RUSH: “The Senate is poised to pass comprehensive immigration reform this week with upwards of 70 votes,” except wait! “Gang of 8 Backs off 70-Vote Goal — The Senate is poised to forge ahead Thursday with final votes on the immigration bill, as an impasse over amendments all but ensured that the elusive goal of 70 votes will slip from the Gang of Eight’s grasp. … Speaker John Boehner told the House Republican Conference on Wednesday morning that the Senate bill remains ‘a nonstarter’ in the House, according to Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz.
“‘He didn’t say, “unless it gets 71 votes,”‘ Salmon said. ‘He said, “It’s dead on arrival.”‘” The Senate bill “dead on arrival” in the House. Well, before you start doing handstands, understand that that is part of part of a theory that people have that the House is gonna pass an immigration bill that’ll be largely acceptable to a lot of people. It won’t take up the Senate bill. They’ll do their own, and then you’ve heard it: “Then we go to conference and that’s where the Senate bill triumphs is in the conference.”
At that point, all the Republicans will say, “Wait, we made sure the Senate bill wasn’t taken up here. We took care of that! We didn’t cave.” A lot of people don’t trust the Republican Party leadership on this right now. They’re very, very worried about what the process is going to lead to. Paul Ryan is gonna try to sell immigration reform to House Republicans, but he said it ain’t gonna be the Gang of Eight bill. He’s not gonna sell that.
He’s also saying, along with Boehner, that the House is not gonna take up the Gang of Eight bill. When Ryan says he’s gonna try to “sell” immigration reform to House Republicans, he’s not talking about the Gang of Eight bill or the Rubio plan. He’s going to be ostensibly selling something that would demand real evidence of improved border security before proceeding to legalization. The Senate bill does just the opposite.
Legalization first, and then proceeding to border security. Now, if a bill like that really exists in the House where they really do border security first before legalization, why do they need anybody to “sell” it? Unless there’s a faction of Republicans that doesn’t want any kind of a bill for whatever reason because they’d just as soon say no. You know, why do we have to do anything dramatic in an emergency frame of mind? Why?
Just because the Democrats want to?
Why?
I mean, there is that frame of mind or point of view about it in the House, but my point is if somebody in the House already has a bill that demands border security — first, foremost, provable, with real triggers and so forth — before any legalization happens, you shouldn’t need any big name to sell that. That’s just an observation. I’m not speaking out against Ryan here. It’s just my reaction. But at the same time, Ryan is still maintaining that whatever happens here, it isn’t amnesty.
Whatever ends up being done, he says thee Senate bill’s not amnesty. Whatever happens in the House, it’s not amnesty. He’s hell-bent on persuading people of that. So let’s go to the audio sound bites. Grab number three. This is Bob Corker, and then I think I got Boehner if I put him up there. Yep, Senator Bob Corker first from Tennessee. This is this morning on the Senate floor, and he’s talking about his constituents, Tennessee, and others…
CORKER: I was asked yesterday by a reporter just about folks back home in Tennessee, and how they feel about this legislation. I believe that Tennesseans, at the end of the day, will look at this legislation and study it and not just listen to what’s been said by numbers of blogs and people who are trying to spin things in such a way as to create confusion. And at the end of the day I believe when Tennesseans see what is in this legislation, I believe the majority of them — the large majority of them — will feel like that this legislation improves the conditions, ahhh, from where we are today. I really believe they’re gonna do that.
RUSH: So it doesn’t matter what you think right now. You’ll get over it. It doesn’t really matter. It’s like the Obamacare. “When we get this thing done and you see what’s in it, it’s gonna be okay.” Tennesseans are gonna be cool with it once they find out what’s in it. Just can’t tell ’em before the vote ’cause we don’t even know. It’ll over a thousand pages. Nobody really knows everything in this thing because it doesn’t matter what’s in it.
“We’re gonna pass something and then we’re gonna make it happen the way we want it to happen. And those people are gonna become citizens, you understand it, and they’re gonna become part of the workforce, and they’re gonna be lower than minimum wage — and that’s just the way we want it. It’s gonna happen. Get used to it! It’s the only way we’re ever gonna win the presidency again!” (Ahem!) Here’s Boehner also this morning on Capitol Hill, at his weekly press conference. The reporter says, “Mr. Speaker, you said a couple weeks ago to George Stephanopoulos that you believe immigration reform would pass, and you seemed more confident then than you seem now about it passing. What do you see as the path forward to reaching what you talked about a couple of weeks ago?”
BOEHNER: As I’ve made clear, we’re gonna go through regular order. The Senate’s gonna pass their bill, it looks like today. We’re gonna go home for the recess next week and listen to our constituents, and when we get back, we’re gonna have a conference on July the 10th to have a discussion about the way forward.
RUSH: That’s not what they want. They don’t want people going home and listening to constituents. The Senate does not want that. I don’t mean Boehner. The Senate. Dingy Harry, Obama, the Democrats do not want anybody going home and listening to you about this. So they may not have any town hall meetings.