House Conservatives Threaten War Funding Over Immigration Bill

Some House conservatives are telling the president he can't have it both ways. He can't ram an amnesty immigration bill down their throats and continue to expect support on the Iraq war:

Conservative leaders among House Republicans say that President Bush's upcoming showdown with them on immigration could threaten support for the Iraq war as well as for the president's other top policy goals.

"The White House should keep in mind that if they have a direct confrontation with House Republicans on [immigration], it could affect the vote on the Iraq appropriation in September," said Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican. "It will not affect me. I intend to stand by the president. But I do think it is something they should keep in mind for other Republicans who are borderline."

Mr. King last week introduced legislation that would focus on border security while eliminating many of the guest-worker and path-to-citizenship provisions in the Senate proposal, which he called an "amnesty bill."

Rep. Adam H. Putnam, Florida Republican, warned that a lackluster immigration bill could do "irreparable harm" to House Republican support for the president.

"If the president makes it clear he'll sign any immigration bill that gets to his desk, no matter what it looks like, then it certainly will do more harm than good," said Mr. Putnam, who as chairman of the House Republican Conference is the third-ranking House Republican.

This may actually have more of an effect on changing the president's mind than the voter uprising currently going on. The voters can't do much more than complain to Congress about the bill, and that's not much of a threat to the president, but House members can dramatically affect funding for the war or the president's other priorities, thus rendering the rest of his term completely useless. Maybe that will get his attention.