Democrats relented on the government shutdown in return for a promise for a meaningful Senate debate and vote on legislation to help the dreamers.

But it grows clearer, as I suggested yesterday, that the hard-right has the hammer on this issue and will not let go. The xenophobic nut, Rep. Steve King of Iowa, has essential control of immigration legislation in the House and he and others declare the Durbin-Graham compromise is a non-starter there.

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Meanwhile, in the Senate, there’s Sen. Tom Cotton, the meanest man in America, and his puppet, Donald Trump working in tandem to ensure that no succor for the Dreamers comes without a long list of punitive immigration measures to which no Democrat (or human being) with a conscience could approve. It’s more than a wasteful wall. Using a House proposal as a guide, they’d criminalize those who earn low wages, break up families, cut immigration by a huge percentage and shape immigration in such a way as to discourage applicants from shithole countries.

A taste of the surly Sand Lizard:

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Come early February it seems likely another standoff awaits. Will Democrats fold this time? The Democrats have gotten children off the table as hostages, so that’s something. And polls show, despite Cotton’s bile, that the majority of Americans DO want to help the Dreamers. WWJD? Not what Tough Tom would do, it’s pretty clear.

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