Why House Republicans pulled sentencing reform out of the budget

Two words: Willie Horton.

The Rs know there won’t be any Democratic votes for Kasich’s budget. And if someone is released early under the new sentencing reforms, and that person happens to commit a violent crime, they want the Democrats to be on the hook too.

It was a purely political CYA play, and it worked as expected. The House just passed the bill 96-2.