Democrats are threatening to shut down the government this week over illegal immigrants who are in no immediate danger of anything, and the media are working overtime to make sure that Republicans still get the blame.
At least when the GOP shut down the government in 2013, it was over a disagreement on Obamacare, which was screwing Americans before it even went into full effect. The enrollment websites didn’t even work.
There is no silver lining to Democrats’ plan to halt all normal business unless a funding bill includes protections for the so-called “Dreamers.”
But news coverage in the lead-up to Friday’s deadline centered on one insignificant detail: Republicans control Congress and the White House.
“And right now even though the GOP is in control of both houses of Congress and the White House, it would be the first time that there was ever a shut down under those conditions,” CNN’s Chris Cuomo said Friday morning.
His colleague Chris Cillizza, a case study in failing your way to the middle, wrote on CNN’s website, “If House Republicans can’t find a way to wrangle their always-fractious conference to support legislation that would avoid a government shutdown by Friday night, they are likely to bear the brunt of the blame for the closure and pay a serious political price as well. The ‘why’ is simple. Because a) the GOP controls all levers of power — House, Senate, and White House — in Washington and b) average people are aware of a).”
Other than to cast doubt on why it doesn’t matter, at no point in his piece did Cillizza address the fact that Democrats are threatening to withhold funding for the government in an attempt to force protections for a small group of non-citizens.
This would be like refusing to pay your electric bill unless your neighbor got his own bill waived.
Provider: Your bill is due.
Customer: But I don’t want Tom next door to have to pay his.
Provider: Sir, this is about your bill, not his, and we will address that separately.
Customer: But I don’t want him to pay and I’m not paying mine until I know he doesn’t have to!
Provider: We’ll have to shut off your power if you won’t deal with the bill that belongs to you.
Customer: That’s fine!
Democrats are insisting that a government-funding measure be tied to unrelated legislation that protects illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors.
A bill crafted by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., addresses Democrats’ most immediate concern on immigration (with a bonus!) and concedes nothing of what President Trump and Republicans have asked for.
Democrats want legal status for the Dreamers. The bill not only does that, but offers a path to full citizenship for most of them!
Republicans, who hold all of the cards here, want a border wall; reform to chain migration (wherein the twice-removed brother-in-laws of naturalized citizens are brought to the U.S.); and an end to the visa lottery program that hands out green cards to countries at random.
The Graham-Durbin bill does nothing on chain migration, makes modest adjustments to the lottery, and gives $1.6 billion to start on a wall that will cost closer to $10 billion, and which Democrats would have no reason to continue funding once Republicans concede on the Dreamers.
Naturally, giving Democrats all of what they ask for in the budget negotiations has the full backing of the New York Times and the Washington Post.
“Both sides should buy themselves whatever time they need to reach a broader budget deal that protects young undocumented immigrants without punishing Americans with another shutdown,” the New York Times editorial board said Thursday.
On the Graham-Durbin bill, the Washington Post said, “This ‘dream deal’ is not, and cannot be, all things to all people. … But why choke on a full loaf when half a loaf will do? In the Graham-Durbin deal, Congress has the makings of success. It should vote on it.”
Trump, however, said he would reject the bill, which means the media are ready to blame him, too.
In 2013, the New York Times called it an “embarrassment” for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to attempt blocking a bill that funded the government, including money for Obamacare, which has rapidly deteriorated in the years since its passage.
What will it be called if Democrats shut down the government over immigration legislation that isn’t even due until more than a month from now?
