Just spent a good part of the last half-hour in a Twitter conversation with my friends Greg Sargent and Jonathan Bernstein (with Mike Tomasky and Ezra Klein chipping in) over the internal GOP politics of immigration reform. Greg and Jonathan are convinced Boehner can get away with defying the “Hastert Rule” and passing an immigration bill with mostly Democratic votes because many GOP members privately want the bill to succeed (I’m obviously skeptical). They agree, however, it’s not clear what Boehner actually wants to do. It’s a good excuse to follow me on Twitter (@ed_kilgore) if you don’t already.
Anyway, here are some mid-day news/views snacks:
* Here’s the Sargent/Bernstein hypothesis that Boehner is bluffing in promising to follow the Hastert Rule.
* Conversely, Dana Rorabacher gets very specific in warning Boehner that maintenance of the Hastert Rule for immigration bill is a strict condition for keeping his gavel.
* The Hill‘s Erick Wasson has a very handy list of amendment fights the House is undertaking over the Farm Bill.
* I love it: CT Gov. Daniel Malloy crashes a luncheon wherein Rick Perry was trying to lure businesses into relocating to Texas.
* Guardian reports U.S. ready to join direct negotiations with Taliban over Afghanistan settlement.
And in non-political news:
* James Franco wades deeply into “crowdfunding” to raise money for his planned Palo Alto movie.
Back within an hour or so. To entertain you in the interim, here’s Otis.
