What are they thinking?

According to the headline on the Wall Street Journal article by Laura Meckler and Kristina Peterson announces (shocker!): “Obama Signals He Would Back House GOP Immigration Framework.” Well, duh. The subhead, however, is a little more mysterious: “Republicans Say Rank-and-File at Party Retreat Largely Accepts Plan.” If so, I would like to shout, get a clue!

By contrast, with respect to the weight of sentiment inside the House GOP conference, Jonathan Strong reports that “it is hard to imagine Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) moving forward after yesterday’s closed-door showdown. According to estimates from those who were in the room–both in favor of moving forward and against–the dozens of GOP lawmakers who spoke were at least 80-20 against bringing a bill to the floor this year.” Let us pray.

What is going on here? I don’t pretend to know. As for the House Republican leadership, as Jesse Jackson might put it, I posit stupidity while John posits cupidity. Sean Trende expands the possibilities in his excellent RCP column “On immigration, what are the Republicans thinking?”

Trende rightly omits the underlying wisdom of the policy or the politics as one of the possibilities. As Ramesh Ponnuru observes: “The Republicans’ immigration deal makes no sense.”

Whatever “they” are thinking, they appear to require an intervention. They need to hear what you are thinking. Speaker Boehner’s office phone number is 202-225-6205. The number for the U.S. Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. The good folks who work the switchboard will put you right through to your representative’s office.

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