GOP tries to blame Obama on immigration reform

The Republicans, who have refused to put the latest immigration bill up for a vote, are using their old, tried and true tactic of blaming Obama for the lack of immigration reform movement. Are you tired of this argument too?

The battle for the 14th Amendment

For as long as our constitution has been around, certain members of our community and their hired guns in Washington have tried to change our immigration laws in an effort to “keep our country white.” The 14th amendment has been under attack since it’s inception during the civil war.

This infographic helps to demonstrate the effects on such an attack.

14th Amendment2

Is Obama like Lincoln?

Is Obama similar to Abe Lincoln?

lincoln-obama

If Obama comes out with an executive order to help a marginalized and highly oppressed portion of our society gain legal status to live in the US, then, yes, he will be.

On January 1, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued an executive order to free Slaves in Confederate held lands. It did not free all the slaves.  This executive order was issued without Congress voting on it, and gave slaves the right to create their own destinies, free from the fear that they could be captured and returned to previous owners.

The people who wanted the white man to always have dominion over the inferior black man, were very hateful and vocal about their anger over this issue. So much so that Lincoln would later be killed by one such person.

This is very similar to what Obama will be introducing in the next few days. His executive order is expected to give some 5 million undocumented immigrants (not all of them) permission to live within our borders without fear of being captured and sent back to their former country.

Let us also not forget that Abe Lincoln was a Republican, which should make the loud, hateful Republicans pause, but of course, it does not. Anything that Barack Obama wants, these guys want the opposite–even if it’s in their own best interest. Their hate can  be read in every immigration article’s comment section online.

So let’s hope our  Conservative lawmakers and their supporters don’t get their panties in a bunch over what will inevitably be another step in our country’s racial evolution. History truly does repeat itself. This has already happened, and it is happening again.

Get over it.

“Doing nothing” is not a political strategy- it’s a STRIKE

When the Republicans take on the position that doing nothing is the way to proceed on immigration, I have to think it’s not a political strategy, it’s more like a strike.

When workers walk out on a job and refuse to do any work until certain terms are met, that is called a strike–look it up–yet this is the strategy the Republicans are taking on immigration reform. Their terms? They didn’t say, but according to the Conservative Read, Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said there’s:

“overwhelming support for doing nothing this year.”

gop-strike2

That’s it. According to the huge amount of press this has garnered, the Republicans are not going to move on immigration reform “this year” because:

  • Obama can’t be trusted to enforce whatever laws they do come up with.
  • This is not a good time to do this right now, with mid-term elections coming up.
  • If immigrants got to vote, they would vote Democratic because the Republicans have done such a great job of alienating immigrants, they would lose any hope for a presidential hopeful for years.
  • The Tea Party would have a fit and call for the removal of any Republican that helped get this problem resolved.

None of the above have anything to do with the American people or the problem of having 11 million undocumented immigrants living and working in the country. American citizens and the undocumented immigrants are the ones who suffer and pay the price for this problem, lingering year after year. We are also the ones who pay the lawmaker’s salaries and who give them their jobs.

I think they’ve forgotten who they work for.

Refusing to pass legislation because they are afraid the president won’t enforce the law has got to have their  head examined. The Obama administration has deported more people than any other president in history, including the all past Republican presidents.

That’s not enforcement?

The argument that this is not the right time to bring up this subject is absurd. When is it EVER a great time to bring up this issue? Immigration reform is a polarizing and highly contentious topic, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be put off until later, it should mean it needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Immigrants voting is just a fact of life.

“Every month fifty thousand hispanics turn 18 and become eligible to vote.”

This should be the motivating factor to champion this issue, not aggravate it.

The problem seems to be that the Republicans fear the Tea Party because they are a very vocal and active group.

What would happen if WE became very vocal and active?

What would happen if WE bombarded their phone lines and filled up their email boxes with angry messages telling them if they didn’t get back to work, they wouldn’t have a job when their seat came up for election?

If it works for the Tea Party, it should work for us.

Click on this link for your congressman’s contact info and let them know what YOU want from them.

It really is up to you, if you want it to be. Or, you could just sit by the sidelines and watch as others get their way.

Congress– lead or get out of the way

Merriam Webster defines leadership as:

: a position as a leader of a group, organization, etc.

: the time when a person holds the position of leader

: the power or ability to lead other people

 Taken into the context of our US Congress today, we can see the definition to be true as a POSITION, meaning, they do hold that position, and the TIME, they are our leaders today, and the POWER, they do have to power to enact laws and to fix our societies problems. We elected them to do just that, so they do have the power to do so. The ABILITY is the only thing in question at the moment. So far this congress has been the most useless bunch of humans ever gathered at Washington to date. If they have the ability to lead, they are not proving it to anyone.

The definition goes on to say:

Full Definition of LEADERSHIP

:  the office or position of a leader
:  capacity to lead
:  leaders <the party leadership>

 

Here again we see the OFFICE or POSITION to be true. Our Congressmen are in a position of leadership by virtue of having been elected to that office by the people.

The CAPACITY to lead is baffling. I assume you cannot be a leader if you don’t have the capacity to lead, but with the lack of action calls this capacity into question. How can you prove a capacity if you don’t do anything?

Which gets us to the ACT or an INSTANCE of leading. Here we see our Congressmen are clearly striking out, failing to act on immigration for the umpteenth year in a row, failing to enact the DREAM Act even though half of the committee were Republicans and half were Democrats. You would have thought that if the committee could reach a consensus, they could have convinced their party to the merits of why they came up with the proposal they did. Instead, the Democrats voted for it to pass the Senate, but the Republicans refused to bring the bill to the floor and the lawmakers that were a part of the committee that created it were suddenly off the radar. Silent. It appeared they were in hiding.

The last definition only restates the name and doesn’t do anything to define the term beyond what the first one did.

So there we have it, by definition, Congress are leaders in name and position and potential power only. They have NOT shown any action that would define them as leaders in the true sense of the word.

And Democrats– Just because you presented the House with a bill, that doesn’t mean you can just sit back and say, “look, we gave them a bill and they are doing nothing with it. Waaaaaah!”  Where is your LEADERSHIP? Why aren’t you screaming bloody murder for all the hard work you put into the bill is going to waste? Why aren’t you putting pressure on the GOP to get off their asses and do something? Democrats may not be evil, but they sure are pathetic.

Leaders who do nothing. What kind of leadership is that?

Citizenship for Sale?

A Stanford professor is promoting the idea of selling citizenship for $50k.

Every year there are many thousands of people waiting for lady luck to approve their green card via the lottery system.

Very few of them win.

Some countries allow people to invest $50k or $100k or more, in order to become a citizen of that nation. They reason this system brings jobs and stimulates economic growth. We, in fact, have a similar visa program already, but this is for investors and business people.

What about just plain selling citizenship?

This is purported to help solve our undocumented immigrant problem by giving them an alternative to going back home and also helps expedite a currently overloaded backlog. It should also help bring in money to the government, possibly to help pay for this system.

The non-wealthy could pay over time. Kinda like an installment plan or credit card.

So, get the new “Visa” card. (and don’t leave home without it : )

Click here to see the video

So, how do you feel about this idea?

The Republicans problem is not with immigrants, it is with themselves.

The Republicans have backed themselves into a corner on, not only the immigration debate, but in the electoral process as well. Each and every day more and more young voters, latino voters, asian voters, and more, turn 18 and become eligible to vote. Will they vote Republican? What possible reason would they have to do so?

The old white Republican voter base is dying and their replacements are not even close to the numbers they are losing. Without standing behind immigration reform that backs immigrants, small business and tech-startups, they are shrinking their popularity and their numbers, and will lose any hope of retaking the White House for decades to come.

It will be a long time before America forgets the way they treated immigrants, and women, the elderly and the poor. The stigma they have brought down upon themselves will last for many years, and because of that, America will be the poorer for it.

America needs a strong Republican party. America needs good values and a balanced government. Give anyone too much power, and they will become corrupt, selfish dictators.

America can’t afford to be ruled by fascists. We need a strong Republican party, just like we need a strong Democratic party. We need a balanced government, and because of this, Republicans need to stop trying to take over our government and focus on becoming a part of this great system we have built. If they don’t, they will alienate themselves from America and become hapless, angry voyeurs, who watch the parade of history go by, without ever having a float of their own.

How sad is that?

Jon Stewart- Immigration Reform Hero: sums up our immigration problem

Jon Stewart sums up our immigration problem in seven minutes.

Perhaps this is what it takes to get people to see the truth about the Republican platform and how disingenuous it really is:

keep it short and to the point.

Obama: GOP scapegoat of the year

 Obama has just been voted “Scapegoat of the Year.”

Or at least he should be.

What would you do if you gave a speech at your company, and then people started calling for your termination?

  • Reverse your statements? Too late; that would make you look like a liar.
  • Blame someone else in the room? That would also remove possible supporters from your side as well, and if you’re about to lose your job, you need all the friends you can get.
  • Take the heat and defend your position, enlightening your detractors with all the reason and forethought you put into your speech? Pretty risky, what if it didn’t work?
  • Distract everyone by focusing on something bigger?
  1.      The war on Terror, that always worked for Bush(s). Nope, Obama has that one under control; it’s always best not give your adversary cudos.
  2.      Obamacare? Nope, the nation has had it with us complaining about that, not to mention it probably wouldn’t be prudent to bring up the reason we closed the government down and took a beating in our approval ratings.
  3.      Abortion? No, that will just further anger women.
  4.      Social Security? Ditto, for the elderly.
  5.      Foodstamps? Nope, we just took some money away from that for our budget deal. Best to keep a low profile on that one.
  6.      Taxes? Again, best not bring up the current resentment towards our wealthy constituents.
  7.      Blame the immigrants? That usually works. . .
  8.      Blame the competition? Even better! It insults no one in the room and reinforces allegiances against a common adversary.

Sound familiar?

That is the strategy Rep. Boehner used after he announced the GOP principles on immigration reform, and got a lot of flack. After their retreat in Maryland last week, many Republicans rejected the House leadership’s one-page “standards for immigration reform.” 

Others within the GOP said that, with trends going their way as midterm elections approach, it was a bad time to take on a number of contentious issues.

The conservative activist L. Brent Bozell called for the entire House Republican leadership to be replaced. His group, ForAmerica, blitzed the speaker’s office with thousands of phone calls to jam the lines and protest his stance on immigration this past wednesday.

Representative Raúl Labrador of Idaho, an early negotiator on the issue and now a fierce opponent, told the newspaper, The Hill, that an immigration push by Mr. Boehner this year “should cost him his speakership.”

So Boehner, thinking his goose is cooked, comes out a week after outlining the Republican principles for immigration reform and says:

“There’s widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws,”

and he further stated,

“ it’s going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes.”

Good one!

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, commented further about the whole Republican organization:

“That caucus he has is really unusual,”

Mr. Reid said of House Republicans.

“They went down and did this salute to how good they were last week at their retreat. They outlined principles of immigration. I guess today they decided they have no principles as it relates to immigration.”

That’s what happens when the opposition doesn’t appreciate getting blamed for your B.S.

Former Sec. of State Colin Powell- Immigration Hero!

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is this week’s immigration hero.

Such an esteemed Republican, Colin Powell was secretary of state under George W Bush. He has stood up recently to declare that immigration reform needs to be done now, and not put off to some day in the future. Regarding immigration reform:

“If not now, when? We keep putting it off,”

We need more people like this in our government to help solve our country’s problems.