I have a number of Republican friends and acquaintances. As the 2016 elections approach they will no doubt tout the benefits of smaller government and lower taxes, and suggest that social and religious conservatives no longer dominate the party. When they wonder why I don’t support Republicans at the national level, I will refer them to the past two months. Because the bait and switch is on.
Republicans won a sweeping victory in 2014, including control of the Senate, largely by avoiding the gaffes on rape, abortion and immigration that cost them dearly in 2010 and 2012. Instead, they argued about Obamacare and foreign policy and capitalized on low turnout from Obama’s coalition of the ascendant. Their victory speeches promised to avoid government shutdowns and focus on growing the economy.
So with funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) set to expire this month, the first thing Republican leaders did was negotiate a longer term funding plan with the president and Senate Democrats, right? Not so much. Instead, House Republicans passed a resolution that funded DHS, but rescinded President Obama’s executive orders on immigration. Not just the broader deferrals announced in 2014, but the earlier protections for DREAMers as well.
That bill has gone nowhere in the Senate, with Democrats using a filibuster to block the legislation, likely to the relief of moderate Republicans who might need Latino votes someday. Even if Senate Republicans can get the six Democratic/Independent votes they need to break the filibuster, President Obama will veto the legislation. Despite knowing this at the outset, and seeing it become reality, House Republicans still refuse to send the Senate a bill it can debate, much less pass.
Getting the dead on arrival DHS bill passed allowed House Republicans to move on to other important parts of their agenda, like stimulating the economy, right? Again, no. It was more important to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The reproductive rights gaffers that were hushed during the 2014 election were heard loud and clear in the original bill, which was probably unconstitutional even before they limited the rape exemption to women who had reported a crime to the police. Fortunately, that bill didn’t even get through the House, due to moderate and female Republicans who led a revolt.
Any hopes that the march toward marriage equality would embolden Congressional Republicans to support LGBT equality legislation were also dashed, with elements of the Student Non-Discrimination Act rejected by the Education and Workforce Committee.
Does that mean there are no Republicans supportive of the LGBT, reproductive and immigrants’ rights? Of course not. We have examples here in San Diego, some in elected office. Unfortunately, they aren’t in charge of the Republican Party agenda. The last two months have proven that those who are merely stuffed the more objectionable parts in the closet until after Election Day. Given how well it worked, there is every reason to believe they’ll try the same bait and switch in 2016. Don’t be fooled again.
So it looks like the democrats think funding DHS is less important than illegal aliens. A court has already decided that the changes made to the immigration laws have gone to far and are not within the executive branch’s authority. Time for the democrats to vote in favor of the current DHS bill. Start supporting United States citizens for a change.