It's well-documented about the many times he has stated in the last 8 years that using executive order in the way he just did with immigration was unlawful.
His recent interview with George Stephanopolous is even more egregious. He stated that future presidents would not have the same executive order privileges in regards to tax reform as immigration reform. He claimed it would be illegitimate for a president to do that. He basically dodges the question in the interview with saying there is no way to prosecute or deport this many illegals.
I might, partially agree with him there, but the fact remains that his last budget proposal saw 11% cuts to CBP, and more specifically Border Patrol (where the majority of the cuts went in lieu of OFO and OAM). The current budget for the IRS is triple what the Border Patrol's shrinking budget is. Even TSA has double the budget than that of the Border Patrol. There is no way to properly prosecute the broken immigration laws because it's not properly funded, the way the IRS and many other components that Obama agrees with, such as FEMA, are funded. That the president would even claim that tax laws are easier to prosecute than immigration laws, especially when they are significantly better funded, is a laughable farce.
If he's one thing it's a hypocrite that's for sure.
Quote:If he's one thing it's a hypocrite that's for sure.
Who ever heard of a hypocritical politician? Wow, that's a new one.
Snarky comment aside, I agree that he overstepped is authority this time. I don't think the President can decide for himself which laws to enforce and which to ignore.
But the Republicans won't do anything because they are afraid of losing the hispanic vote forever. So the chickens have come home to roost. There are so many illegal aliens in the country, we can't do anything about it. They are now too powerful politically, and deporting them would cripple the economy. Time for a strategic retreat- secure the borders and legalize the ones that are here.
Got to give Obama credit for chutzpah.
"I'm going to do this, what are you going to do about it? That's what I thought."
Quote:Who ever heard of a hypocritical politician? Wow, that's a new one.
Snarky comment aside, I agree that he overstepped is authority this time. I don't think the President can decide for himself which laws to enforce and which to ignore.
But the Republicans won't do anything because they are afraid of losing the hispanic vote forever. So the chickens have come home to roost. There are so many illegal aliens in the country, we can't do anything about it. They are now too powerful politically, and deporting them would cripple the economy. Time for a strategic retreat- secure the borders and legalize the ones that are here.
Got to give Obama credit for chutzpah.
"I'm going to do this, what are you going to do about it? That's what I thought."
Losing the Hispanic vote forever by actually doing something will have little impact on the republicans. They're not relying on that voting bloc to win elections. They only got a quarter of the Hispanic vote in the 2012 election. Of minority voting blocs, Hispanics voted at less than 50% of their eligible voters, which pales in comparison to blacks 66% and whites 64%.
The GOP isn't going to lose the 25% they're getting by standing up and actually doing something about immigration reform. The country wants to see something done. They just don't agree that Obama is a king who can simply wave a magic wand and do as he pleases.
I wouldn't call it chutzpah. It's the height of arrogance coming from a president who, in reality, couldn't care less about Hispanics for any other purpose than building a bigger bloc of democrat voters. That would be simple enough to prove. The republicans should sign off on his amnesty proposal with one exception. Anyone who is pardoned in this process rescinds their right to ever vote in a US election.
As a Hispanic by birth I can tell you only my one Aunt votes democrat, the Hispanic side of my family is EXTREMELY conservative and votes almost exclusively Republican. I can tell you this if they (the republicans) sign on with any kind of amnesty I'll probably win most of them over to my Libertarian party.
Quote:As a Hispanic by birth I can tell you only my one Aunt votes democrat, the Hispanic side of my family is EXTREMELY conservative and votes almost exclusively Republican. I can tell you this if they (the republicans) sign on with any kind of amnesty I'll probably win most of them over to my Libertarian party.
Immigration reform is not really amnesty. But, it has to be REAL reform. That's the problem. What we'll get from either party is a bunch of lip service, and not a lot of action.
The reality here is you can't deport 11-12 million people. We simply don't have the resources. Most understand this. But, if you know this is the case, how do you deal with it? It starts with border security. Not the kind they talk about. REAL border security. Then, you have to enforce the laws that are on the books. We don't need a lot of new legislation. We just need to enforce the laws that already exist, and this is where the king has planted his flag. He has decided he'll basically pardon 4 million illegals, temporarily, in order to create the illusion that he's doing something. 3 years from now this will all come right back to the front, conveniently, just after he leaves office. Whoever is in the Oval Office at that point will be left holding the bag.
The GOP needs to fund securing the border, then come up with a plan to create a path to legal status for those illegals who are not criminals, and who are trying to lead productive lives here in the US. If you're a criminal, zero tolerance. You're sent back from where you came. They also need to expand the guest worker program that allows us to bring in the best and the brightest legal immigrants to help bolster our science, math, and technology fields.
Obama is pandering to a small portion of the illegal population. The GOP needs to come up with a comprehensive plan that looks at the bigger picture. Will they? Probably not. There aren't enough republicans with a spine in congress.
The biggest problem isn't all border security.
The border is where all the marijuana and criminal aliens enter, so it must be better funded for enforcement.
The elephant in the room is that most illegals don't jump a fence or swim a river. The majority of illegals are visa overstays and visas out of status. That is where enforcement becomes difficult because they've already had weeks and months of legal status within the United States. How do you catch those people? The answer is letting ICE and USBP actively enforce the laws within the United States instead of just at the border or prisons. It will never happen though because immigration checks on agriculture busses and businesses is deemed racist. Technology and GPS tracking would be an unrealistic alternative because of the expense and probable opposition.
Allowing amnesty, short of having a fundamental change unhindered by PC and politics, would just be another in a long line of future amnesties every 10-15 years.