The chart below [1] shows that the GOP has become a party of crazed accountants, obsessing over the budget deficit. At the same time, the immigration issue has become less important to the GOP.

That's despite immigration - which determines who lives in the U.S. and who votes - being a far more vital and fundamental issue than spending. Deficits can be reduced in future years with increased economic activity and other means, but immigration is forever and ever and ever.

See the previous related discussion explaining why spending is a distraction from much more important issues, the post in which I asked Tea Partiers where they were hiding during the administration of the free-spending George W Bush, and the entries on the Tea Parties and libertarians pages.

If you realize how important immigration is, you're going to either have to convince the Teapartiers and the rest of the GOP how important it is, or you're going to need to join with me in opposing the Teaparties and libertarians.

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[1] From Pew: people-press.org/2012/04/17/section-2-issues-of-the-2012-campaign