Obamacare or Amnesty or Bust

 

Cleveland Tea Party Patriots need to be multi-tasking in August and September. While it is essential that we keep up the pressure on the GOP on both houses to DEFUND Obamacare in the upcoming Continuing Resolution to delay its implementation – and we have until Oct. 1 to do that, we ALSO have to keep up the calls and postcards to stop Amnesty and Immigration "Reform.” Ann Coulter is focused like a laser on the amnesty bill, and in her interview on Hannity this evening, she faulted Tea Party groups for taking their eye off the Immigration “Reform” legislation and putting all their efforts on stopping Obamacare. In her view, if Amnesty passes, then the America we grew up in is .... gone. Amnesty will forever change the demographics and it will reward illegal behavior while punishing those who have been standing in line waiting for their turn. And the borders will still not be secure. Hard to argue with Coulter's sense of urgency.

One solution is to message on both issues when you call or send postcards, although it is more effective to deliver single-issue messages. Speaker John Boehner is one whose phones we need to melt:

Butler County Office  PH (513) 779-5400

Miami County Office PH (937) 339-1524

Clark County Office   PH (937) 322-1120

D.C. Office

PH  (202) 225-6205

FAX (202) 225-0704

And his mailbox (for postcards):

Speaker John Boehner

7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Suite B

West Chester, OH 45069

The GOP establishment is not on the side of the Tea Party, and here is Daniel Horowitz at Red State on that sad truth [emphasis added]:

The August Amnesty End-Run Around the Conservative Base

One difference between the two major parties is that Democrats harness the energy of their base to fight legislative battles; Republicans make end-runs around their base to obviate their energy. 

Let’s examine the GOP’s strategy for dealing with immigration.  Instead of harnessing their energy to fight amnesty and hang it around the necks of Democrats in the red state electoral landscape next year, they are trying to outflank the conservative base with subterfuge in order to pass amnesty.  National Journal has an inside story of the strategy: 

"House Republicans head home for the August break having done little to pass immigration reform, falling well short of Speaker John Boehner’s goal of voting on legislation before next week’s month long recess begins. But far from a failure of leadership, top House Republicans are casting the inaction as a tactical play designed to boost reform’s chances. 

Keeping immigration on the back-burner helps avoid a recess filled with angry town-hall meetings reminiscent of the heated August 2009 protests where the backlash against health care reform coalesced. Doing nothing also starves Democrats of a target, Republicans argue. 

“August was a central part of our discussions. People don’t want to go home and get screamed at,” a House GOP leadership aide said. 

Just in case Members get screamed at by some Tea Party leaders, leadership has put out an amnesty kit to help propagate Obama’s talking points.  Neil Munro of Daily Caller has the details: 

"Instead, the 24-page document highlights the House leadership’s strategy of reassuring GOP supporters with a step-by-step approach to passage of a comprehensive bill. This strategy highlights popular proposals for enhanced border security, but obscures the fact that any bill must be reconciled with the demands by Democrats for increased immigration of low-skill immigrants. 

"Judiciary “Chairman [Bob] Goodlatte believes that enforcement needs to come first before any legalization happens, and the immigration August recess packet makes that clear,” said an aide at the judiciary committee. 

"The talking points document touts the drafting of some popular immigration legislation that would boost enforcement of immigration laws in workplaces, borders and airports. It also provides a favorable description of bills favored by the GOP’s business interests, which would provide an amnesty to many illegal immigrants, and also increase the annual inflow of skilled guest-workers and immigrants. 

As I [Horowitz] noted last week, we’re in a sorry state when we can’t even pass good bills for fear that leadership will use them as shell games to up-end us with amnesty first.  And in another ‘see, I told you so’ moment, take a look at what Chuck Schumer had to say about this “step by step” approach of House leadership. 

“We would much prefer a big comprehensive bill, but any way that the House can get there is OK by us,” Schumer told CNN Wednesday. “I actually am optimistic that we will get this done.”

The fix is in.  And remember, once this bill arrives in the Senate, we all know that Mitch McConnell will work in the shadows to ensure that McCain and Graham adulterate the House bills with amnesty, albeit without his fingerprints on the deal.

That’s why we need all hands on deck this month and next.