The Politics of Not and the Absence of Republican Alternatives

 Its one thing to oppose President Obama and Democratic initiatives, but quit another to do so without offering an alternative.  Immigration is a case in point.  Republicans are adamantly opposed to President Obama's executive orders, and refused to vote on a bipartisan Immigration bill past by the Senate during the last Congress.  The electorate is entitled to compare and contrast the Democratic proposal against a alternative 'fix'.  Letting the problem fester, is not a viable solution, and the Democrats have done a poor job in pointing out the implications of doing nothing.   President Obama has laid down the challenge to Congress to come up with its own bill, but has not been as clear to the costs of doing nothing at all.   So far Republicans have been able to obfuscate what they would do on immigration,  and thus obscure the political downsides of any position they may take.  The same can be said of health care: what, exactly, is the Republican position?  What bill would they pass?  The same can be said regarding Iran: are the Republicans willing to risk an escalation of the conflict with Iran rather than compromise on US preferences for a solution?