Some 50,000 unaccompanied minors have crossed our borders in recent months, and those capable of helping resolve the crisis won’t even talk to each other much less come up with a decent plan. This week, President Obama asked Congress for supplemental appropriations to deal with processing the minors and to discourage more from coming, but House Republicans so far have balked at considering the request. “We are not giving the president a blank check,” House Speaker John Boehner declared. Republicans want the administration to do more to stop the flow of kids into the U.S., which is reasonable.

So why don’t the two men sit down and work it out? That’s their job. Instead, both sides seem more worried about their political bases than they do about solving the problem.