With immigration reform legislation approved by the U. S. Senate, the battle now goes to the GOP controlled House of Representatives where racism and extremism are the main hallmarks of House Republicans as they pander to the ugliest elements of the GOP base: angry elderly whites, white supremacists and, of course, the Christofascists who are anything but loving Christians. Whether or not Senate Republicans can force the GOP House members to do what's right will remain to be seen. Politico looks at the coming conflict within the GOP. Here are excerpts:
Big Business, Senate Republicans and Democrats backing immigration reform have a target in their crosshairs: House Republicans.
Senators like John McCain (R-Ariz), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) met with tech giants such as Microsoft, Google and Intel, and pro reform groups like FWD.us to discuss a coordinated campaign to target more than 100 House Republicans on reforming the nation’s immigration laws when they are at home in their districts over the next month, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
Graham suggested getting people to target Republicans at town hall meetings. Schumer said he wanted pastors giving sermons about the need for immigration reform.
McCain urged the group to push for the Senate bill by discussing its component parts — but not mentioning the overall bill. Graham said that there are between 30 and 40 Republicans who are staunchly opposed to the Senate bill — but warned that number cannot grow.
It’s not too often that you hear about Republicans and Democrats privately discussing targeting each other to support legislation, but it’s clear that senators see their comprehensive immigration reform effort hitting stiff resistance in the House. McCain suggested to the group that they’re losing the messaging battle to immigration opponents.
The GOP leadership of the House believes that nearly all Republicans oppose the Senate bill. ”The House will not take up the Senate immigration bill. There are many issues related to immigration reform on which the business community, religious groups and House Republicans can find common ground, but advocating for the House consideration of the Senate immigration bill is simply a waste of their time and resources,” one House GOP leadership aide said.
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