Now that the Senate has voted 68 - 32 on an immigration reform package, attention turns to the Rethug-controlled House, where Weeper of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner has already dismissed the Senate bill out of hand, and won't consider a bill that the majority of House Rethugs don't support. The reason: the strong tea bagger caucus that dominates the Rethug majority. Immigration reform, which the Rethuglicans need to get on the right side of for national political reasons, will be almost impossible to pass thanks to nativist / racist tea bagger resistance.
Some optimists are pinning their hopes for reform on the Democratic minority and a handful of Rethugs getting together to pass a discharge petition, which would bring an immigration reform bill to the floor for a vote. As this piece in TPM notes, however, that's a long shot at best, as few if any Rethugs of a "moderate" persuasion on immigration will buck their leadership and vote with the Dems. (Though there are some significant Rethuglican interests that support reform and will be pressuring Mr. Tangerine Man.) So it looks like we're in to a "stall" pattern as House Rethuglicans try to figure out how to blame their obstruction of reform on the Dems and Obama.
