In the spirit of the bipartisan, but toothless rules reforms the Senate passed last week, Senate Minority Mitch McConnell and over 40 of his members are vowing to block confirmation of a permanent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director unless Democrats agree to pass legislation dramatically weakening the agency.
Republicans pulled the same trick in 2011. It was a back door attempt to nullify an existing law they didn’t like because they couldn’t change it via normal democratic processes. But at least back then they had a decent case for slowing Obama’s legislative juggernaut ahead of a referendum in 2012. They lost, of course, but that hasn’t deterred them one bit. Read More
TPM Reader HM wonders what’s up with some of the right-wing pundits on immigration reform …
Adam Serwer has an absolutely fascinating piece about right-wing media and immigration reform called “Will Conservative Media Give the GOP Cover to Make A Deal on Immigration?”. Money quote: “For the moment, conservative pundits are playing up a distance between Rubio’s proposal and the Democrats that doesn’t really exist. That could make a potential compromise seem more palatable to the Republican base.”
AZ Gov. Jan Brewer says border governors should have a say on when undocumented immigrants get to start their ‘path to citizenship.’