August 07, 2014 11:02 AM UTC

"Mostly true" not "mostly false" that Gardner blocked immigration reform

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

In a fact-check last week, Politifact concluded that it was "mostly false" for SEIU to assert, in a radio ad, that senatorial candidate Cory Gardner "blocked immigration reform." A fairer conclusion would have been, "mostly true."

Politifact's logic:

So far the House has not acted [on immigration-reform legislation], and prospects are dim for action before the fall elections. That means Gardner hasn’t had the opportunity to actually vote on legislation, making it hard to attribute any blame to him. It’s not as though he holds any leadership positions where he could have advanced legislation or held up the process.

Hard to attribute "any blame" to Gardner? Please.

Gardner went from publicly backing comprehensive immigration reform to publicly opposing it. It's safe to say that he was making the same arguments against comprehensive reform to fellow House Republicans, including Eric Cantor, who was a close Gardner ally, having taken a personal interest in Gardner during his first term in office. Gardner was on everyone's list for House leadership, and he was already a Vice Chair of the National Republican Campaign Committee.

But regardless of what he said to House leaders, Gardner never produced a specific immigration reform plan of his own, relying instead on his platitudinous lines about the need for more border security.

If you attack a plan that's on the table, and you have no specific plan of your own, that's blocking, maybe not total blockage, but blocking nonetheless.

So, while would be false to say Gardner blocked immigration reform all by himself, it's at least "mostly true" to assert the he blocked it nonetheless.