Latinos believe that immigration reform has been ignored in the political firestorm surrounding health care, and staged a demonstration Sunday in Washington to bring attention to the topic. It was too early, because their effort drew little attention amid the final House voting on health. Nevertheless, here's another place where existing policies are clearly ripe for reform, and one that would seem to offer some good opportunities for Republicans and Democrats to cooperate. Both seek to attract Latino voters; both see the need for changes.
And, there has been some movement toward a bipartisan effort sparked by Sen. Charles Schumer and Sen. Lindsey Graham. Yet - and here's the point of my little essay today - rather incredibly, Republicans including Graham are reportedly saying that if the health care bill passes, they will not cooperate on immigration legislation. Is that not amazing political calculus? Apart from an extreme, even terminal, case of sour grapes, it's hard to imagine what they are thinking.
Here's another issue crying out for change (let's not call it reform) on which Republicans again are going to refuse to cooperate. Can they truly believe that attitude will attract votes in November? We've heard that the GOP is concerned about its weak showing among Latino voters... but not worried enough, apparently, to come to grips seriously with an issue that's key to that demographic. Maybe they believe that Latinos will blame the Democrats for passing health care and hurting GOP feelings, making it impossible for the sensitive Republicans to cooperate. Good luck with that!
Once again, I can only hope that sensible Republican (and other) voters will help steer the party back toward its roots - toward American roots - come November.
Comments