Poisoning The Well?

The GOP is in control of both legislative branches of the federal government and many state governorships.  So far, this is how they and their media mouthpieces reacted to that awesome responsibility:



"Republicans have a mandate to stop Barack Obama and were not elected to govern.” --Rush Limbaugh, leading mouthpiece of the GOP

Fox News host Megyn Kelly fantasized that Obama would “offend” Republicans into impeaching him; 

Phyllis Schlafly argued the first priority should be blocking all Obama’s judicial nominees. 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) pledged once more to repeal Obamacare. 

The dyspeptic Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will use his chairmanship of the Armed Services Committee to demand more “boots on the ground” in Iraq and Syria, harsher sanctions to undermine negotiations with Iran and more macho posturing over Ukraine. 

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) will use his likely chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee to deny the existence of catastrophic climate change even while allocating billions for cleanup in the wake of floods, droughts and storms to come.

Iowa’s newest Senator-elect, Republican Joni Ernst...was forced to answer a reporter’s questions over her claims that she made at a campaign stop, saying President Obama wasn’t “leading” on Ebola, and was “hands-off.” 

Raw Story reports Charles Pierce from Esquire asked Ernst, “What should he have done about Ebola? One person has Ebola.” 

“Okay, you’re the press, you’re giving your opinion,” Ernst told him. --Washington Post


So the smallest group of American voters since 1942 voted for exactly the same sort of do-nothing obstructionists that have plagued our country for the last six years, the only difference with this new group is that some of them now threaten to impeach President Obama if he actually governs. How's that for threats and giggles?






"Nice country you got here. It'd be a shame if anything happened to it and you if you try to govern it." --Tony TeaPublican




ON IMMIGRATION


Right wing politicians and pundits are threatening to impeach President Obama for acting on immigration.

Should we retroactively impeach Presidents Reagan and Bush I?


"...previous instances in which vast numbers of illegal immigrants were granted deferred relief, pending legislative gridlock or delay, by presidential discretion:

 As Congress was debating the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, it weighed and opted not to provide a legalization pathway for the immediate relatives of aliens who met the requirements of IRCA unless they too met those requirements.

As IRCA’s legalization programs were being implemented, the cases of unauthorized spouses and children who were not eligible to adjust with their family came to the fore. In 1987, Attorney General Edward Meese authorized the INS district directors to defer deportation proceedings where “compelling or humanitarian factors existed.”

Legislation addressing this population was introduced throughout the 1980s, but not enacted. In 1990, INS Commissioner Gene McNary issued a new “Family Fairness” policy for family members of aliens legalized through IRCA, dropping the where “compelling or humanitarian factors existed” requirement. At the time, McNary stated that an estimated 1.5 million unauthorized aliens would benefit from the policy. The new policy also allowed the unauthorized spouses and children to apply for employment authorizations.

 So both Reagan and the first Bush did exactly what Obama is proposing, as the AP has also reported, and their measures involved 1.5 million people. More to the point, the deferrals were for family members whose deportations would split parents from children.


More here:


When Reagan and GHW Bush took bold executive action on immigration





Oh, and about that "poisoning the well" meme? The Miami Herald laughs at it: 

 "Given the repeated failure of this Congress and preceding ones to deal with immigration reform, the only questions now are when and how far President Obama will go in using his discretionary authority to fix the problem on his own. We hope it’s soon and that he does everything he can within the law to provide a strong measure of relief to immigrant communities in Florida and throughout the nation. 

They’ve waited patiently and for too long for the president to act. [...] Mr. Boehner and other Republicans have not been shy about threatening the president if he decides to go ahead, saying any relaxation of immigration rules would “poison the atmosphere” in Washington. Really? At this stage — after years of demonizing the president, blocking his agenda, voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act some 50 times, and so on — now they’re saying No More Mr. Nice Guy?