The Obama Administration has a few problems. From Benghazi to the IRS to the phone records of journalists and everyday Americans, it’s not difficult to call up a scandal with investigations pending in Washington.
So immigration reform makes for a nice distraction.
In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama called immigration reform “an issue that the vast majority of Americans want addressed.”
This sounds like wishful thinking on his part, considering that unemployment is stuck at 7.6 percent and Americans consistently say that the economy is their No. 1 concern.
But Obama was intent on giving the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill a push as the Senate begins to debate it this week.
>>> Reminder: The Top 5 Problems with the “Comprehensive” Immigration Bill
Obama claimed that “This bill would continue to strengthen security at our borders”—which the bill simply does not do, despite promises from lawmakers and attempts at amending the legislation.
What the bill does do is give federal agencies more power. Heritage’s E.W. Richardson Fellow, James Carafano, has revealed:
this bill lavishes billions of additional spending on the [Homeland Security] department with no clear requirements on how the money is spent. At least $2 billion could legitimately be labeled the Secretary’s slush fund.
But according to the President, anyone who stands in the way of his immigration agenda is just trying to “stoke fear and create division,” he says.
The truth is, the Obama Administration has already stoked plenty of fear in Americans lately.
They fear that Obamacare will make the health care system worse.
They fear being targeted by an all-powerful IRS.
They fear that the Administration could be digging into their phone calls.
But the President and his allies in the Senate are saying, “Trust us.” They’re asking the American people to trust that their “comprehensive” immigration legislation—which would give sweeping powers to more federal agencies—will work smoothly. That granting amnesty to illegal immigrants before securing the border will have a different effect than it did last time.
What do you think?
Leave a comment below.
Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad.
Quick Hits:
- Edward Snowden, the leaker who exposed the NSA’s surveillance program, flew to Hong Kong before making his revelations and has remained there.
- Guess what else the IRS is in charge of? Determining whether organizations qualify for an exemption from Obamacare’s HHS mandate, which violates religious freedom.
- The number of children being homeschooled is growing seven times faster than the number of children enrolling in grades K-12 every year, reports Breitbart.
- President Obama is still on a cheerleading tour for Obamacare—and claiming it’s businesses who are raising insurance premiums, not the law.
- A few men and women of character can make a profound difference in the course of history. Check out this new project using the movie Amazing Grace to teach this important truth.
