Over the past few years, Republicans have emphatically declared that they are unable to block a bad law, Obamacare, from going into effect as long as Obama is in the White House.  Yet, amazingly, some of them think they can pass new meritorious legislation that would be politically advantageous to Republicans.  That’s why we hear the endless talk of tax reform and fixes to the entitlements.  The most absurd idea – one that just won’t die – is that we can somehow pass “immigration reform” with Obama as president in a way that will work for us.

What better way to reward the President for his malfeasance over Obamacare than by passing amnesty?  This is what passes for logic with inside-the-beltway Republicans.

Instead of going on offense and attacking Obama for endangering our national security and granting welfare to illegals, Republicans are playing defense in their public remarks.  Speaker Boehner said that” immigration reform is an important subject that needs to be addressed.”

Really?  What are your principles for “immigration reform?”  When does it need to be addressed?  When Obama is still in the White House?

Meanwhile, Politico is reporting that House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa is crafting an amnesty bill:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is planning to release legislation next week that would provide legal status for six years to undocumented immigrants in the United States, he said in an interview Wednesday.

Issa, an influential Republican who leads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, described the legislation as a “come-from-the-shadows” effort that would allow the government to do a full accounting of those who are in the U.S. illegally. Immigrants in this new status would be able to travel to their native country while on this temporary visa, he said.

“It’s halfway – and it always has been – halfway between full amnesty and simply rejecting people,” Issa told POLITICO on Wednesday. “I think if we’re going to break this logjam that’s occurred for my whole 13 years I’ve been in Congress, we have to find middle ground.”

Rep. Issa has done a great job on the oversight function of Congress.  With so many egregious administrative power grabs under investigation, he’d be wise to stay away from legislation and focus on oversight.  If he wants to venture into immigration policy, he should investigate all of Obama’s usurpation of powers as it relates to following immigration and border security laws.

As we speak, Obama is pushing amnesty full-throttle in an attempt to distract from Obamacare.  Concurrently, “Republican” peddlers of amnesty are lobbying hard for Obama and the Democrats to steer the discussion back to immigration.

Throughout the debate over the showdown, we were accused of diverting attention from Obamacare’s failures by fighting Obamacare in the budget.  Well, one would expect those same voices to express their dismay over Republicans bailing Obama out of his misery and handing him the crown jewel of his second term on a silver platter.

Irrespective of your views on this issue and the long term strategy, it defies logic to think that you can pass a worthy immigration bill with the Democrats in control of the White House and the Senate.  It defies logic to steer the discussion away from Obama.  Yes, pursuing such a treacherous path should qualify for the label of Republican-in-name-only – literally.

This is why Rep. Steve Stockman is circulating a letter requesting members to commit to opposing any effort to go to conference with the Senate on immigration.  This means no shell games.  They must not pass a small border security or immigration bill to use as a Trojan horse for an amnesty conference.  You can read the full letter here.  We must begin a whip count of members the same way we did with the defund Obamacare effort.

Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer have made it clear that as long as they get a conference on immigration, they are confident their priorities will be addressed.  Worse, Mitch McConnell, Schumer’s newest friend, has also called for a conference committee.

As we are forced to pay thousands more for health insurance and illegals are given $4.2 billion in welfare payments, are we going to continue to passively accept this abuse from the leadership of both parties?