On that now infamous day nearly two weeks ago, a bipartisan group of senators presented to President Trump a DACA bill that would have protected the Dreamers and had broad bipartisan support in the Senate, and apparently the House as well. As we have now heard countless numbers of times, Trump rejected the bill with very harsh language [having to do with a hole or a house, we’re really not sure] because it did not do enough for border security (translate: it did not move us closer to the 2,200 mile wall Trump promised his base during the presidential campaign).
Since the Senate is confident that it has a large majority of bi-partisan support to pass the bill, as apparently does the House, and can potentially override a presidential veto should that happen, then why hasn’t the Republican leadership brought it to the floor for a vote? Had they done that, the Government would likely not have shut down because enough Senate Democrats would have supported a continuing resolution, to the extent that 60 votes would likely have been assured.
I suspect the Senate Democrats have done themselves no favor in the minds of American voters by keeping a continuing resolution from passing over the DACA issue and, thus, shutting down the government. While the majority of Americans support a permanent solution to DACA, the subject of immigration itself ranks very low in all polls on issues Americans consider to be national priorities. Only 5 to 10% of Americans consider immigration issues a priority, with the economy and jobs always at the top of every poll.
That said, by November countless new outrages by our president will have occupied our national discourse, and a government shutdown in early January will have long been forgotten.
RichZacaroli.org 