Poll: Americans Will Blame GOP for DHS Shutdown

As the GOP controlled House of Representatives remains dead set on pandering to the racist, anti-Hispanic elements of the GOP base, Congressional Republicans are on the verge of proving to the nation that the party is unable to govern responsibly and about to shut down the Department of Homeland Security rather than provide funding that could assist Hispanic immigrants covered by Barack Obama's executive order.  The good news is that a new CNN/ORC International poll indicates that voters will rightly blame the GOP (and in particular John Boehner) for the debacle that may endanger America's safety.  Here are highlights from Politico:

If the Department of Homeland Security shuts down later this month, most Americans would point the finger at congressional Republicans, a new CNN/ORC International poll finds.

The survey’s results find that if DHS shuts down on Feb. 27 — the date when the department is set to run out of funds — 53 percent of Americans would blame the Republicans in Congress. Thirty percent of respondents said they would blame President Barack Obama, while 13 percent said they would blame both.

House Republicans have passed a bill to fund the department that would also unravel Obama’s executive action granting legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants. Senate Democrats have indicated that the bill is dead on arrival in the upper chamber.

Multiple Senate Republicans, including Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have asked the House to pass a bill that would pass muster with Democrats.

McCain told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that cutting off DHS’ funding would be “terrible.”

Speaker of the House John Boehner has repeatedly insisted that blame should fall on Senate Democrats for blocking the House’s version of the bill.

New York’s Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer responded in a statement, “When Speaker Boehner tied immigration to DHS funding he knew exactly what he was doing: saying, ‘Unless I get my way, I’m going to shut down a large part of the government.’ To now blame Democrats when members of his own party, conservative leaders and others have all asked him to back off this game of chicken is disingenuous at best.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has stated publicly that the House’s bill is a nonstarter in the Senate.