Democrats said they will accept some conservative policies on the border immigration crisis to get funding for Ukraine. Republicans ought to be jumping on that offer like ketchup on french fries.
Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell likes the sauce. The Hill reported McConnell sees this as “the only opportunity in the foreseeable future to get any Democratic votes to reform the nation’s asylum laws and give the president more authority to detain and deport migrants.” Sen. Lindsey Graham chimed in, “To those who think that if President Trump wins, which I hope he does, that we can get a better deal – you won't.”
For decades neither party has been able to get immigration reform passed (it takes 60 votes in the Senate). That’s because the rabids on one side want wide open borders while the rabids on the other want forceful expulsion of invading aliens. Bipartisan solutions in the face of this divide are, well, unprecedented.
“Biden willing to make ‘significant compromises’ on border policy,” reported The Hill. Unprecedented indeed!
While far from a complete solution, the Senate proposal would provide the first major changes to the U.S. immigration system since the 1990s, allow for rapid deportation of many illegal migrants, and moderate the current chaos.
Kudos to ultra-conservative Sen. James Lankford for his extraordinary work as the lead Republican negotiator.
“The Oklahoma Republican Party approved a resolution over the weekend condemning and censuring Sen. James Lankford, the state’s senior senator, for his role in the ongoing bipartisan border negotiations in Congress,” reported CNN.
Uh oh.
Kudos to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders for trying to take advantage of this unique opportunity.
“Dead on arrival” House Speaker Mike Johnson told CBS News regarding the Senate proposal.
Uh oh.
Look to former President Donald Trump for these uh ohs. He wants to deny President Joe Biden any victory on immigration so he can campaign on the chaos.
Hmmm.
If Trump were half as smart as he says he is he would have gotten behind the Senate compromise then taken credit for getting it passed. He could call it a conservative Republican win (which it is) and a small step until he wins and takes the big step.
Instead, Trump directed his sycophants to keep the border in chaos. “Blame it on me,” he said. That’s not America first but me first.
Observing Speaker Johnson, House GOP leadership, and the Oklahoma Republican Party leadership so meekly bow down to Trump – “ballooning clout” Politico called it – suggests he has become more than a powerful demagogue, rather an emerging demigod.
“You shall have no other gods before Me,” Exodus 20:3.
Bill Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.
