Fall in the Divide

Today, I'll be flying back home. Yet today, it looks like I'm getting one more "thrill" out of my old stomping grounds. A local Member of Congress (known for scandal and all out insani-TEA), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-California), just made the most explicit threat yet to House Speaker John Boehner's leadership position.

"If Speaker Boehner moves forward and permits this to come to a vote even though the majority of the Republicans in the House—and that’s if they do—oppose whatever it is that’s coming to a vote, he should be removed as Speaker,” Rohrabacher said on World Net Daily radio, according to Politico.

Rohrabacher added that he would consider such a move to be "a betrayal of the Republican members of the House and a betrayal of the Republicans throughout the country."

Oh, yes. That's right. He really went there.

So who's actually surprised? We've been warning for some time of the 21st Century Know Nothing campaign to kill comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). But now, the Beltway pundits are finally starting to notice the toxic "TEA" brewing on Capitol Hill.

And that's not all. Another Republican is stepping forward to derail S 744. This time, it's 2016 Presidential Hopeful, "tea party" darling, and current US Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) threatening to blow up CIR.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will introduce a series of amendments to the Senate immigration reform bill that would position him for a potential Republican presidential primary bid, The Hill reported Tuesday.

Paul's most prominent measure would eliminate a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants while lifting a cap on guest workers, Senate aides familiar with the proposals told The Hill. Under that amendment, to be introduced this week, employers who demonstrate need would be provided with immigrant workers while the workers themselves would have to apply for permanent residency and citizenship according to the policies of their native countries.

Early this year, the Republican Party's embrace of CIR was supposed to rebrand and revive the GOP. Instead, the reemergence of the G-O-TEA and its campaign to kill CIR are reminding everyone of why the Republican Party faces even more difficulties ahead.

And in the mean time, we have S 744. And at least for now, its fate in the 113th Congress is tied to the outcome of the Republicans' civil war over their own future. And it may ultimately turn on where our Members of Congress fall in this divide.