The Obama immigration executive order and Congress as enabler
Here’s a great piece written by Charles C. W. Cooke. It emphasizes a point I’ve tried to focus on as well—the fact that Congress is acquiescing in its own loss of power to the executive branch.
Astounding, deeply disturbing, and enabling (I mean that in the historic sense). This would not be happening without the collaboration of the Democrats in Congress:
Last night, in Las Vegas, the head of the executive branch announced what amounts to a remarkable usurpation of legislative authority ”” and a significant portion of the legislature applauded. Before his speech, a raft of House Democrats had urged Obama to go as far as he pleased, comparing his impending behavior to that of Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman and recording for posterity that they had his back. “What we want the president to do,” Luis Gutierrez confirmed, “is act big, act bold, act broadly, and act soon.” In the Senate, meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren expressed her approval, as did power-players Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, Patty Murray, Bob Menendez, and Michael Bennet. With a few virtuous exceptions, those that did not champion the action elected at best to remain silent…
This acquiescence is of great consequence. For all the hand-wringing and the righteous indignation that will presumably now be forthcoming, the root cause of the Republican party’s present dilemma is that the body that it leads has largely elected to abdicate its constitutional role ”” not, as President Obama likes to imply, because it has failed to do what the White House wishes it to do, but because it is proving so shamefully unwilling to defend its authority.
Please read the whole thing. And send it around.
The summary quote:
As the Founders understood well, the continuing integrity of a free republic is heavily reliant upon the goodwill of its political actors.
[NOTE: In related news, the WaPo has given Obama four Pinocchios for the assertion that George Bush expanded the law by executive order to protect 1.5 million illegal immigrants. Will anyone except the right care? Perhaps, but if Congress won’t act to further the will of the people and to protect the Constitution and its own powers, we are sunk.]
The direction is profoundly disturbing. It is hard to see Congress mustering the will to turn this around.
As a complication, we now have a generation of voters who were educated that our Founders were self-serving fools, and that our Constitution is an impediment to right thinking, sophisticated leadership.
If I may wander a bit; my wife was in the hospital last week. One notable aspect of hospitalization now-at least in SoCAl– is that you meet such a diverse group of people in the Nursing and support staff. She had one charming gentleman Nursing Assistant who left Afghanistan after the Soviets’ departure, but before the Taliban–during the chaos of War Lord domination. He is quite optimistic that the Afghan Army will hold up, and prevent the Taliban from taking over. Overly optimistic?
The most compelling story was from a Vietnamese Nurse. Her father was SVN army, and spent 10 years in a re-education camp. Her brother had to flee the country when he turned 18 to escape conscription into a Labor Brigade, because the family was tainted by Americanism. The rest of the family finally were allowed to depart in the 1990s and are re-united in SoCal. I wish that people with stories like the ones she told us could visit all of our Universities and High Schools and tell those stories. Surely, it would help young Americans better understand the blessings they inherited and seem willing to let slip away.
There was another Nurse who is a Catholic from India. Interesting dynamic there as one can imagine.
Interesting how many “legal” and productive immigrants one runs across.
“Congress is acquiescing in its own loss of power to the executive branch. if Congress won’t act to further the will of the people and to protect the Constitution and its own powers, we are sunk.” neo
‘We Will Not Engage’: Michele Bachmann Reveals GOP Plans to Ignore Executive Amnesty
Just to be clear, it’s doubtful that the GOP leadership really thinks that “the smarter strategy is to not engage”, they just think its not worth expending their political ‘capital’, since they want amnesty too.
It’s over folks, America has been given a slow acting poison and the only people with an antidote… won’t.
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln
I don’t blame the Republicans. Obama timed his announcement well since the new Republican majority in the Senate hasn’t even met yet. His fellow Democrat conspirators along with the American media are still in power and still have control of the narrative. By the time the Republicans take over the amnesty will be old news, an established fact.
Congress collectively has been willfully ceding its law-making authority for years – to executive agencies and increasingly directly to the presidency. Seems to me that Congress collectively (regardless of any individual exceptions) has given up on the responsibility of proper governance, and focused only on the perquisites and payoffs of the position of governance.
Caesarism seems not only possible but likely. The power vacuum left by Congress abandoning its proper responsibilities WILL draw people to the executive branch who will eagerly fill the vacuum. So it was in Rome, and so it could be in America.
What Obama is wanting is for the present Congress to try to stop the continuing resolution coming up in December. He believes, and with good reason, that if the Republicans force a government shut down, they will be blamed. The timing of his outrageous act seems aimed at that outcome. The Republicans should pass the continuing resolution and then, when the new Senate is seated, craft a new budget where each department is funded separately. That is where they can attack this fiscally – by refusing to fund the administrative costs of the program. Remember five million illegals cannot be processed quickly. They have to provide evidence of residence for five years or more. (Yes, there will be a fraudulent document business up and running very quickly – but even that takes time to spool up.) They have to pay a fine, they have to have a police background check. All that takes time and files have to be built up before the temporary green cards can be issued. I think Obama believes he can make a big issue about the Republicans sending him a funding bill for the DHS that doesn’t fund the administrative work, but only LA Raza and the other Latino activists will care, even though the MSM will give it an anti-Republican spin.
The other thing the new Congress can do is send him a comprehensive immigration bill that provides a path to legality (But not to citizenship) only after a three year period in which the border has been proven to be secure, with the specific parameters for a secure border spelled out, and the money to do it. If Obama vetoes such a bill, it will show very plainly that he has no interest in securing the border. I think most Americans want the border secured, and if Obama is seen as an obstructionist, that’s just another fail on his part and that of the dems.
Maybe I’m too naé¯ve here, but I think the Republicans need to be very cool, calm, and collected until the new Congress is in session.
JJ,
I share your hope that the new congress will act as you suggest, but I am on a short fuse. No push back in the first 100 days will tell me the gop is not serious about reigning in a lawless dictator wannabe.
How many times and ways can I say it?
The solution to Barry Soetoro is to move enforcement out to the border states — via block grants.
No-one Blue or Red will be able to refuse the cheddar.
Those who would enforce the law stand unfunded.
Barry will have one heck of a time vetoing sugar for Blue cities.
huh. who knew? i would never have thought of this. The congress allowing Obama to do whatever he wanted? Golly, I bet the new Republican goodtime boys won’t let that happen! They’ll show Obama’s who’s boss!
And the conservative media – Krauthammer, Will, Hume, Cheering them on to ignore Obama? No way that will happen – Karl Rove and Reince Preibus won’t stand for it. They’ll show those pundits who’s got a pair.
southpaw:
If we get to spring and nothing has happened, I will agree with you.
But there’s not much to be done until the new Congress is installed in January, except for the lawsuits which are going forward (and for which Congress may be found to not have standing).
Neo – If they simply file lawsuits they know have no chance of success, or undertake similar token actions to give the appearence that they’re opposing hin, they will be wiped out in 2016. They need to take some actions that go against the main stream conservative media’s recommendations.
While I have no doubt the aforementioned gentlemen are correct the Republicans will be drawing attention to themselves by opposing him in a substantial way — for example with budgets, they are seriously risking majorities by doing nothing, or even worse, doing silly things their supporters recognize as cop-outs. Which is my bet, and it’s a safe bet.
People like Boehner and McConnel have hung around because they made their own survival the number one priority; we project an expectation they represent principles opposiite the Democrats. While in fact, they tell us all the time they want to work with Democrats and “solve problems of the American people”. They have no intention of putting themselves at risk for conservative principles they don’t share; they’ll roll the dice and risk losing control of congress before losing their own seats, which are nearly a lock for Republicans. When voters figure out THEY are the problem, we will have made some progress.
January will be here before we know it. Should be an interesting conversation.