It’s Kinda Hard For The House To Vote On Senate Amnesty Bill When Harry Reid Won’t Send It Over

I wonder why?

(Washington Times) The immigration bill passed the Senate more than a month ago but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is refusing to send the bill to the House – just one of the hurdles that has sapped momentum and dimmed the chances for an immigration deal this year.

The White House on Monday held onto an optimistic outlook.

“I won’t deny that we would be perfectly happy for the House of Representatives to pass that bipartisan legislation today and have a signing ceremony at the end of the week. I don’t anticipate that’s going to happen,” deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said. “But I do think that there’s pretty strong momentum built up behind this piece of legislation.”

Has anyone alerted Reid and Earnest that the House can’t vote on Bills they haven’t received? Well, legally and Constitutionally. I’m sure Democrats don’t care about that notion.

House GOP leadership offices said they haven’t spoken with Mr. Reid about the holdup, but some lawmakers say he is trying to avoid the embarrassment of a defeat.

Boehner said it wouldn’t get a vote. There’s also concern because it is potentially unconstitutional, since it raises revenue. But, consider, if Reid sent it over, Democrats and Obama could demagogue the GOP for refusing to give it an up or down vote (they’re kinda doing it anyway). So why refuse to send it to the House? Perhaps Reid is worried that it will get a vote that defeats the Bill, with many Democrats voting against it. Many House Dems are against the border provisions.

Seeking to rebuild support, the White House said Mr. Obama will use August, when Congress is out of town, to push for an immigration deal.

“I think that momentum is only building. And we’ll see how House Republicans respond to that pressure,” Mr. Earnest said.

Obama can’t demagogue, or at least as much, if the House had already voted on it. The least Republicans could do would be to make sure everyone knows that Reid refuses to send the Bill over to the House.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

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