OpEd: Tea party, redistricting doom immigration change in House
The immigration bill recently passed by the U.S. Senate is receiving a hostile reception in the House from tea party-oriented GOP members who dominate that party's caucus. The result is likely to be little or no action on the issue this year.
The tea party offers a fascinating case study of how a plurality of the GOP House members can obstruct high-profile legislation they don't like.
Today, obstruction rather than compromise is more likely the order of the day in Congress. No change is generally better for tea party backers than another law, which might expand government somehow, as Obamacare has done.
The tea party is aided in its tactics by partisan redistricting of congressional districts, which is how it is done in most states, including Illinois. To maximize party numbers and protect incumbents in a legislative body like the U.S. House, like-minded voters are packed into safe districts. So for Republicans that means predominantly white, conservative voters. These voters tend to be less supportive of immigration reform than do the voters of U.S. senators, who represent whole states, which are more diverse.
http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/guest-commentary/2013-07-14/tea-party-redistricting-doom-immigration-change.html
The author is a republican retired Illinois state legislator who acknowledges that he would be viewed as a RINO be tea partiers.
It is like many in the Republican Party can see where the tea baggers are leading them, but nothing changes. The far right will probably be successful at killing immigration reform - bad for the country but likely even worse for their party in the long run.
