Posted on 11/21/2014 7:22:25 AM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Democrats hailed President Obama's move Thursday to halt deportations for millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.
But the lawmakers were quick to frame the executive actions as merely the first step on a much longer path toward overhauling the immigration system, a move they say only Congress can realize.
"It's bold, it's courageous, it's as good as it can be under the law," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "But that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to have a bill, and some of the provisions will have to take a little time to be implemented," she quickly added. "So there's plenty of time for the Republicans – in fact even two weeks when we come back [in December] – to pass an immigration bill."
A wave of Democrats issued statements Thursday night echoing that message.
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), the incoming head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Obama's action is "a bold step in the right direction" but "not a permanent solution." Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the changes mark "a turning point for the nation" but "are not all-encompassing." And Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Capitol Hill's most vocal proponent of an immigration overhaul, praised Obama's "courage" but quickly emphasized the need for a more permanent fix.
"We all must recognize that no executive action is a substitute for legislation," he said, "so the fundamental challenge of getting legislation through the Republican-controlled House remains the same."
The Democrats' strategy is clear: As much as they're welcoming Obama's actions with open arms, they also don't want it to become an impediment – political or otherwise – to Congress's efforts to enact a more permanent comprehensive immigration reform law over the next two years.
The Senate had passed such a reform bill in June 2013 with broad bipartisan support, but House Republican leaders refused to consider it. Obama said his announcement this week is simply designed to help keep families together in the face of that congressional inaction, and he urged Congress to take the steps that would make his unilateral moves dispensable.
"The day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary," Obama said during Thursday's speech.
Such statements, however, have done nothing to appease Republicans, who are furious with what they consider an unconstitutional power grab by a president who has habitually abused his executive power.
Scores of Republicans issued statements Thursday night suggesting that Obama, by his executive action, just made it harder for lawmakers to reach a deal on broader reforms.
"By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left," Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "His ‘my way or the highway’ approach makes it harder to build the trust with the American people that is necessary to get things done on behalf of the country."
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), a former federal prosecutor, said Democrats' argument that past presidents have taken similar actions simply doesn't fly with GOP lawmakers.
"Attempts to undermine the law via executive fiat, regardless of motivation, are dangerous," Gowdy said in a statement. "Whether previous administrations acted outside of constitutional boundaries is not license to do the same."
Democrats, for their part, reject the notion that Obama's actions reduce the odds that Congress can pass legislation. They're quick to note that Boehner and the Republicans had the entirety of the 113th Congress to consider a bill before Obama acted Thursday but declined to do so.
"They are trying to poison the well by saying the president shouldn't do this," Pelosi said.
"But the fact is that I think many of our [Republican] colleagues here understand that we have to do this."
Be SURE to point out to every black person that you know, that this hurts BLACKS, terribly.
The Black community is the biggest losers in this, in terms of both their economic future, and the dilution of their voting power.
DIMs praise lawlessness. Typical DIMocRATs.
I cannot imagine the reaction of the democrats and the media should a republican try a similarly bold action.
He kicked the GOP’s collective butt. Obama isn’t the smartest man in the room, but he is a trained and cunning subversive.
Obama has turned the tables on the GOP victory. Obama has killed the GOP momentum, and fueled the GOP infighting.
The Chamber of Commerce got what they wanted. The Democrats got what they wanted. And, as usual, the average American got screwed.
As a Browns fan, I know this situation, I know this feeling. Your side is in constant chaos, nothing seems to work. All moves seem to explode in your face, making the other side appear to be ultra competent.
This is the pivotal point. The GOP is poised to become irrelevant. I’m not smart enough to know what they can, or should do, but they are one foot in the grave, and the other on a banana peel.
Notice they only asked members of the Hispanic Caucus their thoughts on this and of course their answers were predictable. I wonder what the Congressional Black Caucus and the rest of the non-Hispanic Democrat congressional delegation are saying about this in private. They can’t be too happy about it. I don’t know if they’re fully aware of the economic damage this will do to Blacks and big labor but one thing I’m sure they know is that the balance of power is shifting to the new kids on the block. This is what they get for investing in Hope and Change.
Outrageous,not courageous, is the word.
It is handy to keep in mind the red/blue map for the November election we’ve all seen.
The noisy Dems are all in lefty redoubts and of course the DC media swamp creatures are happy to amplify their rantings.
But for the Joe Manchins and any other so-called moderate Dems, they are somewhere between silence and despair both at the mindlessness of Pelosi, Gutierrez et al as well as the practical result of swamping the US with Third Worlders.
Who cares? The LIBs in the media will be as corrupt and biased as they are forever anyway.
Does she ever not lie?
More importantly, there’s no quote/reaction from Hillary.
I haven’t seen anything from her yet, has anyone else?
There’s a lot of crowing and taunting going on, but I don’t hear much from the more “adult” wing of the Dem Party. They know that the ball has only been advanced a few yards, and their Partys’ kids table is spiking the ball over something that effectively kills any chance at any sort of comprehensive reform bill ... which makes the real prize of path to citizenship unattainable.
If I had a business, I would never hire anyone with a Hispanic surname. No way, no how, never. I would find ways to avoid hiring them. I also will refuse to go into any Hispanic or Muslim owned business. This is war.
Democrats are traitors and should be dealt with accordingly: Let them move to Canada like the treasonous Loyalists before them.
“Democrats, for their part, reject the notion that Obama’s actions reduce the odds that Congress can pass legislation. They’re quick to note that Boehner and the Republicans had the entirety of the 113th Congress to consider a bill before Obama acted Thursday but declined to do so.”
How quickly they forget that the Repubs tried many times to do that but their efforts were DOA in the Senate.
My family agrees with you and we have for a while now. On our ranch we do not hire Mexicans. Instead we have Polish Catholics working for us and four of them outwork the ten Mexicans we used to have. And we pay the four Polish men what we used to pay ten Mexicans because they’re worth it!
Well, it is a problem for those of us who have awakened to find ourselves under a dictatorship. For us, problem.
Not all rats are happy.
But the RINOs and GOP-E are making sure they don’t step out of line.
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