Chuck Schumer thought he had the perfect scheme.
He would score a decisive victory over Donald Trump and win the 2018 midterm elections.
But Schumer never expected Trump to do the one thing that would cause his scheme to blow up in his face.
Schumer and other Democrats plotted to use the December funding bill to force Trump to accept amnesty for the so-called “DREAMers” who face the risk of deportation after Trump revoked Obama’s illegal executive amnesty.
Democrats are used to Republicans folding at the first sign of a government shutdown and accepting every demand issued by the left.
Things are different with Trump.
Trump held the line and insisted that the funding bill will not allow illegal aliens to pour into our country and now Schumer is the one left scrambling.
He is caught between hardliners in his caucus who want amnesty at all costs and 2020 Presidential hopefuls who want to prove their open borders credentials by fighting to the bitter end.
The Hill reports:
“Other Democrats are taking a harder line on the issue — and are open to using a shutdown fight as leverage to help the Dreamers.
This group includes most of the large class of Senate Democrats thought to be considering presidential runs in 2020.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) on Tuesday reiterated her position that she would not vote for a spending bill that did not protect the Dreamers.
“Any bill that funds the government must also include a fix for DACA,” she said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another White House hopeful, tweeted last month that, “I won’t vote for any spending bill without a permanent DACA fix.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) took the same tough line, declaring last month, “I want solutions to protect these kids, and won’t vote for a spending bill that doesn’t include one.”
A new poll showed what a disaster this would be for Democrats.
Politico reports:
But few voters see immigration as worth shutting down the government over. Only 20 percent of voters say it is definitely worth shutting down the government in order to secure funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a priority of President Donald Trump. More than one-third of Republicans, 43 percent, supporting shutting down the government to build the border wall, but only 13 percent of Democrats and 13 percent of independents agree.
A quarter, 25 percent, say it would definitely be worth shutting down the government in order to grant protection from deportation to undocumented young people who were brought to the U.S. as children. Democratic voters (34 percent) are more likely to say shielding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients from deportation is definitely worth shutting down the government than Republicans (20 percent) or independents (20 percent).”
If Democrats hold military funding hostage in order to extract amnesty concessions from Trump—at a time when North Korea is threatening nuclear war—they will be punished at the polls in 2018.
Any chance of winning back Congress will evaporate.
Do you agree?
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