2 GOP Senators Attempt to Strike Border Deal
“Two Senate Republicans closed in on a deal regarding stronger border security on Wednesday evening with the bipartisan group of eight senators that drafted an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, hoping to find a resolution to an issue that for two weeks has dominated — and at times bedeviled — the immigration debate on the Senate floor,” the New York Times reports.
“The two Republican senators, Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, have been working behind the scenes to come up with a provision that would appease hesitant Republicans and help garner broad bipartisan support for the bill. On Wednesday evening they said they were close.”
At the Washington Examiner, Conn Carroll says, “Conservative opponents of amnesty always knew this day was coming. From the beginning of the immigration debate, pro-amnesty Republicans knew they needed a tough-sounding amendment that could both provide enough rhetorical cover for moderates who wanted to vote for Schumer-Rubio and yet still be acceptable to Democrats. Today, The Washington Examiner‘s Byron York reports, Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., will present such an amendment.”
RedState commentator Daniel Horrowitz says that Corker claimed he opposed amnesty just as much as his primary opponents during the last election. “Back in 2006, conservatives split their votes in Tennessee between Van Hilleary and Ed Bryant, handing a solid red seat to progressive Bob Corker. At the time, immigration was a hot-button issue, and Bob Corker screamed from the hilltops that he was just as strong on the issue as his conservative opponents. He not only opposed any amnesty before enforcement, he opposed amnesty period.”
“Folks, this is what the entire Mitch McConnell caucus is all about. They work indefatigably to put lipstick on Democrat proposals so they will win bipartisan support. This is why we can’t trust establishment candidates to fulfill their promises even on the few issues they officially check the boxes on the right.”
Laura Ingraham Pushes Ryan on Lower Wages for Americans
“Laura Ingraham asked Representative Paul Ryan on her radio show today why he supports immigration reform that could harm middle-class Americans. She asked him, ‘The CBO report says that [the Gang of Eight]approach, which would allow in all these people, would drive wages down. How can Paul Ryan, the man behind the growth agenda, say that driving American wages down is a good thing over the next twelve years, for the middle class who is struggling in Wisconsin and beyond?” notes Dimitrios Halikias at National Review.
It’s Time for a Full Debate on Immigration Between Conservatives
“It’s time — past time — for a full and open discussion in the conservative family about immigration. To stop with the sound bite presentations. To put an immediate stop to the idea of comprehensive immigration bills zipping through Congress with all the usual backdoor wheeling and dealing,” says Jeffery Lord at the American Spectator.
“It’s time for a William F. Buckley-esque debate between conservatives that finally and quite publicly puts those involved with the issue together on one stage at the same time. Puts them there for an open, televised, candid, and serious discussion of a seriously momentous issue for the future of America. An issue that is being shoved through Congress with all the speed of a rocket accompanied by the usual Washington bipartisan game playing and theatrics.”