Allah:
I’ve been trying to game this out since last night but can’t find an obvious answer. For the past six months, there’s been a sword hanging over the House GOP’s head on immigration. Amnesty fans have put intense pressure on Obama to act within his executive authority to further relax U.S. immigration law, as that’s the only way, they claim, he can shed himself of the phony but politically useful label of “deporter-in-chief.” So O’s going to appease them. At some point this summer, he’s promised them, he’ll issue an executive order that does … something. What, precisely, is unclear. He’s not going to issue a mass moratorium on deportations, as that would be too risky for Democrats facing voters in November, but he’s got to prove his good faith or else Democratic amnesty boosters might start folding their wallets and boycotting GOTV efforts this fall. Cleverly, though, O’s been using the prospect of that executive order as a spur to get House Republicans to pass something first. “If you don’t pander to Latino voters by enacting a legalization bill,” the White House has tacitly warned them, “Obama will pander to them himself by issuing a stay of some deportations. And then the GOP will be in an even deeper hole with Latinos than it already is.” In theory, the only reason he hasn’t issued the order yet is because he’s giving Boehner and company some extra time to act. Chuck Schumer, in fact, said explicitly a few weeks ago that Republicans have until the August recess. If they haven’t passed a bill by then, Obama’s going to move.
My question is, what’s left of that timeline now that Cantor’s been cashiered? The whole point of waiting until August was that Democrats thought there was a slim chance Boehner would bite the bullet and bring something to the floor this summer. No one thinks he’ll do that now, so there’s no longer any reason to wait. Obama could march into the White House briefing room this afternoon, declare that it’s now painfully clear that the Speaker is a hostage of the tea-party terrorists who have taken over the GOP, and therefore nothing will pass this summer. As such, his executive order will issue immediately. Moving quickly would a nice bit of showmanship for Latino voters in contrasting bold Democratic action in favor of illegals with bold Republican action against amnesty in Cantor’s district last night. But … Obama doesn’t dare do that, does he? Last night’s earthquake in VA-7 was so huge, I wonder if even some congressional Democrats are worried about aftershocks. They’re not going to lose any primaries over backing immigration reform, but it’s hard to say what sort of spark in GOP turnout this fall a bold unilateral move from Obama might strike. And if I’m right that Cantor ended up drowning in all the news lately about young illegals flowing past the Texas border, right now would be an especially risky moment for O to act. He needs to wait, at least, until that situation is under control before relaxing the deportation rules. If he doesn’t and illegals keep coming, it’ll be easy for the GOP to blame his policies, going back to his de facto “DACA” amnesty for DREAMers in 2012, for igniting a new explosion in illegal immigration. He’s got to lie low for a while after a 10.0 political temblor.
The Dem – who didn’t have an opponent in that district – suggested (at HuffPo) that all Dems vote for Brat to deny Cantor the spot.
Who knows how that affected the outcome.
That said, elites ruled BOTH parties.
Brat is not of that elite group.
That’s why BOTH Reps and Dems are scared by this election’s outcome.
They’ve seen how elites have died a death in UK.
They’ve seen how elites have died a death in India, too.
Is there not something in the U.S. code 18, which states something about anyone who aides and abeds the violation of our laws is guilty of a felony? I am sure I read and applicable code # which stated something to that effect. I believe the punishment was 10 years in prison.
Obama Flashback:
May 2011
@Nanny G: The latest I heard was that Cantor was voted out because he was Jewish. What a crock. The man has already served seven terms. As a Virginian, I know a turn coat when I see one, and that is the reason he was ousted.
Will Obama accelerate his immigration timeline? You bet. The mess at the southern border is one cog in the means that would lead to a sweeping relaxation of immigration law.
@Nanny G –
The reason why Cantor lost can only be guessed about. I think the pundits and media are grasping at straws, and you can see it. Even those who were very upset with Cantor in his district and wanted to “send a message” really didn’t expect Cantor to lose. They were still planning to vote for Cantor in the general. Those who say they are elated with the Cantor loss are not being completely honest either. They’re astute enough to understand a major upset can change the dynamic for the fall campaigns – especially in swing districts or those that may be trending Rep.
Regarding another RINO: Thad Cochran: I Grew Up Doing ‘All Kinds of Indecent Things with Animals’
So, if I read that correctly, Cochran is implying that bestiality is part of the culture of that area of the state?
Ouch! I suppose if we are going to take Cochran’s statement as supporting his culture of bestiality (or at least cruelty to animals,) we should in fairness wonder if Hugh in his comment is suggesting that those supporting Cochran have similar proclivities.