Ben Shapiro explains why establishment Republicans aren’t using the power of the purse to stop Barack Obama’s executive amnesty: They don’t want to stop it. See the video and transcript below.
TRANSCRIPT:
There is the only one way to explain the new proposal by Speaker of the House John Boehner and other top Republicans for stopping President Obama’s executive amnesty: they don’t want to stop it at all.
Here’s the story.
Republicans have two options: the smart option and the stupid option.
The smart option would be for Republicans to pass a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government through January. That would allow Republicans to come into office and take power in the Senate. Then Republicans could do what Congresses have done for centuries: avoid passing omnibus spending bills, which tie all spending together and lead to shutdowns, and instead fund the government through separate appropriations bills, one per department. That de-links funding for the Defense Department, for example, from funding for Obama’s executive amnesty. Obama would have a tough time vetoing a standalone Defense funding bill that has nothing to do with executive amnesty.
Then there’s the stupid option.
Republicans could push forward an omnibus spending bill that would completely fund the government through next September, but fund the Department of Homeland Security – and Obama’s amnesty –through next March. That would effectively allow 60 days of funding for Obama’s program to give work permits to illegal immigrants.
Now, Obama probably won’t accept the deal, and will shut down the government over the failure to fully fund his executive amnesty. Speaker Boehner will then cave, and fund the entire program. We know this because that’s exactly what he did regarding Obamacare two years ago, during the infamous government shutdown.
But let’s say Obama signs the bill. There’s no guarantee Speaker Boehner will fight over DHS funding in March, either. In fact, certain Republican congresspeople have already indicated he won’t.
Naturally, Boehner is pursuing the stupid option. Why? Not because he’s stupid, but because he likes Obama’s executive amnesty. President Obama’s executive amnesty allows him to sign off on the establishment Republican soft-on-immigration policy while simultaneously complaining about Dictator Obama. He can win points with the base by bashing President Obama, and at the same time, greenlight Obama’s immigration policy – which Republican establishment types from the Wall Street Journal to Jeb Bush to the Chamber of Commerce have been pushing relentlessly as “comprehensive immigration reform.” Obama has given them cover. All they have to do now is whine about Obama being a Big Bad Tyrant, then fund his tyranny. They can pop the cork in the back offices secretly while hypocritically blasting Obama for seizing their power in public.
They’re playing conservatives for suckers.
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