Archive for the ‘DACA’ Category

With Arizona and Texas sending National Guard troops to the border, it’s clear who’s serious about securing the nation and who isn’t.

If Democrats gain a majority in the House, they’ll revert to their open borders policies:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ripped President Trump on Twitter Thursday for “pointlessly” sending troops to the border instead of working with Democrats on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The California Democrat wrote: “@realDonaldTrump is using every cynical political trick in the book to ignite anti-immigrant fervor. Needlessly militarizing our southern border won’t make Americans more safe – it’s just another political calculation.

“Instead of wasting resources on pointlessly sending troops to our border, @realDonaldTrump should work with Democrats to pass the DREAM Act & #ProtectDREAMers,” she added.

Tell Mary Ann Mendoza that stopping illegal aliens at the border isn’t important. Mrs. Pelosi, I want you to look Sabine Durden in the eyes, then tell her that stopping illegal aliens at the border. Mrs. Pelosi, I triple-dog dare you to tell Agnes Gibboney that enforcing our immigration laws aren’t important.

Apparently, doing nothing is the Democrats’ plan. Americans, if you want lax border security, catch-and-release immigration enforcement and MS-13 running free without fear, vote Democrat. I’ve yet to find one that’s serious about securing the border. Americans, if you want the opioid epidemic to get worse, vote Democrat. Thanks to the Obama administration’s lax border enforcement, drug shipments entered the US without interruption or interdiction.

This Prager University video explains what must be done to take illegal immigration seriously:

With Democrats complaining about the costs of securing the border, let’s ask these whiney lefties how much it costs the US to pay for educating illegal aliens, how much it costs for the illegal aliens’ welfare benefits and how much it costs in terms of crimes committed by illegal aliens.

I’m betting that the cost of building a wall is a pittance compared with the costs of drug smuggling, welfare benefits and education.

Finally, let’s praise governors Doug Ducey and Greg Abbott for swiftly deploying the National Guard troops. They’re doing more than their fair share to keep Americans safe. That’s something I can’t say about the Democrats.

Technorati: Opioid Crisis, Nancy Pelosi, MS-13, Democrats, Homeland Security, National Guard, Doug Ducey, Greg Abbott, National Security, Republicans, Election 2018

It’s clear that Heidi Heitkamp, the junior senator from North Dakota, has some difficult decisions ahead of her. More importantly, she doesn’t have much margin for error after voting against the Trump/GOP tax cuts that are working so well. Now that the Senate is debating DACA/immigration reform, the decisions will get tougher.

Sen. Heitkamp wants to portray herself as a moderate, something that’s getting increasingly difficult considering her support for the Common Sense Coalition’s bill.

I’d say that Sen. Heitkamp knows she’s in a tight spot based on her saying ” know that people want to get some certainty for these kids. We’re being asked to make some tough compromises.” Later, she admitted that she’d support “the Common Sense measure.”

Sen. Schumer has a crisis on his hands, too, though he didn’t admit it yesterday morning, saying “The American people know what’s going on. They know this president not only created the problem, but seems to be against every solution that might pass because it isn’t 100 percent of what he wants. If, at the end of the week, we are unable to find a bill that can pass, and I sincerely hope that’s not the case due to the good efforts of so many people on both sides of the aisle, the responsibility will fall entirely on the president’s shoulders and those in this body who went along with him.”

Coming from the guy who got blamed for the government shutdown, that’s rich. Yesterday, Sen. Schumer tried limiting the discussion. He failed. Republicans will keep offering bills that build the wall, provide a DACA fix and end chain migration. (I’ve come up with a new nickname for chain migration. It’s called ‘anything goes migration.’)

If Sen. Schumer wants to keep pretending that Democrats hold the upper hand in this debate, that’s fine. The longer the delusion, the harder the fall. That fall for the Democrats isn’t a matter of if but when. The media tried blaming the government shutdown on President Trump. The American people, through social media, defiantly declared that it was the #SchumerShutdown.

Thanks to the Schumer Shutdown and Sen. Schumer’s strategy on the tax cuts, Sen. Heitkamp is in a difficult position for re-election. If she gets this wrong, she might not be able to recover.

The Common Sense Coalition’s amendment is pretty much a bait-and-switch con job piece of legislation. For starters, amnesty for DACA recipients is immediate. That isn’t surprising. Next, building President Trump’s wall isn’t a priority. On Pg. 51 of the amendment, we learn that $1,571,000,000,000 is appropriated to build President Trump’s wall in 2018. Further, $2,500,000,000,000 is available to be appropriated in each year starting in 2019 and going through 2027. Further, the legislative language states that “the amount specified in subsection (d) for each of fiscal years 2019-2027 shall not be available for such fiscal year unless (A) the Secretary submits to Congress, not later than 60 days before the start of such fiscal year a report setting forth a description of every planned expenditure…, (B) a description of the total number of miles of security fencing… etc.

In other words, they’re limiting the speed with which the wall can be built. Further. they’re making it possible for future Democratic administrations to kill the building of the wall.

Simply put, this bill has no chance of getting 6o votes. It doesn’t stand a chance of getting signed into law, either. Here’s a picture of most of the members of the Common Sense Coalition:

It’s worth noting that a significant percentage of these senators are either retiring or will be defeated this fall. Sen. Donnelly fits that description. Jeff Flake definitely fits that description. Joe Manchin is inching closer to fitting that description. Heidi Heitkamp definitely fits that description. Claire McCaskill and Bill Nelson fit that description. The senators from New Hampshire don’t exactly fit the description but they’re getting there. Bob Corker fits that description.

Simply put, most of the senators in the Common Sense Coalition won’t be in the Senate a year from now. That doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to vote. That’s their right until their replacement is sworn in, either after their retirement or their defeat. What it means, though, is that members of the Coalition don’t care about national security. They certainly aren’t interested in listening to the people. Thus far, they haven’t listened to the people.

This coalition isn’t made up of principled politicians. It’s made up of elitists who aren’t interested in listening to the people. Chuck Grassley is the senior senator from Iowa. He isn’t part of that Coalition. He’s just a politician who’s interested in doing the right thing, both for DACA recipients and for national security. He’s the chief author of a bill that’s been endorsed by President Trump. It’s the only bill that the Senate will debate that President Trump will sign or should sign. Listen to Sen. Grassley’s speech explaining why senators should vote for his legislation:

The text of Sen. Grassley’s bill, known as the Secure and Succeed Act, is significantly different than the CSC’s legislation. The biggest difference between the 2 bills is that the Grassley bill appropriates the money for the wall right away. In the section titled “Subtitle C—Border Security Enforcement Fund” the following appropriations are made:

The Secretary shall transfer, 8 from the Fund to the “U.S. Customs and Border 9 Protection—Procurement, Construction and Improvements” account, for the purpose described in 11 subsection (a)(1), $18,000,000,000, of which— 12 (A) $1,571,000,000 shall be transferred in 13 fiscal year 2018; 14 (B) $1,600,000,000 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2019; 16 (C) $1,842,000,000 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2020; (D) $2,019,000,000 shall be transferred in 19 fiscal year 2021; (E) $2,237,000,000 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2022; (F) $1,745,000,000 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2023; 177 (G) $1,746,000,000 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2024; (H) $1,776,000,000 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2025; (I) $1,746,000,000 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2026; and (J) $1,718,000,000 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2027.

Barring an act of Congress, the money for President Trump’s wall will be appropriated this year.

The Common Sense Coalition’s bill appropriates approximately $1,700,000,000,000 this year, then requires separate appropriations in the years following to build the wall. The Grassley bill appropriates the money immediately.

It’s worth noting that Democrats have the proverbial gun pointed at their heads. If Democrats don’t agree to President Trump’s conditions, DACA collapses and the recipients hold Democrats responsible. Remember this?

The chances for a repeat of that scene is high if Democrats don’t deliver.

Technorati: Common Sense Coalition, Joe Donnelly, Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, Claire McCaskill, Nancy Pelosi, DACA Recipients, Democrats, Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, Build the Wall, Tom Cotton, Joni Ernst, Republicans, Election 2018

When it comes to political wisdom, Lindsey Graham isn’t too bright. The NYTimes is quoting Sen. Graham as saying that “The president’s going to have a vote on his concept. I don’t think it will get 60 votes. The bottom line then is: What do you do next? You can do what we’ve done for the last 35 years — blame each other. Or you can actually start fixing the broken immigration system. If you came out of this with strong border security — the president getting his wall and the Dream Act population being taken care of, most Americans would applaud.”

Sen. Graham isn’t too bright if he thinks he’s on the winning side in this fight. Americans want a DACA fix as long as it comes with the wall and an end to chain migration. Each of those issues have approval ratings of 70%. If Sen. Graham thinks that President Trump is on the losing end of that fight, he isn’t too bright.

The American people understand that bad bipartisan deals are really just bad deals. They’ve seen DC pass bipartisan deals for years while things got worse. They’re upset with elitists in both parties. They’re demanding that these elitists do something different this time. It’s a revolutionary concept but it’s worked in the past. It’s called listening to the people. Don’t tell us that the things that the American people want done in their name is complicated.

It’s only complicated trying to explain why politicians ignored the will of the people. Then it gets real complicated — for the politician. That’s their problem.

Meanwhile, politicians in the “Common Sense Coalition” who are up for election this year better prepare to get their comeuppance in November. Watch Sen. Schumer’s speech, then ask yourself whether he’s bothered to listen to the American people:

After watching that speech, I’m left wondering whether Sen. Schumer thinks the American people are simply an inconvenient afterthought. Lost in his political spin is whether the bill the Common Sense Coalition is putting together is something that the American people would reject. Also lost in Sen. Schumer’s spin is whether the Common Sense Coalition’s bill would fix anything or whether it would just be another bipartisan bill that doesn’t do what the American people expect it to do.

Thanks to President Trump’s populism and his commitment to the American people, Democrats and wayward Republicans are finding out that resisting the American people isn’t a great way to earn a living in politics. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s speech summed things up perfectly:

My Democratic colleagues have spent months demanding the Senate take up this issue. They even shut down the government, unnecessarily, I might add, in order to secure this very week of debate. But now that the time has come to make law instead of just making points, they’re stalling.

Why? Why, after months and months spent demanding that the Senate take up this issue, do they now object to even starting the debate? Because they know, no matter how long they spend in closed-door negotiations, they can’t change the fact that the president has spelled out a fair and generous framework that will be necessary to earn his signature. They cannot take ‘yes’ for an answer. So, instead of moving to fulfill their promises and address the DACA issue, they haven’t even allowed the debate to begin.

It’s clear that Sen. McConnell listened to the people. He’s kept his promise. When he kept that promise, Democrats shut down debate. That’s the indisputable fact.

If Democrats want to face the American people after shutting down the government so they could debate immigration policies, then shut down debate when Sen. McConnell scheduled a week of debate on immigration/DACA, that’s their option. They shouldn’t be surprised if the people, including DACA activists, take brickbats after them when Democrats campaign on immigration/DACA.

Finally, I’d put together ads for each of the members of the Common Sense Coalition that starts with Republicans wanting to fix DACA and border security, then transitions into a frame where the narrator asks these immigration liberals which side of their mouth they want to talk out of.

Technorati: Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Immigration Reform, DACA, Republican, Chuck Schumer, Common Sense Coalition, National Security, Democrats, Election 2018