Immigration, Obama, Romney and the Republican Party: Who Fumbled the Ball?
The issue of serious immigration reform or even just tinkering with existing laws to try and solve some of the problems remains a mess in America. And First Read has this fascinating take on the latest developments, including who came out looking better, who didn’t and which side seemed to fumble the most:
*** Obama’s immigration announcement and the bully pulpit: After his worst three political weeks of the year, Friday was a reminder why the bully pulpit matters — and why an incumbent president has so many powers at his disposal: Obama changed the subject immediately. His announcement that the administration would no longer deport young illegal immigrants who have graduated from high school, served in the military, and have a clean criminal record clearly put Mitt Romney on the defensive over the weekend. In fact, after previously saying he’d veto the DREAM Act and using immigration as a political weapon in the GOP primaries (remember him blasting Rick Perry for supporting the so-called Texas DREAM Act?), Romney declined to say if he would overturn the policy if elected president in his interview on CBS. And he charged Obama for playing politics on the issue. Don’t forget: If one side is accusing the other of playing politics, they’ve typically lost the argument. Three good days — the immigration announcement and the Greek vote — don’t make up for three bad weeks. But Plouffe and company would call it a start.
And the GOP seems to be compounding its problems with Latino voters:
*** The GOP’s big immigration mistake: Regarding this immigration story, Romney and Republicans have to be asking themselves this question: Why did they wait so long in trying to craft an alternative that could woo Latino voters? Make no mistake, Marco Rubio’s DREAM Act alternative could have been a get-out-of-jail card with this voting bloc. But Republicans, including Romney, never grabbed on to it, and Rubio never even drafted actual legislation. It was a trial balloon, it seems, that crashed and burned with the GOP base. Romney said this in his interview on CBS: “If [Obama] felt seriously about this [issue] he should have taken action when he had a Democrat House and Senate, but he didn’t. He saves these sort of things until four and a half months before the general election.” But the same thing applies to Romney and the GOP: They should have taken action on a DREAM Act alternative that could have Etch A Sketch-ed away the Republican Party’s rhetoric on immigration, including Romney’s. But they didn’t. (Had the GOP rallied around Rubio’s alternative and had Senate Dems killed it, well, then their charge over the weekend of “politics” would be taken more seriously.) By the way, the Romney camp is up with a new Spanish-language TV ad, but it’s simply another ad that’s just translated into Spanish (the one hitting Obama on the “the private sector is doing fine”).
Just saying Obama should have done it sooner doesn’t seem a knock-em-dead argument that’s going to get Latino voters voting for the GOP. This Obama move and GOP bungle likely means a)Rubio’s stock will rise as a Romney Veep option and, b) there will be more controversies than ever on election day involving some voters who’ll be turned away at the polls and charges during and after election day that this involved certain demographics.
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Who fumbled the ball? Obama, Romney or the GOP.
How about the American voters that voted in a disfunctional government that will not make any logical decisions on immigration. You can have some relaxation of the immigration laws and still believe in a strong immigration policy.
And spare me the comments about the GOP not working with Obama or Obama bypassing congress and doing this on his own. From my perspective (and many like me), both parties are not working right now for the betterment of America.
A little context here: The last Republican champion of immigration reform was George Walker Bush, whose own party turned against him on the issue.
And was it 100% of the GOP that voted against him or the ones that are now known as the extreme tea party segment of the party?
I do not know how Snowne and those like her voted.
When Congress is controlled by a party whose answer to immigration is “deport all them Mexicans!”, it’s a bit tough to do anything meaningful. When fully half the white population cannot even think of Mexican immigrants as people, what does one do?
One of my facebook acquaintences posted a notice from “Not Giving Welfare to Illegal Immigrants” that said:
“SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT…
If you cross the North Korean border illegally, you get 12 years hard labor. If you cross the Afghanistan border illegally, you get shot. Two Americans just got eight years for corssing the Iranian border. If you cross the US border illegally, you get a job, a driver’s license, food stamps, a place to live, health care, housing, child benefits, education, and a tax free business for 7 years? No wonder we’re a country in debt.
LIKE AND SHAR IF YOU AGREE!!!!!!”
Let’s say for 5 seconds that any of that is true (it’s not, except for the education part for kids, and certain states will issue driver’s licences to undocumented immigrants). We’re dealing with a huge swath of Americans, represented by their elected GOP leaders, that think that North Korea and Iran deal with immigration well, and that we should be more like them. I pointed out, nicely of course, that I was confused by if he wanted to move to the systems promoted by the meanest dictators in the world, whose people can’t even get food to eat due to their leaders’ sever isolationism, where debt is no problem because their economies and civil rights are in such shambles nobody will do business with them. If so, why in the world would one want to do such a thing? Maybe it’s not so bad that we’re not like NK and Iran? If you state it like this, of course people will say, “oh, well that’s not what I meant” (which is what my FB friend said), but that’s the conclusion from that blurb, and that page has over 80,000 followers on FB. How are we supposed to do something when so many people have so much hate in their hearts that they want to suddenly be Kim Jong Il?
Just one way to clean the dirt from the halls of Congress is by recognizing the Pro-Constitutional TEA PARTY? Even though it’s a part of the Republican Party, it is more responsive to the testimony of the U.S. Constitution than the right wing elitist’s agenda. The TEA PARTY is most certainly the most prominent part of the GOP, overwhelming both entrenched parties. It holds a great deal of promise, to the disillusioned Democrats, Republicans, Independents and the rest of the hurting American people, Of a government failing in bending to the will of the people and finding some kind of compromise, for standing issues gathering dust. It represents every American and has its individuality from the corruption, bribes and rot that THE TEA PARTY distinguishes itself from the parties in control.
The TEA PARTY believes in the freedom bequeath on us by one of the greatest manuscript that rules us all—THE U.S. CONSTITUTION. The Tea Party does not divide or Balkanize the American people, but is open to all people of color, race or religious faith. But its ideology illustrates a comparable difference between the ever warring parties. They have no kinmanship with the Democrats, who have backing of the ultra socialist enigma of the Liberals that has scarred this proud land. The TEA PARTY believes in the individual freedoms, but more so in the ‘Rule of Law’. Not Obama’s scheme of things, to pass his laws by decree, and not through the Senate and House of Representatives.
He has of late undermined THE PEOPLE’S LAW, by executive order to allow under certain circumstances that the children of illegal parents can stay. The Democratic DREAM ACT has stunned the American people, that 800.000 children of illegal aliens are being allowed stay. But nothing has obscured the law, which says the parents can stay. They are STILL ILLEGAL AND THEY ARE DEPORTABLE IF CAUGHT. In the next two weeks, this misnomer in the law will be clarified by the Supreme Court whether Arizona has the right to police its own residents, in its own sovereign state. Whatever the courts decide the outcome will cause a firestorm of controversy, as Department of Justice U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and his minions have threatened any obedient state to bend to the government.
With his unfettered intimidation, how come Holder and his attorneys have not undertaken to investigate certain factors of the’ Rule of Law’ determining that although the federal government has the overall power, but Arizona as a sovereign state should have no right of policing enforcement, especially when decades of non-compliance or at best minimal enforcement has encouraged the mass movement of illegal migrants and immigrants. Illegal migrants from South of our border and illegal immigrants from other parts of the world, who have broken our laws to enter. Both entities have settled here stealing welfare and corrupted the processing system as millions still patiently wait for an employment visa. The procedure has become corrupt with corporate campaign contributions, that over 1 million of lowly skilled workers are imported annually.
Two very important laws must be imposed at once, so no more foreign invaders are encouraged to break the immigration ‘Rule of Law’. ‘THE LEGAL WORKFORCE ACT’ must be passed and advanced, so illegal aliens can no longer steal jobs from the millions of Americans unemployed. The ‘BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ACT (H.R.140) must be compulsory so babies smuggled into America, so parents cannot take benefit from welfare, once the child become an immediate citizen. Half a million pregnant women enter the United States looking for handouts annually, for their children. Let your Senator or Congressman/Women know how you will vote, by giving your name to the politician’s aides and that you want them to sponsor E-Verify and the Birthright Citizenship bills. Citizen voters should phone Congress at the central Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a strong willed, tough lawman, of Maricopa County, Arizona announced that his volunteer law enforcement investigation has found probable cause that Obama’s long-form birth certificate and his Selective Service registration form are forgeries? Arpaio has been ruthlessly attacked by the Department of IN-JUSTICE, the Liberal media and radical interest groups. Not to be found in National Press, is a WORLD NEWS DAILY video coverage of a court case that took place today in front of Judge Terry Lewis. It suggests that President Barack Omama is ineligible for the position in the Oval office, which excludes him from being named on the Democratic election ballot in November.
If you want to read the facts concerning the lawlessness traitorous actions within Washington, then bookmark the ‘AMERICAN PATROL’ website. Investigate other headlines today as, California – the 34% Unemployed Teenager State, Obama’s amnesty hurts America, children and minorities hurt most, Border Patrol group calls for Holder’s resignation, Former Obama Prof: President ‘must be defeated’ in November, Obama’s campaign website downplays de facto amnesty news, Illegal alien triggers fatal pileup on Dallas freeway, Obama’s campaign website downplays de facto amnesty news, Obama’s amnesty hurts America, children and minorities hurt most, Marxist-controlled union goons target Latino voters for Obama, Cops say U.S. mayor smuggled weapons to Mexican drug cartel etc., AMERICAN PATROL is a up to date disclosure site of the nationwide E-media and newspapers, blogs and commentary that the Liberal press prefers to keep from the public. Daily, the truth is revealed about illegal immigration and the corruption in Washington and state Capitols.
See, how can reasonable policy be decided upon when the DaveFrancises of the world hold so much sway within our government?
roro
They must troll for the word immigration and swoop in with a (very poor) paste and cut which is almost unreadable for the spelling/typing/phrasing errors, bless their little hearts.
Then some people wonder why some of us equate Tea Party with ignorance and racism.