M2RB: Hank Williams, Jr
I will keep my heroes
Pictures on the wall
I'll keep my family safe
You bluff when I call
I'll keep my family safe
You bluff when I call
I'm gonna keep my big V8
Keep my friends the same
Keep the government outta my business
And y'all can keep the change
This country sure as hell been goin' down the drain
We know what we need
We know who to blame
United Socialist States of America
How do ya like that name?
I'll keep the USA and y'all can keep the change
Keep my friends the same
Keep the government outta my business
And y'all can keep the change
This country sure as hell been goin' down the drain
We know what we need
We know who to blame
United Socialist States of America
How do ya like that name?
I'll keep the USA and y'all can keep the change
"Obama Has Eclipsed Nixon In The Establishment Of An Imperial Presidency."
- Jonathan Turley, Constitutional Law Professor, George Washington University School of Law, Progressive
By Jonathan Turley
The Obama Administration again waited for a Friday afternoon to
announce a major new policy change — repeating its practice of timing
important announcements to reduce media and public attention. The
latest change is obviously controversial. The Administration will no longer deport illegal aliens under 30 who
came to this country as children — effectively negating part of the
federal law. It raises some troubling questions, again, about President
Obama assertion of executive power. While liberals again celebrate the
unilateral action, they ignore that danger that the next president may
also simply chose to ignore whole areas of the federal law and criminal
code in areas ranging from the environment to employment discrimination.
It is one more brick in the wall of the Imperial Presidency
constructed under Barack Obama — a wall that may prove difficult to
dismantle for citizens in the future.
Presidents are given extreme deference in decisions on the enforcement of federal laws. It would be difficult for anyone to challenge this policy for that reason. However, that does not mean that this is a good practice — regardless of the merits of specific policy. It is also hard to ignore the obvious political play for Hispanic votes in key swing states. Obama waited for years to take this action and did so with polls showing that Hispanics will likely select the next president. Even some of the more liberal columnists and reporters are acknowledging that this change appears driven by politics.
Obama officials do not deny that they are circumventing Congress. In a recent interview, senior Obama adviser David Plouffe told CNN “if congress would act, we would be happy to sign the DREAM Act tomorrow.” Since it has not done so, the White House is going to accomplish the same objection unilaterally.
This is different from past presidents who have not made deportation a priority in their policies. Despite the criticism of Obama, he is certainly no less aggressive on deportation than his predecessors. Indeed, he may be more aggressive in terms of numbers. Presidents like George W. Bush clearly did not push for deportation based solely on illegal status. The Administration, however, was forced to admit this long-suspected policy in court in fighting the Arizona law — stating that it did conflict with federal policy because the Administration did not want mass deportations.
This is different. Here the Administration is implementing a categorical policy not to enforce federal law, which dictates deportation for illegal immigrations regardless of their age. Congress has refused to pass such laws and this is an obvious effort to circumvent Congress — something of a signature for this Administration. Liberals were outraged by Bush’s use of signing statements as a circumvention of Congress. Yet, when Obama broke his promise and started using signing statements, liberals were again silent. Now, he has gone further and (rather than advancing a restrictive interpretation) he has announced that he will simply not enforce the law.
The change could also create a new conflict with states passing tough immigration laws. We are awaiting the ruling of the Supreme Court in the Arizona case where the Administration may lose some ground. The announcement on Friday could be an effort to preempt the decision. If the Administration had already decided to stop deportations, it would look bad to come after the decision and appear to be circumventing both the judicial and legislative branches.
This is part of a pattern for the Administration. For example, the
Administration has announced that it will ignore two federal statutes
that bar betting across state lines. That effectively legalized
Internet gambling. While his Administration claims that it has no
choice but to enforce other laws like marijuana enforcement and for
years, both DOMA and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell laws, it has not hesitated to
declare other laws as unenforceable as a matter of policy. Ultimately,
it took the same approach to DOMA — after years of defending it. DOMA is
striking in that the Administration still refuses to accept that sexual
orientation should be treated like race or gender as a category of
discrimination. If it did, the refusal to defend DOMA would have been
more clearly based on a view that it is unconstitutional. Instead, the
Administration made general claims of states rights (that do not apply
to areas like medical marijuana it seems) and even more vague references
to privacy and equal protection.
What is left is a conflicted approach to enforcement based on the president’s changing views — in the latest case a change that seems motivated in large part by political advantage.
Liberals and civil libertarians were united on such questions in denouncing the circumvention of Congress by Bush. However, once again, there appears to be a blindness to the dangers of this practice when it comes to Obama. What will happen if a President Romney simply declares that he is not going to enforce environmental law or conflict laws or other parts of the federal code? Is the difference going to be simply that he is not Obama? Liberals are losing not just their credibility but principles in these controversies. Our system is based on a careful balancing of power that forces disparate factional groups to reach agreements in the legislative process. That is what brings the stability to our system.
This latest controversy is not about young illegal immigrants. There are strong policy arguments in favor of this change. However, those arguments need to be made in Congress. This should also not be an “after-the-fact” debate following a change late on a Friday where the president simply grants the equivalent of amnesty for hundreds of thousands of people. Polls show a sharply divided population with a majority favoring tougher immigration laws. We have a political system designed to address such divisive issues. It does not always work the way presidents demand. Indeed, the Democrats previously used filibusters and other techniques to block the Bush Administration and how the Republicans are doing the same thing. However, that is the point. Presidents should not be able to simply make federal laws discretionary to their whim or will. This may be a worthy end but it is the wrong means in a system based on shared powers of government.
Keep The Change - Hank Williams, Jr
I'll keep my freedom
I'll keep my guns
Try to keep my money
And my religion too
Try to keep on workin'
Try to keep on smilin'
I will keep my Christian name and y'all can keep the change
I will keep my heroes
Pictures on the wall
I'll keep my family safe
You bluff when I call
I'm gonna keep my big V8
Keep my friends the same
Keep the government outta my business
And y'all can keep the change
This country sure as hell been goin' down the drain
We know what we need
We know who to blame
United Socialist States of America
How do ya like that name?
I'll keep the USA and y'all can keep the change
So FOX and friends
Wanna put me down
Ask for my opinions
Then twist it all around
Supposed to be talkin' about my father's new CD
Well two can play that "Gotcha' Game" just wait and see
Don't tread on me
This country sure as hell been goin' down the drain
We know what we need
We know who to blame
United Socialist States of America
Don't ya just LOVE that name?
I'll keep the USA and y'all can keep the change
I'll keep the USA and y'all can keep the change
No comments:
Post a Comment