Did the Speaker of the House just hire an Immigration expert to spin his inactivity on CIR?
In November U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) recently made it very clear that he had no intention of taking up the Immigration reform bill passed in the Senate titled S744.
"“Frankly, I’ll make clear, we have no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate bill,”" -- http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/john-boehner-immigration-99797.html#ixzz2mS30paWU
So in November, Speaker Boehner made his desire to stand back and observe very clear to Politico as cited in the quote above.
Well now it appears that Boehner is willing to readdress the issue after being barraged by Immigration activists and supporters of Immigration reform in the form of emails, phone calls, messages and a world of tweets. However, I'm not thoroughly convinced that Boehner's political dark heart has now seen the light. Especially when we follow up with his additional comment to Politico :
"“Just understand something: I want us to deal with this issue,” he said. “But I want to deal with it in a common-sense, step-by-step way.”" -- http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/john-boehner-immigration-99797.html#ixzz2mS4p2g1o
So for Boehner, the piece meal approach is the right approach. Unfortunately for the pro-Immigrant crowd, and the rest of those supportive of Immigration Reform, Boehner seeks to focus on the enforcement pieces first. He would rather focus on increasing border security, alleging the border is still porous, even though we have more boots on the ground now than ever before. Additionally, statistics show that the flow of those crossing the border unlawfully has diminished to a trickle given the economic factors currently existent in the U.S., and, based on the fact that that it has become increasingly difficult to make that treacherous trek through that unforgiving desert.
I believe we need to examine some of the motivation behind Speaker Boehner's desire to move forward with Immigration Reform in only piecemeal fashion. We Know that Boehner maintains a healthy relationship with the private prison industry, so an enforcement first approach makes sense from a politically advantageous point of view. It also makes absolute sense for the private prison industry, because more enforcement means more occupants within their for profit confinement structures referred to by some activists as concentration camps and commonly known and referred to by the Feds as detention centers. Additionally, if Boehner can strike a balance between catering to the private prison industry and catering to the next corporate handout in line, the private defense industry who absolutely plans on grabbing the majority portion of the billions of dollars that will be designated yearly for border security in any Immigration proposal put forth. This is the Republican dream come true. The privatization of all Immigration related processes! What's next, a private Immigration judicial system farmed out to the lowest bidder?
In any event it appears that the ball is in Speaker Boehner's court, and he's recruited a star player in the Immigration arena. Becky Tallent, formerly a McCain advisor on Immigration policy and domestic policy adviser to Sarah Palin during the 2008 Presidential campaign. Tallent has apparently written a couple pieces of legislation aimed at Immigration reform for McCain and last worked for the Bipartisan Policy Center where much of her most recent Immigration policy was developed with the assistance of Many high profile former politicians and former policy makers.
Since Tallent played a crucial role over at the Bipartisan Policy Center, I think it's worth examining their mission and body of work. The following is an excerpt from the BPC webpage.
"Founded in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a non-profit organization that drives principled solutions through rigorous analysis, reasoned negotiation and respectful dialogue. With projects in multiple issue areas, BPC combines politically-balanced policymaking with strong, proactive advocacy and outreach. As the only Washington, DC-based think tank that actively promotes bipartisanship, BPC works to address the key challenges facing the nation. Our policy solutions are the product of informed deliberations by former elected and appointed officials, business and labor leaders, and academics and advocates who represent both ends of the political spectrum. We are currently focused on health, energy, national and homeland security, transportation, the economy, housing, immigration, and governance." -- http://bipartisanpolicy.org/about
Observing a video interview of Tallent, Tallent makes it clear that the intent of BPC is to skew right politically. According to Tallent, the idea of leaning right at the "Bipartisan" Policy Center is to obtain the thoughts and ides of those conservatives that might be more aligned with those currently controlling the House, which according to Tallent, is where the bottleneck is occurring. I would say that bottlenecks in congress occur when a particular special interest group is overzealous and attempts to shove an omnibus bill down the other parties' throat, such as the behavior of the extreme left Pro-Immigrant advocates who insist on the whole enchilada. However, here, what's occurring at the House, is not a bottle neck from advocates attempting to shove S744 (the Senate Immigration Bill) down the House's throat, it's actually a matter of Boehner refusing to put up the House bill for a vote, therefore creating the existing bottleneck in the House, where neither Senate bill S744 is advanced nor is HR15 (the house Immigration Bill).
Boehner is Tallent's new boss, and Boehner, in attempt to appease the Latino populous hired Tallent to demonstrate good faith in the Immigration arena. If Immigration Activists and those who believe in Immigration Reform believe that Boehner is in any manner acting in good faith by hiring Tallent, I have some swampland I'd like to sell them. Boehner is playing the part, he sends the Latino community and everyone else watching that he plans on moving forward on Immigration Reform. It's what he says to each special interest group that you have to analyze. He tells those on the extreme right, the Tea Partiers, the Racists and the Obama haters, that he will in fact be moving forward on Immigration Reform, however, he clarifies, that it will not contain what most of us call a path to citizenship and what Speaker Boehner and the anti-Immigration crowd calls amnesty. In his message to the extreme right, Boehner throws out red meat words that will appease the ferocious anti-Border-Crosser, like enforced border security and enforcement of, and creation of, more laws meant to create attrition by enforcement which in turn satisfies Romney's campaign promise of ensuring the self-deportation of our undocumented workforce. In their naivety the Pro-Immigrant folks look desperately into Boehner's blood shot eyes trying to figure him out. Hoping, praying and begging that Boehner will offer something that would tender the appropriate relief for those living in the shadows. However, they need not look into Boehner's eyes, they need to take a close look at the who's really running the U.S. House of Representatives. Boehner is subject to the whims of the Tea Party, their Freshman congressmen and women. The fear of having his members primaried is such that Boehner has to move lock stock in barrel with the extreme splinter of the Republican party.
Here's Boehner at a press conference acknowledging that he could lose his job if he moves forward on Immigration Reform.
Notice Boehner acknowledges the possibility of a possible demise as Speaker of the House, but in true GOP fashion he spins it by indicating that he thinks we need to move forward on Immigration Reform? But how? Obviously in peace meal fashion!
We'll see how much longer Boehner survives with his prized House Leadership position. If he loses the House he's a gonner, and if he takes a step in the direction of Immigration reform, the Tea Party and their minions will certainly take make ground meat of him in the primary.
