GOP Refused to Take 'Yes' for an Answer on Border Security | Drudge Retort

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Wednesday, April 24, 2024

GOP Refused to Take 'Yes' for an Answer on Border Security

Steve Benen: Last fall, Democrats wanted to pass a security aid package. Republicans responded that they'd support such a bill, but only if Democrats agreed to add conservative provisions related to immigration and border policy. Democrats agreed to the GOP's demands, negotiated a bipartisan border bill, and packaged the two policies together. Republicans, acting at Donald Trump's behest, killed the compromise plan they demanded. Republican leaders eventually agree to pass a security aid package without immigration and border reforms.

Posted by tonyroma at 11:33 AM | 38 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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Let's not forget, the immigration and border reforms that Democrats were prepared to accept were quite conservative, and much further to the right than any of the deals Democrats embraced throughout the Bush, Obama, and Trump eras.

In January, Sen. Lindsey Graham urged his GOP colleagues not to look a gift horse in the mouth. "To those who think that if President Trump wins, which I hope he does, that we can get a better deal - you won't," the South Carolina Republican told reporters. He added, "To my Republican friends: To get this kind of border security without granting a pathway to citizenship is really unheard of. ... So to my Republican colleagues, this is a historic moment to reform the border."

Republicans instead followed Trump's instructions and killed the bipartisan agreement.

As a result, the GOP ended up with none of what it wanted on border policy, even as Democratic leaders got all of what they wanted on security aid.

This is what happens when you let the most radical voices within your party override a hard-won compromise taking you far closer to your goals than your opposition's and then up with nothing.

One of the reasons the right sees US policy move in a more progressive direction is their own inability to accept less than 100% of what their most extreme members insist upon. Thank goodness the far right continues to reject unprecedented rightward compromises for the sake of political purity talking points, which continually forces the realist Republicans to join with Democrats in passing vital legislation closer to what the Dems wanted all along.

#1 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-04-24 08:52 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

And thus Trump and MAGA hang the immigration issue around their own necks.

#2 | Posted by Zed at 2024-04-24 09:38 AM | Reply | Funny: 1

Show me using the language in the bill itself that gives much of anything that those who oppose illegal immigration want.

Then compare it with the House bill THAT ACTUALLY PASSED that Schumer has sat on

#3 | Posted by BellRinger at 2024-04-24 11:49 AM | Reply | Funny: 1 | Newsworthy 1

Boo hoo, sad little MAGAT.

#4 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2024-04-24 11:52 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Then compare it with the House bill

Why don't you do that and get back to us?

#5 | Posted by REDIAL at 2024-04-24 11:53 AM | Reply

Why didn't Dems pass it in the Senate? They have a majority and I don't recall it being filibustered.

#6 | Posted by BellRinger at 2024-04-24 11:58 AM | Reply | Funny: 1

" Why don't you do that and get back to us?

#5 | POSTED BY REDIAL AT 2024-04-24 11:53 AM | FLAG: "

You're the ones who are claiming this bill, that Democrats didn't even pass, gave Republicans everything they wanted.

It's incumbent on you to make the case.

#7 | Posted by BellRinger at 2024-04-24 12:00 PM | Reply | Funny: 2 | Newsworthy 1

gave Republicans everything they wanted.

#7 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

Let's say, for argument's sake, that MAGA only got 80% of what they wanted on the border.

In the end they torpedoed that 80% for a whopping 0%.

Anything about that sound rational to you?

#8 | Posted by Zed at 2024-04-24 12:24 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

@#8 ... Let's say, for argument's sake, that MAGA only got 80% of what they wanted on the border.

In the end they torpedoed that 80% for a whopping 0%. ...

It wasn't even that they didn't get all they wanted. Yup, they got most of what they wanted. The main negotiator in the Senate was a Republican (Sen Lankford of Oklahoma), and he said the changes to the asylum process were dramatic.

An Analysis of the Senate Border Bill
www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org

... Summary

If passed in its current form, the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act would be the most sweeping immigration bill of the twenty-first century. It would overhaul the process for seeking asylum in the United States"and impose an "emergency authority" that would leave asylum fully out of reach for those crossing between ports of entry for much of the next three years. It would attempt to address issues like work permits and years-long waits for asylum seekers, and also raise the initial standard a person must pass in order to access our asylum system. It would expand additional visas and future green card availability and offer a pathway to citizenship to Afghans, while also significantly increasing detention capacity. It is a mixed bag.

Overall, the bill represents a serious attempt to acknowledge, and solve, some of the key problems with current border and asylum policy, and to address the federal government's failure to manage migration in a way that supports American communities and respects humanitarian needs. In particular, it aims to reduce the frequency with which people wait years for a final outcome on their asylum case. However, its positive steps in this direction are smothered by a new "emergency authority" that repeats mistakes made by the Trump and Biden administrations: making protection much less available for those in need, while failing to send a clear message to future arrivals.
...

Fmr Pres Trump gave orders to kill the bill because he wants border security as a political issue, and not as a solution. Indeed, he even said to blame him to the failure of the bill to pass.

#9 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-04-24 12:34 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

It was a terrible bill, it's good that it failed.

NO MORE CONCESSIONS TO THE GQP needs to be the policy going forward.

The only border bills that need to be passed is one to remove the idiotic wall, one to make the asylum process much easier, and eventually a fully open border from the Darien Gap to the North Pole. Make the Mexican and Canadian borders look like crossing state borders, with nothing but a welcome sign on the side of the road. Europe did it, we can too.

#10 | Posted by DarkVader at 2024-04-24 12:53 PM | Reply

You're the ones who are claiming this bill, that Democrats didn't even pass, gave Republicans everything they wanted.
It's incumbent on you to make the case.

#7 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

Republicans block a bill.
Jeff blames Democrats.

JEFF WORLD

#11 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-24 01:03 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

Why didn't Dems pass it in the Senate? They have a majority and I don't recall it being filibustered.

#6 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture. Republicans refused.

How many votes does it take in the reality you live in?

#12 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-24 01:15 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

You're the ones who are claiming this bill, that Democrats didn't even pass, gave Republicans everything they wanted.
It's incumbent on you to make the case.

#7 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

The bill was literally crafted by Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma.

Mitch McConnell was backing it.

Everything they wanted? No. A lot of it? Yep. So Republicans CHOSE the status quo and then you blame Dems.

And the House can't even pass a Border Bill right now. www.axios.com

Any other idiotic things you want to say?

#13 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-24 01:25 PM | Reply

" It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture. Republicans refused.

How many votes does it take in the reality you live in?

#12 | POSTED BY SYCOPHANT AT 2024-04-24 01:15 PM | FLAG: "

I have not seen that it was filibustered.

Now do the bill that actually passed the House that Schumer has sat on for a year. Funny how you all pretend that didn't happen.

#14 | Posted by BellRinger at 2024-04-24 02:22 PM | Reply

@#14 ... Now do the bill that actually passed the House that Schumer has sat on for a year. ...

What was in that bill?

#15 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-04-24 02:44 PM | Reply

Why didn't Dems pass it in the Senate? They have a majority and I don't recall it being filibustered.

#6 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

Maybe because the bill had zero Democratic support in the House and Senate, because Republicans refuse to negotiate or compromise with Democrats. Do Republicans pass bills that Democrats author that have zero GOP support?

However, that was not the case with the bill authored and negotiated by Republican Senator James Lankford and supported by Majority Leader McConnell.

In January, Sen. Lindsey Graham urged his GOP colleagues not to look a gift horse in the mouth. "To those who think that if President Trump wins, which I hope he does, that we can get a better deal - you won't," the South Carolina Republican told reporters. He added, "To my Republican friends: To get this kind of border security without granting a pathway to citizenship is really unheard of. ... So to my Republican colleagues, this is a historic moment to reform the border."

The radicals keeping Republicans from taking incremental steps to address the problem on their own terms because they aren't getting 100% of their demands simply isn't how divided government works. And Trump isn't interested in seeing the border issues bipartisanly addressed before this fall's election, yet again placing his own myopic interests before those of the American people and immigrants, both seeking better management of this ongoing problem.

#16 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-04-24 03:51 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 3

Quite honestly, the bill was pointless.

There's only one way to truly get ahold of the illegal immigration problem, and that's to take down the people hiring them. When none of them can make any money here, they'll turn around and go back home.

Neither side wants to do that, though. Republicans would have to give up cheap labor and democrats stop trying to turn every issue into race, instead of one of class they'd actually have to do something about.

#17 | Posted by zeropointnrg at 2024-04-24 03:53 PM | Reply

are the dems just not going to do the border stuff

"Border stuff"?

Ignoring the fact you're not even sure what you want.

Why would the Democrats work with Republicans when Republicans won't support their own border security legislation?

As the smartest living republican they once said:

"There's an Old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, Probably in Tennessee - That says, Fool me once, Shame on - Shame on you. Fool me - You can't get fooled again."

#19 | Posted by ClownShack at 2024-04-24 06:32 PM | Reply | Funny: 1

" Is the border fine like it is again?"

Did Democrats scuttled the Langford border bill, or was that Republicans?

In every other negotiation, the folks who walk away from the agreed deal are responsible for the fallout.

Why should The Party of Responsibility escape responsibility?

#20 | Posted by Danforth at 2024-04-24 07:18 PM | Reply

To 2 million illegals per year? Nope, not happening

#21 | Posted by THEBULL at 2024-04-24 08:56 PM | Reply

"screw fixing the border."
-Republicans

So Trump commanded. So republicans heeded.

#24 | Posted by ClownShack at 2024-04-24 09:37 PM | Reply

" It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture. Republicans refused.
How many votes does it take in the reality you live in?
#12 | POSTED BY SYCOPHANT AT 2024-04-24 01:15 PM | FLAG: "
I have not seen that it was filibustered.
Now do the bill that actually passed the House that Schumer has sat on for a year. Funny how you all pretend that didn't happen.

#14 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

As usual, you have no clue what is going on.

The Senate doesn't require a filibuster by one or two people because it has unlimited debate until either a cloture vote OR no Senators present request more debate. As long as a sufficient number of Republicans say we aren't going to end debate, then the cloture vote is required.

And guess what: The Cloture vote FAILED because Republicans voted against it en masse.

Did you make it to 9th grade civics?

#25 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-25 01:07 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Now do the bill that actually passed the House that Schumer has sat on for a year. Funny how you all pretend that didn't happen.
#14 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

Can't. No cloture vote by Republicans on the Senate version. And Senate Republicans never introduced the House version verbatim. Thank your Republican Senators.

Or did you mean the one the House Republicans drafted more recently and then couldn't pass with their own members?

...You really have no clue what's going on or how things work, do you? No wonder you vote Republican.

#26 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-25 01:10 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

" And Senate Republicans never introduced the House version verbatim."

Which is usually the case. Most bills go to committee and then the committee version goes back to both chambers.

#27 | Posted by BellRinger at 2024-04-25 10:58 AM | Reply

" And Senate Republicans never introduced the House version verbatim."
Which is usually the case. Most bills go to committee and then the committee version goes back to both chambers.

#27 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

And you answered nothing else.

But the House version didn't even go to Committee for a vote.

And then the House couldn't even pass their own version recently.

So how do you still blame Democrats?

#28 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-25 11:16 AM | Reply

FTA

"The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a $95 billion package to provide critical aid to Ukraine and enact a provision that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok. ... President Joe Biden said Tuesday night that he will swiftly enact the measure"

More money for a failed venture in Ukraine and a ban on more social media... That's whats important to your lawmakers these days - and some of you clowns support it like you're having sex with a woman in her third trimester.

#29 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2024-04-25 03:03 PM | Reply

More money for a failed venture in Ukraine and a ban on more social media... That's whats important to your lawmakers these days - and some of you clowns support it like you're having sex with a woman in her third trimester.

#29 | POSTED BY LFTHNDTHRDS

Anything you say, Comrade.

#30 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-25 03:35 PM | Reply

More money for a failed venture in Ukraine

What "failed venture" do you speak of?

That's what you Trumpers are calling the Russian invasion of the Ukraine?

#31 | Posted by ClownShack at 2024-04-25 03:39 PM | Reply

Fmr Pres Trump gave orders to kill the bill because he wants border security as a political issue, and not as a solution.

#9 | Posted by LampLighter

That's it in a nutshell.

#32 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-04-26 01:21 AM | Reply

Trump had policies in place to somewhat hold the line on the border crisis. Sleepy Jotatoe undid all that on his first day in office, and now are trying to shift the blame for the border mess to the Republicans! Sorry Brandon, no one is buying that B/S!

#33 | Posted by gasman21 at 2024-04-26 06:55 AM | Reply

shift the blame for the border mess to the Republicans

#33 | POSTED BY GASMAN21

The Republicans volunteered for the blame, and you're bound as a fascist soldier to accept the decision of Donald Trump.

#34 | Posted by Zed at 2024-04-26 07:59 AM | Reply

" trying to shift the blame for the border mess to the Republicans!"

That's what happens in the real world when one side unilaterally walks away from an agreement at the 11th hour.

Once again, The Party of Responsibility DEMANDS responsibility ... by everyone but them.

#35 | Posted by Danforth at 2024-04-26 09:36 AM | Reply

Faced with facts, Jeff once again ran away to lie again another day.

#36 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-26 09:53 AM | Reply

Trump had policies in place to somewhat hold the line on the border crisis. Sleepy Jotatoe undid all that on his first day in office, and now are trying to shift the blame for the border mess to the Republicans! Sorry Brandon, no one is buying that B/S!

#33 | POSTED BY GASMAN21

Notice that Trumpers can never actually name any policies?

#37 | Posted by Sycophant at 2024-04-26 09:54 AM | Reply

" Faced with facts, Jeff once again ran away "

If you'll notice, his M.O. is never to educate himself.

He'll misconstrue the indictments happily, but he'll never ever read them. He's too attached to his talking points.

#38 | Posted by Danforth at 2024-04-26 10:14 AM | Reply

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