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Republicans Have No Plan
Sen. Bernie Sanders discusses health care with Ed Schultz on MSNBC.

By: Bernie Sanders

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Republicans Have No Plan - Video

Sen. Brown Optimistic as Republicans Prepare for
WASHINGTON -- The congressman just down I-75 from Dayton, John Boehner, has been chosen by his colleagues as Speaker of the House. And when Boehner starts his third term as speaker in ...

By: WKEFandWRGT

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Sen. Brown Optimistic as Republicans Prepare for - Video

Republicans Devastated: Poll Shows Americans Love Their Obamacare
Republicans are devastated as a new Gallup poll shows that Americans love their Obamacare http://www.gallup.com/poll/179396/newly-insured-exchanges-give-coverage-good-marks.aspx On...

By: David Pakman Show

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Republicans Devastated: Poll Shows Americans Love Their Obamacare - Video

TIME Politics Immigration Republicans Brace for an Immigration Fight With Obama Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) holds a news conference with the newly-elected members of the House GOP leadership at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 13, 2014. Chip SomodevillaGetty Images Mocks "Emperor Obama" on immigration

After President Barack Obama announces executive actions expected to shield five million undocumented immigrants from deportation Thursday, Republicans will scream that he doesnt have the authority to do so and use Obamas own words to make their case. Indeed, they already have.

If Emperor Obama ignores the American people and announces an amnesty plan that he himself has said over and over again exceeds his Constitutional authority, he will cement his legacy of lawlessness and ruin the chances for Congressional action on this issueand many others, Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said in a statement Wednesday, referring to when Obama said last year that he has obligations to enforce current immigration laws as he is not the emperor of the United States.

But besides press releases and floor speeches, what can Republicans do? So far, Republican lawmakers have indicated they could move to defund certain programs and sue the President, a move many immigration legal experts say would likely fail in court. It appears neither option is very good.

Its hard to defund inaction, Ohio Republican Rep. Steve Stivers said of Obamas expected move to temporarily defer deportations. So were struggling to figure out what our real options are.

Kentucky Republican Rep. Hal Rogers, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, has tried to rally conservatives to pass a package that would fund the government through next September and thenafter the Presidents executive actions are better understoodpass another bill that would rescind funding for programs designed to carry out the order. Congress has a Dec. 11 deadline to avert a government shutdown, something Republican leaders want to avoid after last years politically damaging shutdown.

I want the new Congress to be able to start anew, fresh, to be able to set agenda, said Florida Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, an immigration reform supporter who approves of the year-long measure. What is not an acceptable, what is not a path forward what is not a solution is to shut down the government.

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole, a Boehner ally, said that while such a so-called omnibus government funding measure isnt dead, the President is certainly doing his best to kill it.

He would rather have an end-of-the-year fight than an an end-of-the-year deal and thats a sad portent of what the next two years might be like, Cole added. I hope its not.

Some conservatives have advocated for a short-term alternative that would push the spending battle into early next year when Republicans control both chambers of Congress. AlabamaRepublican Sen. Jeff Sessions, the incoming Budget Committee chairman, has pushed that strategy along with other conservatives and outside groups.

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Republicans Brace for an Immigration Fight With Obama

New House Republican Conference rules prevent members seeking higher office to hold committee and subcommittee chairs. Rep. Tom Cole (R) of Oklahoma said, the idea is not to have major committees, appropriations or subcommittees chaired by people who are running for the Senate. If youre shuttling back and forth, thats just a huge problem for us.

My colleague Mark Harkins argued this rule was likely the product of Rep. Jack Kingstons (R) run for Georgias Senate seat. Though he lost the primary, his bid for the Senate took the Labor-Health and Human Services subcommittee chair away from his legislative duties in the 113th. Labor-HHS was the only appropriations subcommittee not to report its appropriations bill in 2014, and only one of two subcommittees not to report its bill in 2013.

Several commentators noticed the rule could have consequences for other members, specifically Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin. In addition to his potential ambition for higher office he also has his sights on the Ways and Means gavel. If he does decide to run for higher office in 2016, he would need a waiver exempting his chairmanship from the new restriction.

However, it is unclear leadership would grant him one. Ways and Means figures to be at the center of Republicans legislative strategy in the 114th Congress. Without a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, many billswill have to go through the reconciliation process, which allows bills to pass the Senate with a simple majority.This places Representative Ryans political and policy ambitions at a crossroads.

Reconciliation has limited applicability. It can only be used on measures that affect direct spending, revenue, or the debt ceiling. In other words, most of the bills the reconciliation process would instigatefall in Ways and Means jurisdiction in the House. Since 1989, 11 of the 12 reconciliation instructions directed Ways and Means to draft and report bills. In short, the primary process Republicans will use to pass policies changing everything from Obamacare to tax reform would go through Paul Ryans presumptive committee.

If Republicans thought Representative Kingstons absence was a nuisance to the appropriations process, Ryans absence would surely be intolerable, particularly in the run up to the 2016 elections. Failing to chair the preeminent committee Republicans political and policy strategy centers upon would fundamentally undermine their majority. Today, House leaders may lay this rule at Kingstons feet. But it is not likely an accident the rule also complicates Ryans political future.

Joshua Huder publishes his Rule 22 blog at http://rule22.wordpress.com/.

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House Republicans throw wrench in Paul Ryan's potential presidential plans