The Republican establishment and many in the establishment Republican-leaning media have made it sound like the end of the #Schumershutdown was some kind of a win for conservatives and the conservative – populist agenda.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality, the end of the #SchumerShutdown presages the real fight for the future of this country and the soul of the Republican Party, which will take place sometime between now and February 8 when the Senate GOP “leadership” makes good on its deal to give the open borders crowd a vote on their bill to legalize millions of presently illegal aliens.
But The Washington Post and other liberal outlets were having none of that.
The Washington Post’s top political reporters, Robert Costa, Erica Werner and Karen Tumulty wrote:
A flood of social-media fury was directed at Schumer for a “cave” by “weak-kneed, right-of-center Democrats,” as the Progressive Change Campaign Committee framed the Democrats’ move. Outraged liberals moaned that Democrats had won nothing but a fig leaf to cover the fact that they had broken down.
OFA, the political remnant of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, issued a statement: “Let’s be clear: This stopgap measure is not a solution. It’s merely a band-aid for a self-inflicted wound that remains untreated.”
This is complete hogwash, and they know it.
Schumer has already declared that McConnell’s statement about holding a vote on an amnesty bill sometime in February was a “commitment” and warned the GOP leader to “abide by this agreement” or else risk breaching the trust of lawmakers in both parties.
And lawmakers in both parties are the problem.
As The Hill’s Mike Lillis reported, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) laid out a strategy Sunday night on the second day of the shutdown in which he’d “take up” legislation addressing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program after Feb. 8 — if Democrats agreed to reopen the government.
As Left-leaning Slate reported Sunday, “All day, McConnell had been taking meetings with an impeccably dressed Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and a shabbily dressed South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had taken it upon themselves to act as liaisons between the Democratic and Republican leaders.”
Now here’s the important part no one in the establishment media wants you to pay any attention to:
The announcement read by McConnell [Sunday night] was one that Flake and Graham had been negotiating all day. If Democrats reopened the government on the bill under consideration, which would fund the government until Feb. 8, and there was no breakthrough on an immigration deal before then, it would be McConnell’s “intention” to open debate on immigration and, as Texas Sen. John Cornyn said afterward, allow “the Senate to work its will.” In other words, the Senate would take up a shell bill and various immigration proposals, like the bipartisan legislation Flake and Graham have introduced, or more partisan alternatives, could be called up as amendments.
What this means is that unless the President and the House cave on amnesty before February 8, McConnell is going to allow the Graham – Durbin bill that President Trump already rejected as “the opposite of what I campaigned on” to come to the floor and get a vote in the Senate – where it is almost sure to pass given the number of open borders Republicans in that chamber of the Congress.
As Slate’s Jim Newell observed, because the Gang of Six amnesty bill, or one like it, is probably the only bill that can get the 60 votes necessary to escape the Senate floor process, it would arrive at the House’s doorstep as the DACA expiration date nears.
House Republicans, noted Newell, could try to pass a conservative alternative, like the Goodlatte-Labrador bill, but even if it passed, it would die in the Senate. The Gang of Six bill, by contrast, could pass the House with unanimous Democrat support and the votes of open borders Republicans. The pressure for stopping a massive amnesty of illegal aliens would fall squarely on Ryan’s shoulders.
Make no mistake about what happened on Monday – this was not a win for conservatives. All that happened was that Democrats and open borders “Republicans” such as Senators Lindsey Graham and Jeff Flake have been given three more weeks to line-up the pro-amnesty votes in Congress and hammer President Trump in the media.
Grassroots Republicans and supporters of President Trump’s conservative – populist agenda must understand that all this stalling around on passing a final spending bill after the #SchumerShutdown is about one thing – and it isn’t funding the government – it is about Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan finding a way to pass a bill to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.
We urge CHQ readers to call the toll-free Capitol Switchboard (1-866-220-0044), ask for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senator John Cornyn, tell them the Goodlatte bill in the House is the only game in town and that conservatives will bolt the GOP if they pass anything like the Graham – Flake – Durbin amnesty for illegal aliens.
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