Legal Panel At Federalist Society Begrudgingly Accepts Obama's Immigration Powers

[applegrove]

Legal Panel At Federalist Society Begrudgingly Accepts Obama's Immigration Powers

by Sam Stein at the Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/18/federalist-society-obama-immigration_n_6182350.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000016

"SNIP................................



Schroeder was speaking specifically about the deferred action program that Obama already has put into place -- the one affecting so-called Dreamers who were brought to the U.S. as children. But later, Schroeder expanded his legal reasoning.

“I don’t know where in the Constitution there is a rule that if the president’s enactment affects too many people, he’s violating the Constitution,” Schroeder said. “There is a difference between executing the law and making the law. But in the world in which we operate, that distinction is a lot more problematic than you would think. If the Congress has enacted a statute that grants discretionary authority for the administrative agency or the president to fill in the gaps, to write the regulations that actually make the statute operative, those regulations to all intents and purposes make the law.

“I agree this can make us very uncomfortable. I just don’t see the argument for unconstitutionality at this juncture,” Schroeder added.

For those cheering on the Obama administration as the president gets set to unveil his executive action -- perhaps as early as this week -- this is the nut of it. There is a history, dating back to the '70s, of presidents using prosecutorial discretion when it comes to deportations. That those prior actions were smaller in scope doesn’t change the legal foundation upon which they and future ones rest. If conservative legal scholars agree, that’s not just affirmation, it’s gravy.




................................SNIP"

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. its not a Piece of Cake...

[cheapdate]

3. Seems like it to me.

All law enforcement agencies and officials have to prioritize their activities based on available resources. For example, the Sevier County Sheriff in Tennessee explained in an interview that because his resources were limited, investigating meth labs and prostitution was a higher priority than illegal cock-fighting. (Actual article from a few years ago in The Tennessean about the tradition of cock-fighting in East Tennessee.)

[VanillaRhapsody]

5. Yeah facing opponents who have claimed they will Impeach you....yeah

that is a piece of cake....walk in the park....easy peasy....

[cheapdate]

6. My point was that the arguments for discretion in law enforcement priorities

are simple ones. My point was not that Republicans aren't assholes of the most difficult kind.

[VanillaRhapsody]

7. still a tightrope walk....or threading the needle

[cheapdate]

8. Is your metaphorical tightrope the balance between progress

and not angering Republicans to the point of starting impeachment?

There might have been a time when I gave a shit.

In the Great Recession of 2007-2009, I was furloughed from work for almost a year. There was a time when I would have advised the president to do anything necessary to avoid crashing the economy. I would accept almost any compromise to avoid that again.

I think I might be past that now. Our U.S. deportation policies are sick. Tearing apart families is cruel and immoral.

Fuck the GOP. Fuck impeachment.

[VanillaRhapsody]

9. No its not.....and yes Fuck them...

but they exist....sorry about that....

He is going to pull that trigger...but again certain folks on DU will NEVER be satisfied!

[calimary]

10. I'm with cheapdate. FUCK 'EM.

Last edited Thu Nov 20, 2014, 10:19 PM - Edit history (1)

The GOP is not gonna like anything this President does. They don't like his acting on, or moving forward on, THEIR OWN ideas. (Example: the so-called "romneycare.&quot FUCK 'EM.

Americans like guts. He's showing that here. Anybody remember when george w idiot went around in 2004 campaigning for election, and he kept saying "you may not agree with me, but you know where I stand" ? Anybody remember that? THAT is powerful. And people appreciate it. Sometimes they're even won over by that. It also goes to the problem our side has - of people saying "WHAT do Dems stand for? Why should we vote for you (GOP-Lite) versus the full-on GOP - where we know where they stand. Hell, even if Mary "the Dino" Landrieu loses the run-off and that seat turns red, fuck it. She hasn't been a reliable Dem vote in awhile. At least we'd be rock-solid sure of what we were gonna get pretty much nonstop, rather than someone supposedly on our side who waffles around lots of issues we care about as Dems, and then votes with the bad guys.

Yeah. We stand for something. We certainly stand for THIS. Sometimes you just have to take a stand rather than trying to thread any needles or balance on the head of a pin or whatever metaphor you want. Pick a side, or an argument, AND STAND BY IT. Or reject it and say so. To riff on a slogan from James Carville, "It's the Certitude, Stupid."

Besides, we will have the Latino vote locked up. This will be VERY good for voter totals and may be enough to out-gun any attempts to suppress the vote because there's just too doggone many of them who WILL be able to register to vote and jump all the hurdles that are being put in front of them to vote. And we have to make sure we REMIND AND REMIND AND REMIND AND REMIND everyone about this, ESPECIALLY Latinos. We have to make sure they're fully aware which side stood with them, and actually did something to help them, and which side huffed and puffed and threatened anarchy and other assorted adult-size spoiled five-year-old snot-noses throwing temper tantrums and other acting-out, because they didn't get their way.

[VanillaRhapsody]

13. yea fuck em....but this is still a risk..

He is going out on the limb here.....

[calimary]

15. Oh totally. Completely understood, VR! It's a risk.

Seems to be a risk worth taking, though, at least to me. Sometimes if we can't go all the way, we have to take a fallback position that still offers plenty of advantages. The first advantage would be: It Gets This OFF The Ground. This gets STARTED. At least it's a START. You don't build the house fully-formed, in one fell swoop. You build it piece by piece, from digging the foundation onward, and there's a boatload of stuff to do before you even get to the digging part. It becomes increasingly convincing when you look at the benefits. 1) He's fulfilling a campaign promise. You promise something, you really do need to try to live up to it, at least partially. So be mindful of the promises you make, since people come to count on that from you. So the President is keeping a promise. It's a start! Something on which we can build. It's gotta start somewhere. Who else was gonna do it? Some republi-CON? Are you kidding me?

Also - once something starts and proves to be beneficial, where the numbers start racking up and there's tangible and anecdotal evidence to point to, it may become rather difficult to dislodge. Or even to fuck with. If you try to sneak something, it'll either be found out or, as Cha put it, the "Firewall-in-Chief" will stop it with a sustainable veto. They don't have the votes to override, and they know it. That's the biggest fear the CON movement had about the ACA, as many of them have admitted. That it would take hold, and be the success and the help to people in need, and make a positive difference in their lives, and save everybody money. And people would NOT be willing to give it up. Political inertia on display!

"We will always be a nation of immigrants." "We were once strangers too." "You can come out of the shadows." HOLY COW! Sometimes the guy is just eloquent. Period. And, superficially-speaking, he delivered it perfectly. He's actually the very embodiment of that statement (at least the first third). He IS the "American Dream." Don't mean to get sappy-sounding, but in the most towering sense, whatever you may think of him, Barack Obama fits that. Just as - and I grit my teeth as I say this - ronald reagan. He's an historic figure in whatever periodically stunted growth America can claim, as a country and a society and a culture.

And I think we need stirring language like that. Stirs the heart. Something you can wrap your brain and your imagination around. Can help motivate many of us. A real political shot of B12 after how roughed-up we got a couple of weeks ago. It also shows leadership - the word I have seen applied a lot is "bold." Well, haven't we been begging for that? I'm watching Lawrence O'Donnell and noting in one of the video clips of happy crowds outside the White House, the homemade sign being shown off - "No Fear Obama." Isn't that how it's REALLY supposed to be? No fear. Why should we be a fearful people? It may not even be as bold as everyone would like. But dammit, it's something! There he is on TV, sticking his neck out, assertively wading into dangerous waters because he knows there's something worthwhile on the other side. That's to be admired. We've needed that. After all, who, lately, has stood up for him? How many times have you heard the phrase - "he's going it alone." Alone. I swear - I don't know how the man stands up straight all day. Must be one-to-three good women helping to support him, I guess.

These are more intangibles than actual nuts 'n' bolts. Capitol Hill has to do the actual sausage-making here. But sometimes you need the intangibles because of what they can do WITHIN us. From there comes the fire in the belly that we all are gonna need if we're gonna stage a worthy comeback in two years. He hasn't been 100% with me all the time, either. But I am STILL happy he's President (consider the two alternatives, okay?). And I am going to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. He's earned it.

[reACTIONary]

12. I don't think the impeachment threat has any credibility...

...they already ran that one up the flag pole and Boehner had to embarrass himself with his phony lawsuit. I think the best they have is more pretense of this sort. Their leadership knows how self destructive impeachment proceedings would be.

Let em pisss and moan. They'll end up looking like chicken shit.

[VanillaRhapsody]

14. maybr not over this.....but if he continues

And I hope he is.....they will...

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. Posted to for later.

[Cha]

4. Thank you, applegrove! "Conservative scholars agree".. it's just the gop big lie machine that

doesn't.

[calimary]

11. To everybody behind the GOP Big Lie Machine - I say FUCK 'EM.

Just FUCK 'EM. Don't even worry about what they think or how much they gnash their teeth or how much they threaten. Or how much they act out. What? Maybe some of those "second amendment remedies"? Let 'em overreact. Let 'em try to cut the funds or otherwise pee in the pickle barrel. Let's hope OUR side is smart enough to stay the course. The extremist shit is gonna backfire.

[Chemisse]

16. This is good to hear, but it is not going to stop the Repub screams of outrage.

They will continue the hysteria, even if they have to file can't-win lawsuits, even if the face public anger over another government shut down, even if they turn off every Latino voter in the country, even if they have to put the nation through a devastating impeachment proceeding.

Nothing will stop these crazies.

[leanforward]

17. I voted for him

He's not alone. I've noted the GOP is going ballistic. But, they've done nothing and as a result the rest of us are being subjected to the tyranny of the minority. The President has acted within his authority. Suck it up GOP. The timing is appropriate, we're in the lame duck and the GOP while in the majority is in disarray. But, maybe something can be accomplished for the greater good.

What gets me, is the lies they tell. But, I was told by an old accountant, "figures don't lie, but liars can figure". It seems the new GOP breed expound on anything from a position authority, in total ignorance.