Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

President, Congress Prepare for Immigration Showdown

Tonight, President Obama will address the nation from the Oval Office outlining his executive actions pertaining to immigration. Many of these details have reached the media already, and the pundits are discussing what this and that may mean. Meanwhile, the Republican party is trying to decide on a strategy to defeat the president's moves. This is a taste of things to come.

By this point, the nation ought to realize that it really doesn't matter what Mr. Obama says or does with regard to immigration. The Republicans in the House, the Senate and the nation will immediately oppose it. The man could say orange juice is orange in color, and there are some on the right who would argue the point simply because he said it.

Since the opposition to whatever he says tonight is a given, the only issue really is what form that opposition will take. There are a few schools of thought on this within the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill.

One faction believes that the right approach is to pass the necessary continuing resolution needed before December 10 to keep the government funded. Then when the Republicans take control of the Senate in January, the Congress should pass a budget bill that eliminates funding for the president's executive actions. The gamble here is that the president will have to sign the bill to keep the government open, thereby accepting the recission of funding. Alternatively, he can veto the bill and take the blame for the shutdown.

A more militant faction, largely Tea Party supporters, would rather just shut the government down by ignoring any continuing resolution. These people have yet to learn that the American people blamed the Republicans for the last couple of shutdowns, and it hurt their standing in the country. The reason they have yet to learn this lesson is that their districts are so gerrymandered that they don't have to care what the country as a whole thinks.

Finally, there are those who believe judicial action is the right course. They want to sue the president, and ideally impeach him, and their understanding of the law and the Constitution is weak. Executive orders are not over-reach, nor do they make a president a dictator. Further, it is difficult to see who would have standing to bring a case. There is discretion as to how the laws are enforced that every president has enjoyed. Ironically, these tend to be the same people who complain about frivolous lawsuits.

As this journal has said before, the next couple of years are going to look very much like the government-by-veto that America had under President Ford. Congress will be controlled by the GOP, and the GOP is currently controlled by the loudest, dumbest guy at the town hall meeting. Loads of ridiculous bill will pass Congress, get vetoed and die.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are failing to heed their own advice to themselves. After the 2012 defeat, there was the infamous Republican "autopsy," a legitimately reasoned and rational look at why they failed and what could be done about it to avoid a repeat. The final report read in part, "We are not a policy committee, but among the steps Republicans take in the Hispanic community and beyond, we must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform. If we do not, our Party's appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only. We also believe that comprehensive immigration reform is consistent with Republican economic policies that promote job growth and opportunity for all." A party that doesn't listen to itself is doomed.

© Copyright 2014 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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