Craig Shirley has written a piece for the Washington Post explaining many of the issues affecting today’s Republican Party:

The immigration reform debate has highlighted a long-standing fissure in the GOP between the elitist Rockefeller business wing and the party’s conservative populist base. Whether the two groups can continue to coexist and preserve the Republican majority is increasingly doubtful as conservatives begin to consider — and in some cases cheer — the possibility that the GOP may lose control of Congress this fall.

The two camps are deeply divided. The business elites are interested in a large supply of cheap labor and support unfettered immigration and open borders. The populist base supports legal immigration but is concerned about lawlessness on our border, national sovereignty and the real security threat posed by porous borders.
 
There is nothing new about this division. It is a 40-year-old fight that has its roots in the cultural, economic, regional and ideological differences between the two camps. Still, most conservatives felt that after the victory of Ronald Reagan and the Republican Revolution of 1994 their point was made and the country-clubbers would know their place. They were wrong. The Rockefeller wing is now attempting to reassert its control over the party and is openly hostile toward the Reagan populists who created the Republican majority in the first place.

Major Republicans have taken to attacking others within their own party as unsophisticated nativists. In a recent Wall Street Journal column, former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie warned populists to cease and desist from promoting “border enforcement first” legislation. “Anti-immigration rhetoric is a political siren song, and Republicans must resist its lure,” he said. And in a recent editorial, the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol attacked populist Republicans for not recognizing the danger of “turning the GOP into an anti-immigration, Know-Nothing party.”

Conservatives see this kind of rhetoric as inflammatory, anti-intellectual and offensive. Far from being driven by xenophobia and intolerance, conservative populists are motivated by a profound respect for the rule of law and by a patriotic regard for America’s sovereignty and national security. Upholding the rule of law and protecting our country’s borders is important to conservative populists and to most Americans.

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There is nothing wrong with having divisions within the Republican Party, or any political party for that matter. However, there must be consistency with top issues, like tax cuts, immigration policy, matters of limited government, and national security. While the Republican Party has a basic party platform outlining important issues such as these, moderate and liberal Republicans seem to have given up their conservative principles in favor of more government, higher taxes, and increased regulation.

The Republican Party must return to its conservative values and base if it is to truly remain a force in Washington politics. Obstructionism from liberal Republicans and Democrats continue to deadlock much needed legislation like immigration reform and the next fiscal budget, while officials play politics with everything from the War on Terror to Social Security reform.

The Congress must remember to be wise with taxpayers’ money. It is essential the Congress return to fiscal conservativism and find common ground in regards to our nation’s security and real priorities.