Obama Wants "Blank Check" On The Border Crisis "To Sustain His Current Failed Policy

Today in Washington, D.C. - July 10, 2014
The House reconvened at Noon.  The House is expected to take up the following bills:
H.R. 5016 - "Making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes"
H.R. 4718 - "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify and make permanent bonus depreciation."
H.R. 4923 — "Making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes."

Yesterday the House passed H.R. 803 (415-6) - Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today. Following two hours of morning business, the Senate voted 41-56 against invoking cloture on S. 2363, the sportsmen’s bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) once again filled the amendment tree to block any amendments from either party and so could not get the 60 votes needed to advance the bill to a final vote.

At 2 PM, the Senate is scheduled to vote on confirmation of Shaun Donovan to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Following that vote, there will be voice votes on the nominations of Douglas Silliman to be Ambassador to Kuwait and Dana Smith to be Ambassador to Qatar.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in the Senate today, “The ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border seems to be getting worse by the day. Large numbers of foreign nationals are unlawfully entering our country, and it’s mainly due to the Administration’s failure to enforce immigration laws and secure the border. This is a real crisis. So we’re taking a hard look at the proposal the President sent over. But we want to make sure we actually get the right tools to help fix the problem. And that’s not what we’ve seen so far from the President. What he appears to be asking for is a blank check—one that would allow him to sustain his current failed policy. Last night, in a speech that attempted to shift blame from his failed approach, he doubled down on the blank check. He led Americans to believe that the problem could be solved if only Congress would pass his last-minute request. But it’s not that simple – much more needs to be done, and the President knows it. His original letter to Congress called for reforms we all know are needed to address this crisis. Under pressure from the Left, he has since backed away from those critical reforms, but lawmakers in both parties have not. So he needs to work with us to get the right policy into effect. And he needs to halt his endless campaigning.”

Many in the press also picked up on the president’s focus on campaigning and blame-shifting.

In the National Journal, James Oliphant observed, “President Obama was 500 miles from the Mexican border when he spoke about the child-migrant crisis Wednesday evening, but he seemed to be even farther away than that. . . . [T]he president defended his record, dismissing the notion that his executive actions on immigration might have contributed to the problem, while seeming to suggest that his administration could not be looked to for a solution. . . . All of it was an exercise in Washington's favorite activity: preemptive blame assignment. . . . The president's statement came on a trip while he's fully engaged in partisan politics, headlining Democratic fundraisers in Dallas and Austin—and he again resisted calls to go downstate and see the border crisis for himself.”

The AP noted, “Faced with a potentially awkward scene at the Texas-Mexico border, President Barack Obama sought to recast the political debate over a flood of young migrants as a question of Republican willingness to tackle the problem, not his decision to skip a chance to view the crisis first-hand.”

Politico added, “Most of Obama’s remarks were a direct hammering of Republicans, using this as an opportunity to emphasize again and again the message that he’s been trying to push all year: he’s interested in finding solutions to problems, but the Republicans are only interested in politics, saying no to him and attacking him for whatever he is doing.”

Leader McConnell continued, “At least for a moment. With the President actually in the region right now, you’d think he’d be able to carve out a few minutes to view the situation on the border for himself. Apparently, though, he’s decided that there are more important things to do. Like campaigning with Gary Hart, and practicing his bank shot. All this continues to make the President look detached from the ongoing crisis on the border. Even a Democrat Congressman has called it ‘bizarre.’ And honestly, this is just the latest example of a much broader pattern he’s displayed – a pattern that makes him appear disconnected from the day-to-day concerns of most Americans.”

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Tags: President Obama, blank check, illegals, border crisis, failed poilicies To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!