That said, it is hard to imagine Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) moving forward after yesterday’s closed-door showdown. According to estimates from those who were in the room–both in favor of moving forward and against–the dozens of GOP lawmakers who spoke were at least 80-20 against bringing a bill to the floor this year.
There is a palpable sense of disappointment among those interested in moving forward. In private conversations, the word that is used is that the meeting was “predictable.” The same people in the GOP conference who kept Boehner from moving on a bill in 2013 are just as opposed in 2014.
...Drudge Report popped with hit after hit against amnesty yesterday--including Boehner with a superimposed sombrero hat and Sen. Ted Cruz's warning that immigration reform could doom the GOP in 2014...
◼ They Don’t Call ‘em the Stupid Party for Nothing - PJMedia
Is Boehner smart enough to heed their warnings, and spend the year employing “masterly inactivity” focusing all of the GOP’s activity on blunting the Obamacare rollout, as Hugh Hewitt recently suggested to Jake Tapper, or is he determined to suicidally ram immigration “reform” through this year, “because he can,” as Streiff at Red State suggested?◼ Boehner Courts a GOP Civil War - J. Robert Smith/American Thinker
There aren't pejoratives adequate enough to describe and deride Boehner's resolve to tackle immigration surrender this election year. Either the speaker has one of the greatest tin ears in the history of American politics or he's got his sights set on a cushy post-speakership job and a corner office somewhere in DC....◼ GOP CRAFTS PLAN TO WRECK THE COUNTRY, LOSE VOTERS - Ann Coulter
Boehner's courting -- and must know he's courting -- a crackup of the Republican Party. House Republicans -- like all Republicans and conservatives -- should focus like laser beams on 1) exploiting ObamaCare's crass failures and growing unpopularity with voters; 2) aggressively pursuing the Obama scandals; 3) offering a "liberty" agenda, which goes heavy on reviving the nation's anemic economy and downsizing and reforming the federal government. That's a recipe for electoral success in 2014.
If its civil war the speaker wants, its civil war he'll get. Establishment Republicans may have the dough, but the grassroots outnumbers them roughly three to one. The commitment and passion are with the grassroots. At war's end, it's the speaker and his ilk who'll be trundling off on yet another retreat -- and, this time, for good.
