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The AP reports that President Obama has dropped plans for immigration reform this year. The AP’s Suzanne Gamboa reports:
Immigration reform has become the first of President Barack Obama’s major priorities dropped from the agenda of an election-year Congress facing voter disillusionment. Sounding the death knell was Obama himself.
The president noted that lawmakers may lack the "appetite" to take on immigration while many of them are up for re-election and while another big legislative issue – climate change – is already on their plate.
"I don’t want us to do something just for the sake of politics that doesn’t solve the problem," Obama told reporters Wednesday night aboard Air Force One.
(emphasis added)
By doing so, Obama broke yet another of his campaign promises. From the article above:
Immigration reform was an issue Obama promised Latino groups that he would take up in his first year in office. But several hard realities – a tanked economy, a crowded agenda, election-year politics and lack of political will – led to so much foot-dragging in Congress that, ultimately, Obama decided to set the issue aside.
With that move, the president calculated that an immigration bill would not prove as costly to his party two years from now, when he seeks re-election, than it would today, even though some immigration reformers warned that a delay could so discourage Democratic-leaning Latino voters that they would stay home from the polls in November.
(emphasis added)
I laughed when I read the words above indicating Obama promising to take up the issue in his reelection year. No way that’s going to happen because Obama knows it is such a contentious issue. It’s probably dead until a new president takes office.
Yet another instance of Obama dissing his base, in this case Latino voters. This may also strengthen Arizona’s case in any fight with the feds over its punitive immigration law: there appears to be no federal law that preempts Arizona’s.
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“even though some immigration reformers warned that a delay could so discourage Democratic-leaning Latino voters that they would stay home from the polls in November.”; well, I can hear the rahmaline now: “We can simply say, look what you’ll get if you don’t out and vote Democrat, Arizona all over the U.S. !”
What got to me was his saying that he had ‘been working Congress pretty hard’ ; In the interview clip shown on DM of him speaking to reporters on AF1, he didn’t say climate change at all; he said ‘energy’. Watch it.
Just more triangulation where disaster is seen as an opportunity for triangulation as contrasted to leadership and action.
The thing is that the proposal which I read today was dreadful. I’m not Latino but I don’t see how Latinos could ever have been brought in to support it. I think the more likely explanation is that Obama and the Democrats were never serious about it. They just raised it to show Latinos they were interested in an issue important to the Latino community and hope no one actually read it. OTOH they could let Blue Dogs take what was actually in the bill and let all of its emphasis on enforcement serve as talking points. If immigration had come up for real, it would have been the worst of both worlds for the Democrats, pissing off both Latinos, and the soft racists Blue Dogs cater to.
It may appear that AP misled everyone because Huffingpost is reporting that the Democrats have indeed unveiled an immigration plan. See this.
But although the AP might have jumped the gun, there can be no question but that Obama doesn’t want to pursue any immigration bill. He has effectively taken immigration reform “off the table”. But Obama never likes to be associated with bad news (and yet another campaign pledge breach) hence the so-called struggles “onward” for a bill.
Immigration reform unto itself is a misnomer.
We don’t have a problem with immigration.
We have a class war formented by the 1% that’s denying middle class jobs, denying social services safety nets, denying education for our own or the immigrants, denying a better life for all but the 1%.
Course, I’m preaching to the choir, again. Sorry, ’bout, that.
Sigh.
There’s no immigration problem.
There IS a problem with have’s v. have not’s.
And we are ALL quickly becoming have not’s.
End of MY story.
But according to three channels of cable news it is THE problem for Our Time! In 3D!
Deep dog whistling, of the most vile nature. Tried and true.
You are greatly amusing . . . hoss.
*G*
And I’m with ya on this one.
*G*
ditto on that. I would say that for myself and for my family, we’re financially soso, but not making much progress in long-term stability, or being able to save up much for retirement, education for kids, healthcare, etc.
Rachel Maddow said that AP story is now incorrect. Reid introduced a starting point framework for an Immigration bill today, and Obama changed his mind shortly after Reid did that.
The new “Papers please” law in Zona has basically tossed all the game pieces in the air and we’re just figuring out where they all landed again.
open borders Now!!!!!!!!!!!
Agree totally. But if this country was *really serious* about not having undocumented workers, then it would go after the businesses and corporations who actively recruit, hire and even go to third world countries to bring back undocumented workers.
It’s the usual red meat tossed out to the slavering hoardes to foist all the blame on illegal aliens. Yes, they are breaking the law, but if there was no work in the first place, then we’d have far fewer of them coming here.
Businesses and corporations make a jackpot off the backs of poorly paid wage slaves who work in unsafe crappy conditions. All the demonizing of undocumented workers is, per usual, a smokescreen to distract voters from who is really responsible… the corporations or the one percenters.
And yes, it’s yet another facet of ye olde class war (sometimes on steroids).
I wouldn’t count immigration out just yet…