The vote according to the AP was 68-32 as an immigration reform bill passed the U.S. Senate ahead of the break for the 4th of July Holiday.  The measure (and activity) will now shift to the House, where John Boehner has indicated that he wants to move some sort of reform plan.  Doubtful the plan that passes the House, if there is one, will look a lot like the Senate bill.

Discuss below.  My opinion remains that Republicans need to spend this time articulating an alternative version that would both 1) work and 2) recognizes the reality that we’re not going to deport 10+ million people.

The parallel here is health care reform.  Republicans were successful in blocking “Hillary Care” and using the momentum to take over Congress in 1994.  Yet with Republican majorities in Congress and for a while also having a Republican president, the health care/insurance issue in this country didn’t get better, and Republicans were largely silent on the issue.  Yet we act surprised that Democrats, given a second chance, passed “Obamacare” on their terms.

Republicans don’t control the White House or the Senate, but they do control the House.  Now would be a good time to articulate clearly what Republicans would actually do if in charge of it all via a proactive, solid House bill.

Charlie Harper, author and editor of the Peach Pundit blog, writes on Georgia politics and government; www.peachpundit.com.