Associated Press
Rep. David Schweikert (R) of Arizona
Since Friday, most of the Republican complaints about President Obama's new immigration policy have focused on process -- the critiques have had less to do with the substance and more to do with how the president made the decision.
There are, however, exceptions.
Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) on Monday proposed legislation that would block enforcement of President Obama's new policy of letting certain illegal immigrants request temporary relief from deportation.
Schweikert's bill would specifically prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from allowing that relief, which Obama described on Friday as an option for up to 800,000 immigrants who came to the United States illegally at a young age. Schweikert said his bill would prevent Obama from "dictating" immigration law from the White House.
Schweikert called the president's policy "amnesty" -- which really doesn't make sense -- and added that Obama ought to be "working with Congress to secure our border and reform our immigration policy." (Obama has done more to secure the border than any modern president, and Republicans refuse to compromise on reforming our immigration laws.)
Rhetoric notwithstanding, Democrats probably ought to be thrilled with this legislation. In fact, if Dems are very lucky, Schweikert's proposal will become a top priority in the House and will soon reach the floor.
Consider the landscape: Republicans are alienating Latino voters in an election year, and the president's proposal enjoys broad national support. If the House GOP seriously wants a debate over blocking Obama's policy, I have a hard time believing Democrats would mind. Maybe Mitt Romney might even field a question or two about whether he supports his party's bill.
Speaking of House Republicans, the House Speaker also weighed in this morning.
House Speaker John Boehner criticized the Obama administration's immigration directive on familiar process-related grounds -- having apparently forgotten that he'd quashed nearly all hope of getting the DREAM Act through Congress this year.
"It puts everyone in a difficult position," Boehner complained at a press availability Tuesday, arguing that the administration's unilateral move made reaching a bipartisan legislative solution more difficult.
More difficult than what? Before Obama's move, Republicans refused to budge, making bipartisan legislative solutions impossible. After Obama's move, Congress is still a mess, but 800,000 people will be better off.
So what is the Speaker complaining about? Remember, it was Boehner who told Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) not to even bother with a GOP-friendly, watered-down version of the DREAM Act because it couldn't pass the House. For Boehner to now blame Obama for making a stagnant process more "difficult" seems rather silly.
That said, if Boehner and his party are serious, and want to restart talks about passing the real DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform, I have a strong hunch the White House would welcome the conversation.
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RepublicansAbout 2/3rds of Americans, including Independents, agree w President Obama on this issue, according to new polling.
But another 2/3rds disagree. And those two thirds are David and Charles Koch.
@hells
You forgot "paid for by" David and Charles Koch
So much for "Compassionate Conservatism."
Fine...ONE MORE TIME show what freakin' MORONS you are.
Why? You're doing a perfect job of demonstrating what sort of drooler can pass the IQ test low enough to qualify for membership in the Republican Party. You know, Homo Sap - the other hairless biped species on the plant, that lacks both frontal lobes and opposable thumbs.
You must be southern, it takes at least 10 generations of "southern inbreeding" to get down to your level.
Oh please please PULEEZE! Do this today! It's a great idea.
LMAO
I keep seeing the GOP swallow poison pills with impunity, and they never die!
The Rasputinublican party!
It's because they are Signs Followers
FTW!
It is high time that the hundreds of thousands of hard-working Hispanic and Latino immigrants that help to make America a great nation no longer live in fear of being rounded up like cattle and shipped off to a country they never knew. These people are Americans because they grew up in America, started their lives in America, started families in America. To treat them like criminals is brutish and unconscionable. Americans support this policy change because it is simply the only thing to do in this situation. These are not criminals, they are human beings. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Why on earth would any president sign a bill that specifically prohibits him from doing something that he's already decided to do?
LOL, so true.
'makes it more difficult'. LMFAO, overplayed your hand a bit? YA THINK???
If rebubbas weren't so bitterly cold-hearted they might actually seem strangely adorable in their complete stupidity. (in a 'Yeah, the kitten is sooo cute because it keeps running into the glass door' sort of way)
I love the sound Republicans make when they get their winkies stepped on.
Let them bring forth this bill, and watch the media NOT cover it, as usual.
(After all, it'a a Republican bill, so it must be good, right? "Nothing to see here..move on...")
The Anglo media may not cover it, but you can bet your ass that the Latino media will.
This Schweikert dude bears a striking resemblance to that crazy, bumbling Dr. Smith on the old TV show Lost In Space.
And he looks a lot like him, too.
He pretty much just looks like a Republican: low forehead over the missing frontal lobes. Just like Paul Ryan.
NO ROVE-NEY for US...
Wow, you catch on quick, Orange Julius! Now if you can just grasp that putting you in a difficult position was part of the point, maybe we can get somewhere.
No surprise that Republicans are trying to stop the president from acting.
Can I get a little sympathy here? Schweikert is running for the Republican nomination as my Representative -- and as often happens in Arizona, the Republican nominating race is the only competitive race around.
Which would be bad enough, but the only person who can prevent him from becoming my "Representative" is Ben Quayle -- whose only claim to fame is his illustrious former-Vice-President father.
What's to stop you from running. I'll vote for you.
A man's gotta know his limits.
First, Arizona says that the government isn't helping, now they say they can't help. If Arizona really wanted to secure the border they would have done it by now. Give me a break. They want the traffic it makes money for them so that they can load up their private prisons. It's just a small stretch of land, do they think we're stupid. Hell, they're probably selling them the shovels in which to dig more tunnels.
"That said, if Boehner and his party are serious, and want to restart talks about passing the real DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform, I have a strong hunch the White House would welcome the conversation."
Screw the conversation. Just withdraw your filibuster and allow an up or down vote on the original Dream Act, and the problem is over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axg63DFs6dw&feature=youtu.be
Evidently this man never watched School House Rock.