GOP power circle need to be exposed.
Rush always advises us not go third party but try to reform the Republican party instead. I must disagree with Rush on this after seeing how the party big wigs didn’t support the conservative in Alaska but the loser of the primary in the last senate race,pushed Romney and McCain on us and have run down Palin and other conservatives as both unelectable and too extreme.I’m also tired of the surrender and roll over strategy and the let’s legalize the illegals they won’t vote for us but our cheap laborer donors will be happy and let’s expand hb 1 visas and invite more muslims in while we’re at it too. But you need to vote for us or the democrats will enact their agenda... oh wait ... we need a two party system to ah preserve freedom and if you don’t vote for us the government will run your health care! No give me a minute I got it this time you need to vote for us because....
Duh, I knew from the get go that the ruling republican elite is supporting this bill and Obamacare, in fact they are no different then Democrats, that’s why I refer to them as Republocrats.
We are now run by a fascist government, our voices don’t count, our votes don’t count, the only thing they want from us is our money, ALL OF IT.........
Seig Heil
Either my congressman lied to his staff, or they lied to me. Earlier they had assured me that he was not for a path-to-citizenship, but yesterday he told the local Chamber of Commerce he was for a path-to-citizenship. You see, he explained, "If we provide no workable court process to some form of legal status for some of our current illegal population, we will never gain the votes of the amnesty crowd." So he becomes part of the "amnesty crowd" for the sake of - you guessed it - "border security."
But perhaps the good news (if he is telling the truth about this) is that he does not think "immigration reform" will become law.
Called his office again today and said, although I have always voted for him in the past, if he persists in pushing amnesty, I will not vote for him again.
Trying to understand exact wording.
Citizenship is not the only ‘court process to some form of legal status ‘ as we know.
But I think he means the rather obvious by now:
“We really need guest workers and new consumers and border patrol but Obama wont let us have it wo citizenship, so we must give citizenship to them to get a deal.
But the good news is we will delay them voting for 13 years till we sell our businesses and retire and flee the country, by then the Ryan plan will start cutting medicare anyway. So party now and party hard.”
I get a real kick out of these FReepers who say that if amnesty passes, we will either vote them out, or start a new party. I got news for you folks, if this amnesty passes, it won’t matter what you do.
“But I think he means the rather obvious by now:
We really need guest workers and new consumers and border patrol but Obama wont let us have it wo citizenship, so we must give citizenship to them to get a deal.
But the good news is we will delay them voting for 13 years till we sell our businesses and retire and flee the country, by then the Ryan plan will start cutting medicare anyway. So party now and party hard. “
I really wish I could laugh.
I never had any doubt he’d go for it.
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