Talk v. Action

Yesterday was supposed to be a big news day for Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson). He finally announced his kind-of-sort-of-support of something-maybe-like the comprehensive immigration reform legislation (S 744) that already passed the Senate in June. Last night, Ralston asked why "Big, Bad, Mean Lib'rulz" (like moiself) were still "pounding Heck" when he's doing all he can.

But what if Ralston's premise is wrong? In reality, Rep. Heck can play a major role in passing CIR... If he wants to. He can demand a floor vote on what already passed the Senate by such a huge margin in June.

Rep. Heck now says he wants "comprehensive discussion, not rhetoric" on immigration reform. That's a step forward. Now, he has to work on his own party to achieve that (as well as to actually pass something soon).

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In recent years, the Republican Party has gone out of its way to cultivate its 21st Century Know Nothing base. But now, they're demanding full control of the Republican Party. And they're demanding an end to talk of finally passing CIR. Rep. Heck and other Republicans rode a wave of "TEA" to power in 2010, but now that very wave of "TEA" is crashing down on them.


I get Rep. Heck doesn't want to irritate his base. But ultimately, he and other House Republicans willing to pass CIR must bypass the intransigent G-O-TEA bloc in order to actually pass CIR. So is he willing to do that? The talk sounds better now. When will it be matched with action?