It looks like the Republican congress will be doing some of the heavy lifting for our new Senate minority leader, Mr. Reid. The best thing for Western Democrats will be a very public continuation of the fight over immigration between Congressional Republicans and the White House.
From the Washington Post:
But the president's most nettlesome intra-party issue in early 2005 may be immigration, lawmakers said. Bush's goal of granting guest-worker status to large numbers of undocumented immigrants is about to collide head-on with House Republicans' push to crack down on illegal immigrants, in part by denying them driver's licenses.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.) salvaged the intelligence legislation this month only by telling GOP colleagues that the White House has vowed to allow tough immigration restrictions, including the driver's license proposal, that were removed from the measure to accompany the first "must-pass" legislation of 2005.
"If the president wants to maintain credibility with House Republicans, he has to be engaged and willing to pass immigration reform that conservatives want," said Rep. Ray LaHood (Ill.), one of 57 House Republicans who voted against the intelligence bill Bush just signed into law. "If he does that, he will build a bridge" that could open the way to far-reaching changes to Social Security, the tax code and other policies, LaHood said. "If he's missing in action on that issue, he's going to have big problems."
One of the best things we have going for ourselves out here is the Republican's insatiable desire to look crazy, even in the face of moderate success (See the new Reagan wing of the Republican Party here in Washington).
WesternDemocrat