"[T]he Senate is finished, at least for now. Over the last several months, beyond deferring to Rubio, the only other thing some Republicans would say about immigration was, 'We need to put this issue behind us.' They were speaking politically, in the hope that they could vote for the Gang of Eight bill and then begin to reap benefits with Hispanic voters. 

"That's highly unlikely, but one thing is for sure: They have disappointed a lot of their conservatives supporters, most likely for a long time."

"There hasn’t been much evidence of 'global warming' for at least 15 years. If anything, 'cooling' has kicked in as part of an eternal cycle that stretches back through history. But President Obama is not one to let the facts stand in the way of a beautiful theory. Especially when it rallies his restive liberal base. 

"During (what else?) a speech at Georgetown University on Tuesday, Obama announced that he’ll use his favorite leadership tool, executive orders, and the powers of the unelected, Nixon-era Environmental Protection Agency to end-run Congress and crack down on one of his favorite whipping boys, coal. All in the name of fighting the phantom menace of climate change and in particular carbon emissions."

"Meet Ryan Patrick Winkler. He’s a 37-year-old liberal Minnesota state legislator with a B.A. in history from Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. He’s also a coward, a bigot, a liar, and a textbook example of plantation progressivism.

"On Tuesday, Winkler took to Twitter to rant about the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down an onerous section of the Voting Rights Act. The 5-4 ruling overturned an unconstitutional requirement that states win federal preclearance approval of any changes to their election laws and procedures. Winkler fumed: 'VRA majority is four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas.'...   

"After being called out by conservative social media users for his cheap attack on Clarence Thomas, Winkler then revealed his true color: yellow. He deleted the tweet (captured for posterity at my Twitter curation site, twitchy.com) and pleaded ignorance. ... 

"Just another day at the left-wing racist office."

"Back in February, not long after Rubio announced the Gang of Eight immigration proposal, 73 percent of Republicans surveyed by pollster Scott Rasmussen had a favorable impression of the Florida senator. In a new Rasmussen survey released Monday, that number had fallen to 58 percent -- a 15-point drop.   

"Moreover, the intensity of support among Republicans who still view Rubio favorably has also dropped. In February, 44 percent of Republicans had a very favorable opinion of Rubio. Today the number is less than half that -- 21 percent. ... 

"Back in 2008, and again in 2012, Romney's opponents never let him forget the flip-flop that marked his move to the national political stage. In coming years, the same might become true for Marco Rubio."

"Another loophole inserted into the new version of the 'Gang of Eight' immigration bill allows Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (or any of her successors) to nix the construction of a required border security fence if she does not find it to be an 'appropriate' use of resources. 

"The new version of the bill was introduced via a so-called 'border surge' amendment from Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-ND), with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid repackaging the whole bill into the amendment. 

"On page 35, line 24 of the new bill, a provision was inserted that says Napolitano--who already believes the border is secure--can decide against building a fence if she chooses not to erect one ..."

"What investigators have to do now is follow the trail through the IRS in Washington, including political appointees. 

"Questions: Do the investigators have a list of everyone who worked in the executive office of the IRS commissioner? Have they contacted those people and asked when they learned of the targeting? What did they do when they learned? Who, if anyone, thwarted any attempts to stop it? And what about those bonuses the IRS is reportedly about to award its employees? How does that figure in? 

"Congress, including both its battling investigative committees, must get the answers to these questions.  

"The House speaker should make sure it's a priority. There's no sign the FBI will."

"Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) promised that passage of the Gang of Eight immigration bill would render illegal immigration 'a thing of the past.' But the Congressional Budget Office report tells a very different story: It projects that 4.8 million new illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children will be living in the country in 2023 if the bill becomes law. While that represents a modest reduction from the number expected under existing law, it does not even come close to ending illegal immigration but envisions millions more illegal immigrants — a built-in constituency for yet another amnesty a decade hence.

"Nor do the projections get any better in the out years. The law would see 7.5 million new illegal immigrants in the decade from 2023 to 2033 — also a modest reduction from current expectations, but hardly a solution to the problem of illegal immigration. High levels of illegal immigration will persist not only because of what the bill fails to do on border security but also because aspects of it will actively encourage future lawbreaking."

"The Gang of Eight bill being debated in the Senate does not require any security advances before illegal immigrants are granted a decade-long 'temporary' legal status. And all that is required before those same immigrants move on to permanent legal status and citizenship is that a 'Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy' be 'substantially deployed and substantially operational.' 

"What does 'substantially' mean? It could mean anything, which is why lawmakers who don't want to place specific security requirements before permanent legalization like it. ... 

"Both Democrats and Republicans have been happy to let the public think the bill is tougher than it is. For example, Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Gang of Eight, talks all the time about the importance of putting new security measures in place, but he means before immigrants are given permanent status, not before the temporary, decade-long legalization that starts the process."

"Congress is boring. It can’t even make new false promises. 

"On border security, it keeps making the same assurances. The Gang of Eight immigration bill, which could well be the signature legislative accomplishment of President Barack Obama’s second term, travels in the well-worn ruts of past immigration promises. The Gang of Eight is offering this basic deal: 'We will pretend to enforce the law, if you pretend to believe us.' ... 

"The Gang of Eight bill is powered, in large part, by pretense and word games. If this bill passes, and then a decade or so from now we need another amnesty, the road map to passage will be easy: Congress can promise to follow up on the Gang of Eight’s enforcement measures — yet again."

"The Obama administration and European leaders, so predictably, are swooning over Iran’s newly elected 'pragmatic moderate' president Hassan Rouhani, who is actually a Khomeini disciple and supporter of the current, despicable Khameini regime — and who (a) would not have been permitted to run without the regime’s blessing, (b) enthusiastically supports Iran’s nuclear program, (c) called for the execution of 'green revolution' activists in 2009, and (d) ardently backs the Assad regime in Syria because it, like Rouhani himself, is an implacable enemy of Israel."