Among the many ways Republican members of Congress are contemplating to punish President Obama for his executive actions on immigration is a proposal of elegant simplicity: They would refuse to invite him to the Capitol to give his State of the Union address. Yes, that should do the job. And if this doesn’t force Obama to back down from his executive orders, Republican lawmakers can escalate by unfriending him on Facebook and unfollowing him on Twitter. If even this fails, they can take the extreme step of having their Christmas cards from the Obamas returned to sender. Surely, the president then would have no choice but to relent. The State of the Union dis-invitation, in other words, would be precisely as effective as all the other ideas Republicans are contemplating, which is to say entirely ineffective. There will be more spluttering and stomping and shouting about Obama’s illegal and unconstitutional activities, but pay no attention. In the immigration stare-down, Republicans have already blinked. Unwilling to squander their new majority and public support by risking a government shutdown, they are quickly falling in line behind symbolic protests. My Post colleague Robert Costa has heard Republican lawmakers floating no fewer than nine possible responses, from the frivolous (the State of the Union snub) to the outrageous (impeachment). But all signs indicate Republicans have abandoned attempts to defund Obama’s executive actions under the threat of a shutdown — at least for now. Instead, they plan to keep the government running through Sept. 30, probably allowing immigration-related spending to lapse earlier next year. This would be paired with a symbolic vote blocking Obama’s executive actions. Even the author of that token bill, Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), admits it would be useless unless the still-Democratic Senate passes it and Obama signs it. Why would either do that? Read more http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...a5d816-7a5b-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html
