Do Republicans Realize They Lost?

Incoming Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell minimizes the importance of a raise in the minimum wage, the implementation of paygo rules, and ethics reform, while pledging his support for immigration and social security reform.

Uh, Mitch. If those bills were so easy, how come you guys didn't pass them when you were in power? And why don't I believe that you'll be supportive of efforts to deal with immigration and social security?

To put it bluntly, I don't think we should do anything about social security. The Republicans are trying to destroy America's oldest and most important social insurance system in the name of some "crisis" that may or may not happen 40 years from now. How is something a crisis when it doesn't become a problem until today's college graduates are facing retirement?

Mitch is bringing up immigration because he wants to solve a political problem for his party. The nativist wing of the Republican party is rebelling over Bush's failure to stem illegal immigration. Mitch is hoping that if the Democrats propose a bipartisan piece of legislation, the Republicans in Congress will be able to win political cover and permit a few members of their caucus to rail against any proposed reforms. I think immigration is an important issue, but it's certainly not the first thing we should deal with.

You're in the minority, Mitch. That means you don't get to set the agenda. Get used to it.