He didn’t pass it through Congress, even though he had overwhelming majorities for almost two years, because there were not enough votes. He also didn’t do it by regulation, because that would take time and be subject to public comment and other messy procedures.
Instead, Obama simply has issued an internal policy not to deport illegal aliens other than those who have committed some other serious crime.
Janet Napolitano tried to justify the change based on the need to focus on violent criminals and couched the change in the language of prosecutorial discretion. Those excuses were flat out pretexts; each of the justifications has existed for years. This is simply part of Obama’s 2012 campaign, as he hopes to gain votes in states with large Hispanic populations.
This was no mere internal operating procedure or prosecutorial discretion. This was a political decision which came only when the political process had failed to produce the results Obama wanted. Even if you support the substance of the decision, it should worry you that we have a President with such a low regard for the political process.
I have often warned that what Obama could not achieve through legislation, he would achieve through regulation. Now the corollary: What Obama cannot achieve through legislation or regulation, he simply will do anyway.
Update: Here is Obama’s speech in July in which he said he could not do what he just did (h/t Gateway Pundit)(click here to start at key point.)
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Comments
“What Obama cannot achieve through legislation or regulation, he simply will do anyway.”
Such as not vacating the White House when the time arrives that he must?
“… he simply will do anyway.” are prophetic as well as observant words. They prefigure experiences arriving in 20JAN13 and 20JAN17. America has been fundamentally transformed. It is not a Constitutional nation or a nation of laws. It is not even a nation. It is an area of the planet to be plundered and pillaged, and its former government is a tool for removing restraints on those activities.
The cat in the White House has been supremely successful in everything he has wanted to do. Why should he not do anything he wants? He has “a thing.” He turns opponents knees to jelly. He knows he can do whatever he wants. No man or company of men can stop him.
“… he simply will do anyway.” could be deemed a free-market economy, so why should conservatives be upset? Jeff Immelt is not. Drummond Pike is not. The Black flash mobs are not. Nor Chinese basketball players. All those people are doing what they want anyway, too. That’s freedom, or is it libertinism?
Adam Smith was a Professor of Moral Philosophy, not Economics (a subject which did not exist in either the Scottish, German, French or English Enlightenments). I believe his observations as well as his wishes have been misunderstood.
Mr. Graham, please to get out of my head. You’re scaring me.
Sinking into my cynicism, at weak moments I’ve conjured up thoughts of either Obama doing a LBJ (I can dream, right?) or far more likely, doing a Manuel Zelaya ala’ Honduras. The O-man seemed quite comfortable with the Zelaya maneuver.
The miracle of the cell phones…
“The better reception is due to two temporary cell towers (known as cell on wheels) that Verizon puts up here and in neighboring West Tisbury, said Timothy R. Carroll, the executive secretary in Chilmark. He said the White House Communications Agency, which handles phone systems for the president and other federal officials, had requested the towers.
They went up in early August and will stay until the end of the month, Mr. Carroll said, adding, “I would have been happy if they came in July.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/us/politics/20vineyard.html?_r=1
“Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool.”
–Clinton presidential aide Paul Begala, July 1998
Said like a good imperial ruler (king, dictator, tyrant, despot, etc.), and used in excess by those who wannabe.
Blindfolds, at dawn.
I am glad to hear about the Tea Party group in CA that is getting organized to unseat as many Democratic senators as possible in 2012. All conservatives across the nation should consolidate their resources to bear on this objective. As the writer mentions, if we can’t get rid of Feinstein, we should not bother with that race, but instead, focus our resources (contributions) where they have a realistic chance of being effective.
Every single conservative across the nation should contribute to the campaign funds of Conservatives that are challenging defeatable Democratic Senators in 2012. Lets show the nation that we have learned a little about community organizing ourselves!
Are there any criminal penalties for nonfeasance by an office holder? I find it hard to believe that there are no legal checks and balances against any government official who refuses to uphold the law beyond voting them out of office. Since sovereign immunity shields people like Napolitano and Obama against civil suits for the results of their actions, there must be some remedy?
Of course there are … however, in the federal system, it is all about the money, the funding. As another commenter said earlier, there’s never a 100% appropriation, so executives, large and small, get to partition their spending efforts pretty much as they see fit. The “defesne” is always, “we had to allocate the funds to their best effect” … “it’s Congresses fault that there were not enough to do it all” …yada yada.
The “Beltway Salute” isn’t a military form, it is the crossed arms fingers pointing to left and right “who me?” gesture. I spent considerable time in federal service and this phenomena made me crazy.
I wish I had a clue how to remedy it.
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