New spin: Congressional Republicans too busy doing nothing to do something

New spin: Congressional Republicans too busy doing nothing to do something

Immigration reform’s No. 1 enemy: Time Immigration reform advocates have a new enemy: the congressional calendar. Fall’s fiscal fights have lined up in a way that could delay immigration reform until 2014, multiple senior House Republican leadership aides tell POLITICO, imperiling the effort’s prospects before the midterm elections. [...] Immigration reform isn’t certain to die if it slips into 2014, some in GOP leadership say. But major progress must be made in 2013 as it would be too difficult for the House to chart a course in 2014, an election year.

Immigration reform has a new enemy, says Politico This is an absurd claim for House Republicans to make, and it's pathetic for Politico to report it as fact. The one and only thing that can stop immigration reform from moving forward is the House Republican conference, and everybody with a brain knows that's the case.

Saying that the calendar is the problem is the same thing as saying that the House has been too busy and will be too busy to deal with immigration reform. This House, too busy? Seriously, can you think of a dumber claim to make than that the laziest, most do-nothing House of Representatives ever was doing too much other stuff to deal with immigration reform?

Moreover, even if you accepted that line of thinking, you'd at least have to concede that in making room for other stuff, House Republicans were implicitly saying that it didn't think immigration reform was all that important. In other words, if they really thought it was important, they'd make time for it, right?

Yes, in September in October, they've got some fiscal stuff they've got to take care of, but they've known this forever. Even if you accepted the notion that they couldn't pass immigration reform at the same time as dealing with those fiscal issues, it changes absolutely nothing about the fundamental dynamics at play—or the fact that they have already had months to act and will still have plenty of time to act after raising the debt limit.

They can spin all they want, and Politico can transcribe that spin to its heart's content, but it's nothing but spin, and it's ridiculous.