In a turn of events so predictable that Helen Keller could have seen it coming, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is bowing before united Democratic opposition and a hostile press. After all the promises, all the hardline talk, and a midterm election that gave Republicans a clear mandate, it looks like the Department of Homeland Security will be funded in full. What’s even more hilarious about all of this (or depressing, depending on how you look at it), Democrats are rejecting his offer to give in!
“I’ve indicated to the Democratic leader that I’d be happy to have his cooperation to advance consideration of a clean DHS bill, which would carry us through September 30,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “With Democratic cooperation on a position they have been advocating for the last two months, we could have that vote very quickly.”
From the beginning of this debacle, Harry Reid’s minority has filibustered the House spending bill in hopes of getting a clean one that does not defund Obama’s executive order on amnesty. Yet now that McConnell is ready to break, it looks like the Democrats want more.
“The problem is everybody, I’m waiting to hear from the Speaker,” said Reid. “We have to make sure people understand the bicameral nature of this Congress that we serve in. So to have Sen. McConnell just pass the ball over to the House isn’t going to do the trick.”
So Democrats won’t stop filibustering until they get a promise from John Boehner that the House of Representatives can pass the clean bill. “We’re willing to debate anything they want dealing with immigration, after we fund homeland security,” Reid said.
That’s all well and good, but there’s not much to debate after Obama’s amnesty has been funded in whole. This was the only shot Republicans had. To use the congressional power of the purse and their majority to force Democrats to make a choice: national security or amnesty for illegals. It should have been a slam dunk. Because they have allowed Obama and the left to dominate the discussion, however, they backed themselves into a corner. Now, largely because the media has portrayed this story incorrectly, it looks like it’s Republicans sacrificing national security in the name of petty politics.
To save face, McConnell wants to hold a separate vote on legislation that would block Obama’s amnesty. Of course, there’s not one reason on earth that he would be able to win that vote. Even if he could push past Democratic filibuster (why stop now, considering how effective it proved to be?), it is doomed to die on the president’s desk. Forcing Obama to veto the DHS spending bill would be a major political victory. Forcing him to veto a block of his own amnesty is not.
A 26-state lawsuit now provides conservatives with their only glimmer of hope. Will we move forward into a brave new world where the executive branch is free to go around the law? Or will we restore the system of government that has served us well for more than 200 years? It’s up to the judicial branch now; the legislative branch has proven to be spineless.
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