Patterico's Pontifications

4/29/2010

Obama Puts Immigration Reform on Hold

Filed under: Immigration,Obama — DRJ @ 7:07 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Apparently President Obama has taken immigration reform off his agenda:

“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.

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.”

Obama is probably happy to leave this subject in Attorney General Eric Holder’s hands, where he can release broadsides against Arizona’s new law. But while it may help Democrats in general, I don’t think it helps Senator Harry Reid. Support from immigration reform advocates may have been Reid’s best chance for re-election.

Next up: How will this decision impact the scheduled May 1st immigration rallies? I doubt the Park Police will shut down the area in front of the White House as they did with the recent gay protest. Some of those protest signs could be interesting.

— DRJ

20 Responses to “Obama Puts Immigration Reform on Hold”

  1. 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

    You have to admire the way this crack journalist hides the hardest reality of all from his readers – the public are solidly against the idea of “comprehensive immigration reform”.

    Subotai (1d5c79)

  2. He said, while on board Air Force One. Good Lord, does this man ever stop flying around at our expense? And for what? To push his asshat policies! Go back to the White House and focus on the job problem like a laser beam – remember that one? Better yet, leave the country and go bow to someone or something.

    Subotai commenting above is right – notice how the story really reads: We’re going to put this aside until Democrats figure their seats are safe after the election, then we’ll drop this horror on the American public and there’ll be nothing they can do because they were too stupid to have taken action when they had the chance.

    Metallica (bb58d8)

  3. Metallica – You are correct – Jobs was supposed to priority #1, although with Obama priorities seem to change every week, which is part of the problem.

    I hope somebody clued him in that the legislative prospects for climate change are also pretty grim.

    daleyrocks (1d0d98)

  4. I like the Mexican flags. The organizers tried to stop people from waving them but I’ll bet they are out on force. Did you see the show of force at Quincy as Obama spoke. You’d think they were anarchists. Great pics. If I was a Quincy policeman, I’d quit.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  5. Now what is the saying? “You know the one is lying when…his lips move.”

    Yeah, that’s it. It seems to me it wasn’t that long ago that health care wasn’t going to be passed unless it was bipartisan, then the partisn bill was “dead”, only to be resurrected.

    There are two things which are related but by no means the same, the agenda of the one and others of like mind, and the political tactics they will use to get there. Consider it the equivalent of a draw play in football, a head-fake in basketball, a gambit in chess, a feint in fencing, a … you get the picture.

    I will believe they didn’t find a way to allow the illegal immigrant vote about next January or so, when not only the elections are over but the absentees are counted.

    MD in Philly (0f793a)

  6. “I don’t want us to do something just for the sake of politics that doesn’t solve the problem,” Obama told reporters

    — “Not again,” he mused, remembering health care reform.

    Icy Texan (1c9d6c)

  7. “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.

    Pull the other one,please. Has anything he’s proposed or done actually solved any of the problems facing this country?

    htom (412a17)

  8. “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. Now, pull my finger.”

    JD (c1a2b8)

  9. “I don’t want us to do something just for the sake of politics that doesn’t solve the problem,” Obama told reporters

    — Like getting himself elected

    Icy Texan (1c9d6c)

  10. OBarcky and the Dems don’t want to fix things. They want political issues that they think will help them in 2010 and 2012. Nothing more. I guarantee that the calculations on this were that they would lose more than they would gain by pursuing this, so they stepped back until after the elections.

    JD (c1a2b8)

  11. I think the president is figuring out that the immigration thing is fairly dicey and dangerous for the administration–even within his own party. On the one hand there are the campaign promises made, and the push for amnesty to gain more Hispanic democrat voters. In the other blue corner stands the unions whose rank and file are not so keen on the whole immigration agenda, including absorbing lotsa new workers willing to work for less wages–which has been putting a strain on the unions’ traditional contract and pension scams for a while. Then there is the crime and gang violence related to the flow of drugs from south of the border which is destroying our cities and freaking people out regardless of their politics.

    To make it even worse, some of the Latino political leaders are among the most shrill and unappealing PR messengers for a cause that have ever taken to the airwaves. (Luis Gutierrez, anyone?) The angry demands and the massive immigration rallies and demonstrations of a few years back actually hardened views against amnesty more than they converted people to the cause. I am afraid things could get very, very ugly over the next few days and weeks, and the ever helpful media is throwing gas on the fire.

    elissa (dd0e5c)

  12. If I am correct, then it also tells us a few things. First, if they are still looking at the political calculus of pursuing something, then it means that they still have some internal polling that shows they will not lose as badly as many think in November. Second, as we saw with what they did with HCR, things are never dead, an dthere are no lengths that the Dems will not go to pass their pet ideas. Finally, if they sincerely dropped it, the internal polling on their path to citizenship/amnesty had to be horrific.

    JD (c1a2b8)

  13. I don’t want us to do something just for the sake of politics that doesn’t solve the problem

    Bzzzzt. Try again:

    “I don’t want us to do something just for the sake of politics that isn’t good politics.”

    FTFY, as they say.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  14. So they pull back on immigration reform, which was going to be a donnybrook, and a loser.
    Right now we’ve got the financial reform mess, which as more items are discovered, is looking more and more like healthcare redux in the amount of corruption and favoritism contained therein, none of which addresses the intended problem (where is Fannie and Freddie?).
    Plus, it appears that Reid has had to actually start to negotiate with the GOP, instead of writing the bill in his back office and dropping it on the Clerk’s desk as a fait accompli.
    What’s worse, there is the Cap&Tax lurking in the background, and everyone knows how eager the taxpayer is to have his energy costs multiplied and his taxes put on steroids.
    These people are in serious political trouble and are groping for anything that they think will keep them afloat.

    AD - RtR/OS! (3def68)

  15. 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.

    Isn’t is just amazing that they can’t take up immigration because their plate is full with that enormously serious moral issue of…climate change? Good grief.

    The president knows that it’s not the lawmakers lacking the appetite to take up immigration but rather its the public’s lack of appetite and willingness to be sold a bill of goods (immigration reform a la Obama). The cartel violence and kidnappings and especially the murder of the Arizonan rancher don’t lie. It’s now become very personal to Americans. More than ever before. And Obama knows that. This is about his self-preservation and that’s what’s so galling: again he does not have the best interest of the American public at heart but instead, himself.

    Dana (1e5ad4)

  16. Gallup poll numbers showing a greater percentage of voters support the Arizona law, as a well as a number of Democrats.

    Fifty-one percent of those polled nationwide who said they have heard of the new law favor the measure, which grants police to right to ask to see proof of citizenship from anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. Thirty-nine percent said they oppose it.

    Three-quarters of the Republicans and half of the independents polled said they approve of the law. Only 34 percent of Democrats said the same.

    I wouldn’t say only 34% because actually that’s a much higher percentage of Dems than the media would have us believe.

    Dana (1e5ad4)

  17. Uh oh, is there another disconnect with the Dem talking points? Obama says from air force one that lawmakers are too busy and suggests they may not have the stomach to take up immigration in an election year, but The Hill posted this evening that senate Dem leaders vow a 2010 vote on immigration and have released a framework.

    http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/95231-democrats-pledge-to-move-toward-a-2010-vote-on-immigration

    elissa (dd0e5c)

  18. Fine, the GOP should call their bluff immediately and say let’s vote on the bill, or STFU. Watch the Dems hem and haw and scurry away, or else they implode completely.

    Dmac (21311c)

  19. It’s like Mary McCarthy said about Lillian Hellman, every word is a lie, ‘including the & and”

    ian cormac (d56635)

  20. Wonderful blog you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics discussed in this article? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get comments from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Many thanks!

    Demetrice Fat (e04437)


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