When a rightwing magazine’s most rightwing columnist says Boehner is being unreasonable by not allowing a House vote on the Senate immigration bill, you know for sure that something’s up.
First, though, let’s examine Barrons political columnist Jim McTague’s credentials. He’s a free-market guy through and through. He hates government. He doesn’t like Democrats, or Obama, either. In the runup to the 2012 election, he wrote two ridiculously wishful-thinking cover stories predicting a Romney landslide. In subsequent columns, he wasn’t even embarrassed by that colossal miss.
Therefore, Boehner should take McTague’s column in the Nov. 17, 2014 issue of Barrons as friendly criticism. McTague is trying to be helpful to a guy he consider a friend and ally. Here’s what he wrote (edited by me for brevity and to stay within the bounds of fair use):
“House Speaker John Boehner’s refusal to let his chamber debate, amend, and vote on a 1,300-page bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Senate in 2013 seems petty and ornery …. Why not bury the hatchet and like a gracious winner work constructively with the loyal opposition? The Senate bill … has been endorsed by every coveted GOP constituency—big business, farmers, and most religious groups. Only Tea Party conservatives despise it. Democrats from President Obama on down don’t understand and are frustrated by Boehner’s refusal to allow a vote. …
“BUT BOEHNER WILL NOT BUDGE. In part it’s because a large group of House Republicans detest Obama and, as one former Hill staffer put it, have an instinct to ‘poke a finger in the President’s eye’ whenever he asks for something. Then there is the risk that the more extreme anti-illegal-immigrant members might turn the debate into a xenophobic circus, eroding the party’s already weak support among Hispanics, one of the nation’s fastest-growing demographic groups. … Another reason that Boehner may be unwilling to allow a vote is that many Republicans want Obama to issue his executive order [to] reinforce their claims that he disdains the checks and balances built into the Constitution by the founding fathers.”
http://online.barrons.com/articles/boehner-plays-politics-on-immigration-reform-1416024762
That’s a hell of a way to legislate. And if that’s the kind of congressional leadership we have now, then the president has no choice but to govern by executive action. And if they force him to do so, he should impose his immigration reform, not their immigration reform, because that’s how politics works. You screw with me, I screw you back.
Oh, and to all the Democrats across the country who gave us this Congress by not voting this month, this is your fault too. Elections do have consequences.