This is another sign it's going to happen. Greg Sargent had a post yesterday that asked if immigration reform is dead on arrival in the House. The short answer is no. Just like the fiscal cliff deal, Sandy relief, and raising the debt ceiling. In fact it's more imperative that the GOP agree to real immigration reform. There will be enough GOP support in the House and Boehner will certainly allow a vote.
I think the National Journal post that Sargent looks at, fails to realize that the GOP House is now a paper tiger. In a post Hastert Rule world, important legislation will make it.
"All of this said, there are reasons to believe immigration reform very well may end up getting through the House. Think back to the student loan, payroll tax cut, and fiscal cliff debacles in the House. In all these cases, measures fiercely opposed by conservatives won broad bipartisan support in the Senate, whereupon the isolation of House Republicans proceeded to intensify and the pressure on them to cave grew louder. then came the surrender, in which the House GOP leadership allowed a vote. The measures passed the House with mostly Democratic support. That’s how things could play out in the House on immigration reform, too, particularly if GOP leaders want it to happen. All signs are that they do. So I wouldn’t declare this dead in the House quite yet."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/29/is-immigration-reform-doomed-in-the-gop-controlled-house/
If you want to understand the likely trajectory of policy over the next few years, it's vital to understand that this is not the last Congress, Yes the GOP still has decent sounding numbers and I get that many of them are from very conservative districts. But there are enough more mainstream conservatives-as the record of past legislation shows.
On immigration you'll probably get more GOP support in the House than say Sandy relief-which suggests their warped priorities, no doubt.
On Monday, Limbaugh had dismissed the plan as "amnesty" and that it was up to him and Fox News to kill it. He then said he wasn't so sure about Fox which is true-Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly have already signed on to immigration reform.
However, after speaking to Rubio, Rush is won over. What's really going on is that Rush and company have to convince themselves that Rubio and Obama's plans are incommensurable-there's such a wide gulf they're unbridgeable.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/marco-rubio-rush-limbaugh_n_2575469.html?utm_hp_ref=miami
At the end of the day, though they have Rush on board. It's going to happen and it's going to be big. The only question is how many GOP Reps. It could be a healthy number.
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