John Boehner announced today that passage of immigration bills looks unlikely this year because the House does not trust president Obama to enforce as written any new law. This is both astounding and absolutely correct. Imagine, the Speaker of the House talking about distrust that the president will carry out his responsibilities under the Constitution. That is not normal Washington talk; it goes well beyond the usual charges and countercharges. The key point here, however, is not that what Boehner said is surprising. No, the key is that Boehner's statement is clearly correct. Think about it:
1. Since Obamacare was passed in 2010, president Obama has made 16 changes to it. Some have been minor, but some have been enormous. For example, even though the law specifically requires the employer mandate to go into effect on January 1, 2014, Obama announced that it would be delayed for a year. That is not a change within the power of the president; it requires amending the law, something only Congress can do.
2. Obama has already decided to modify the immigration laws to reflect what he wants. Congress was presented with the Dream Act and failed to pass that bill even though the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate at the time. Obama himself then ordered that people who met the criteria of the Dream Act would not be deported; they were now to be allowed to stay here legally. Obama changed the law even though he had no power to do so.
3. There have been numerous other instances where Obama has just pushed past the rules of the Constitution and done exactly what he wanted to do. The problem is that this is clearly illegal, but Obama does not care. He even took it upon himself to decide when the Senate was in recess rather than letting the Senate itself decide. Obama used that call to make "recess appointments" which were illegal. The courts have all ruled that Obama's conduct was illegal and have overturned everything done by those who were illegally appointed. The matter was just argued before the Supreme Court, and if the argument indicated anything, it is that Obama's illegal actions are going to be struck down.
Why would anyone think that a requirement to police the border properly would ever be enforced by Obama? And if controlling the border is supposed to come first, why would the next step ever be put into law when Obama could just refuse to carry out the requirements of the law?
Boehner did the right thing today.
1. Since Obamacare was passed in 2010, president Obama has made 16 changes to it. Some have been minor, but some have been enormous. For example, even though the law specifically requires the employer mandate to go into effect on January 1, 2014, Obama announced that it would be delayed for a year. That is not a change within the power of the president; it requires amending the law, something only Congress can do.
2. Obama has already decided to modify the immigration laws to reflect what he wants. Congress was presented with the Dream Act and failed to pass that bill even though the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate at the time. Obama himself then ordered that people who met the criteria of the Dream Act would not be deported; they were now to be allowed to stay here legally. Obama changed the law even though he had no power to do so.
3. There have been numerous other instances where Obama has just pushed past the rules of the Constitution and done exactly what he wanted to do. The problem is that this is clearly illegal, but Obama does not care. He even took it upon himself to decide when the Senate was in recess rather than letting the Senate itself decide. Obama used that call to make "recess appointments" which were illegal. The courts have all ruled that Obama's conduct was illegal and have overturned everything done by those who were illegally appointed. The matter was just argued before the Supreme Court, and if the argument indicated anything, it is that Obama's illegal actions are going to be struck down.
Why would anyone think that a requirement to police the border properly would ever be enforced by Obama? And if controlling the border is supposed to come first, why would the next step ever be put into law when Obama could just refuse to carry out the requirements of the law?
Boehner did the right thing today.
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