Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

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?










18 comments:

And The Beat Goes On... said...

Or, the beast? Dunno.

Dave Miller said...

Now Shaw there you go again... blaming Reagan and Bush the Elder for Obama's actions...

Jerry Critter said...

Letting the Republicans do what they want will lead to a democratic landslide in 2016. That is the upside. The downside is that the country will be so screwed up that even the Democrats may not be able to fix it.

Ray Cranston said...

"Boehner refuses to consider infrastructure bills, job creation bills; the Senate passed immigration bill, any legislation to raise the minimum wage, and the very popular enhanced background checks for gun purchases. House Republicans are experts at ignoring what the American people. The American people don’t want Obamacare repealed; yet Boehner has held nearly sixty voters to repeal the ACA."

BB-Idaho said...

It smells as if the electorate is enamored of Nugents & Kochs. We can only guess the logic of it all.

Anonymous said...

Here's some delicious right wing poison for the well:

Fox News Contributor Tells Republicans To Shut Down The Government To Spite Obama


News from the past:

"MSNBC Contributor Tells Democrats To Shut Down The Government to Spite George W. Bush...

Said no Democrat EVER!

No. They BOTH don't "do it."

The Absolute Harpist said...

You know they love to do it!

Ducky's here said...

Now Shaw there you go again... blaming Reagan and Bush the Elder for Obama's actions...
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Maybe not, Dave.
Just pointing out we may have a double standard here.
What's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the Kenyan Muslim usurper.

Dervish Sanders said...

I'm not sure about a Democratic landslide in 2016 given how many governorships the Republicans hold. With Republicans in charge of voting we know they going to work hard to disenfranchise even more people who are legally entitled to vote.

I predict the GOP caused gridlock will continue. The next president won't be Black, but could be a woman... so the GOP's opposition might switch from being racism-based to misogyny-based. Recall one of the likely contender's "testical lockbox"?

Dave Miller said...

Shaw... I can't take and am almost ready to go Howard Beall... John Boehnor just said Obama is calling the Anerican people stupid if he vetos the Keystone Pipeline, which he claims a majority of Americans support.

It's a will of the people thing...

What does that make the GOP and their supporters as they refuse to pass even gun control, a measure clearly supported by a wide majority of Americans?

Yes... I'm screaming.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave, as my aunt would say, John Boehner is full of beans. To keeping claiming what Congress is doing is "the will of the people" when Bohner ignored it for six years is not just laughable, it's a sort of mental derangement. Someone should ask Boehner if the will of the people counts only when the GOP wins.

The will of the people wanted background checks and minimum wage increase. What's Little John's excuse?

Shaw Kenawe said...

To skidrunner, I didn't publish your last comment because you started it with the claim that the Obama administration is "corrupt." I deleted immediately. Just because you don't like Mr. Obama and his policies, that doesn't make him and them corrupt.

Les Carpenter said...

Politics is a corrupt "business", it does not follow all politicis are corrupt however. There does exist honest politicians.

I have a dilemma. I am struggling with the Presidents previous strong statements with respect to immigration law being the domain of congress to threatening the use of executive order. My position was mapped out on a recent post. Nontheless he certainly is looking inconsistent.

skudrunner said...

I hasten to find an honest politician regardless of the party or the country.

Governments are corrupt, some openly like Mexico, some hidden behind another controlling interest like patriotism.
Presidents have agendas and most are not in control of their agendas. Bush's thinking and decisions were controlled by Cheney, Obama by Jarrett. Either way the american people are a inconsequential part of the overall actions of an administration.

Jerry Critter said...

skud,
How about some proof that Bush's thinking and decisions were controlled by Cheney, and that Obama's thinking and decisions are controlled by Jarrett. This may be your opinion, but at this point opinion is all it is. It is just opinion, and therefore pretty much worthless.

Ducky's here said...

When Boehner and Krauthammer, arguably the top political and intellectual leaders of the GOP, suggest lawsuits and impeachment, it comes with more than a dollop of significance.
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That's from the Huffington article of immigration and the Federalist Society.
One sentence can tell us so much.

Someone help me out here, didn't Saint Ronny Raygun and Bush Daddy use executive mandates to implement immigration policy?

Has the Krautzenjammer Kid explained why he didn't call for their impeachment?

Must be different for Muslim Kenyan socialist usurper.

Jerry Critter said...

Everything is different with the Muslim Kenyan socialist usurper.

dmarks said...

Jerry: Excellent question. The "Jerrett controls Obama" and the other one you named are just examples of conspiracy theories.