Friday, November 21, 2014

Where's the GOP's Immigration Proposal?


Throughout the last almost 6 years, the Congressional Republicans have basically had no proposals to address the nation's pressing needs.  Instead, all they have done is attack proposals coming out of the White House be it the Affordable Health Care Act or now President Obama's action on immigration.  The fact that the last Congress has been one of the most do nothing in history falls largely at the feet of GOP obstructionists.  While prostituting themselves to the Christofacist/Tea Party base, they have made sure nothing has gotten done and sadly, things do not look like they will change even after January.  As the Washington Post states in a main page editorial, if the Republicans don't like what Obama has done, then come up with a proposal that addresses the opinion of a majority of Americans and not just the racist lunatic base of the GOP.  Here are editorial highlights:
AT A stroke, President Obama will protect, at least for the remainder of his term, more than 4 million illegal immigrants from the threat of deportation. He justifies the move as an act of “prosecutorial discretion.” The president always has had authority to calibrate and prioritize the enforcement of immigration (and other) laws, but this wholesale reinterpretation amounts to ­overreaching. 

Mr. Obama, a former constitutional law professor, has said as much, explicitly and many times. “Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own,” he said in 2011. “That’s not how our democracy functions. That’s not how our Constitution is written.” He was speaking to La Raza, one of the groups pressing for unilateral action. Now those groups have won the day, though the victory may be pyrrhic.

Republicans, obstinate and inert for so long on immigration, cannot dodge responsibility. Even after the Senate passed sweeping immigration reform last year with bipartisan support, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) refused to allow a vote on the bill in the lower chamber, where it would have been likely to pass. Republicans now berate the president for thwarting the popular will; yet the GOP thumbed its nose at democracy by refusing to submit the question to an up-or-down vote.

Now the White House seems almost eager to goad the opposition into a collective temper tantrum — and may succeed. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) has threatened a constitutional crisis, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is predicting violence and others are beating the drums for impeachment.

There is a smarter way, for the nation and the Republican Party. We realize it will not be the GOP’s first impulse. But by fixing the nation’s broken immigration system on their own terms, Republicans could negate the president’s fiat, which, after all, is provisional and partial; assert their prerogative as elected lawmakers; repair their standing with Hispanic voters; and demonstrate an ability to be constructive.

If Republicans want revenge, in other words, they have a ready way to take it. It’s called legislation.
Will Republicans get off their asses and actual come up with legislation?  I for one will not be holding my breath.  They'd rather pitch fits and let loose bombastic sound bites that play well with their sick party base while giving the majority of Americans the proverbial middle finger yet again. 
 

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