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Boehner Reassures GOP Donors: I’m “Hellbent” on Passing Immigration Reform this Year

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Photo Credit: HotAir

Photo Credit: HotAir

A big gamble if true, but not a crazy one. He’s betting that nothing the GOP does, up to and including amnesty, will enrage grassroots conservatives so much that they’re likely to stay home in protest in November because of it. Anger at ObamaCare trumps all. When the dust settles, after a week or two of talk radio calling Boehner a traitor for passing an immigration bill and vowing to go third party, everyone will swallow hard and decide that they have no choice but to vote for the GOP anyway in the name of stopping O-Care. The redder the Senate turns next year, the greater the odds of repeal in 2017. Although if they’d sell you out on immigration, I’m not sure why you’d think they won’t sell you out on that too when the time comes.

As much as I suspect an immigration deal under these circumstances will inevitably be terrible, I also think Boehner’s bet is a shrewd one. In fact, I’ll place a bet of my own: If they pass something along the lines of the Gang of Eight bill and I end up writing a bunch of posts in October exhorting people to boycott the midterms because of it, some commenters will be calling me a traitor.

Speaker John Boehner and other senior House Republicans are telling donors and industry groups that they aim to pass immigration legislation this year, despite the reluctance of many Republicans to tackle the divisive issue before the November elections.

Many lawmakers and activists have assumed the issue was off the table in an election year. But Mr. Boehner said at a Las Vegas fundraiser last month he was “hellbent on getting this done this year,” according to two people in the room…

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What is Boehner’s Secret Immigration Plan?

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteWhat did House Speaker John Boehner really mean on Thursday when he announced that the GOP will back a multi-stage amnesty for 12 million illegals, and increase the flow of foreign workers into the country?

The various GOP legislators and advocates can’t tell if Boehner is faking solidarity with the GOP’s immigration-boosting business donors, or is moving slowly to muffle voters’ worries about competition for jobs and wages.

So they’re looking for clues to what Boehner will do next. They’re checking his statements and demeanor, his quips, claps and shrugs, to find out if he really want to push the unpopular bill though the House.

They’re also trying to gauge the willingness of GOP legislators to go through a painful process that would split the GOP base before November, distract the media and voters from Obamacare, and perhaps leave the Democrats in control of the Senate after the November election.

They’s also working to cajole, pressure, spin and lobby to drag Boehner over to their side.

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Boehner Faces Backlash On Immigration Overture

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photo credit: Fibonacci blue House Speaker John A. Boehner’s overture to Democrats and President Obama on immigration reform is already drawing fire from within the GOP, where lawmakers say he’s writing checks that his fellow House Republicans won’t cash for him.

“I’m concerned that Speaker Boehner is getting ahead of House Republicans when he commits to getting a ‘comprehensive approach’ to immigration taken care of ‘once and for all,’” Rep. John Fleming, Louisiana Republican, said in a statement late Thursday, telling Mr. Boehner to “pull back” on his comments.

In an interview with ABC on Thursday, two days after his party saw Hispanics vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, Mr. Boehner said the time had come to address immigration.

“This issue has been around far too long and while I believe it’s important for us to secure our borders and to enforce our laws, I think a comprehensive approach is long overdue, and I’m confident that the president, myself, others, can find the common ground to take care of this issue once and for all,” he said.

His use of the word “comprehensive” set off alarm bells within the GOP, since that is the term immigrant-rights advocates use for legislation that would legalize most of the 11 million illegal immigrants now in the U.S., as well as rewrite the legal immigration system.

Read more from this story HERE.