Boehner: I Begged Obama For Another Shot At Amnesty

Boehner: I Begged Obama For Another Shot At Amnesty

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by Jonathan Strong 13 Nov 2014 1136 post a comment

After a White House meeting last week, Republicans described Speaker John Boehner aggressively confronting President Obama over the president's planned executive amnesty, prompting an extended period of a defensive Obama attempting to justify his actions.

But a key moment of the meeting, left out from those accounts, was unveiled by Boehner himself in an exuberant moment of boasting in a closed-door meeting with GOP colleagues minutes ago.
Boehner recalled telling Obama, “Mr. President, just give us one more chance to do this the right way. If we can't, then do what you gotta do.”
The sentiment, recalled by several lawmakers exiting the meeting, angered conservatives not only because the Ohio Republican paired an immigration effort to Obama's plan to brazenly flout his constitutional role, but also because he seemed to have let him off the hook in the event he later went ahead with the plan.
"To me it's unacceptable. We believe what [Obama] is doing is unconstitutional," said one fuming lawmaker leaving the session.
But there is some question whether Boehner actually said those words in the White House on Friday.
A Democrat who was in the meeting said he did not recall Boehner expressing that sentiment. Other sources described him asking for another shot to pass immigration bills, but not the final part of the sentence — "do what you gotta do."
Also, the sentence cut directly against the bulk of what Boehner told lawmakers on the issue earlier in the meeting, in which he vowed to wage war against Obama if he goes forward.
"The president is playing with fire here, and when you play with fire, you get burned. I told the president last week directly: if you proceed with executive amnesty, not only can you forget about getting immigration reform enacted during your presidency, you can also expect it to jeopardize other issues as well. We don't know when exactly he'll do it or how exactly he'll do it. But if he proceeds, we are going to fight it," Boehner said earlier in the meeting, according to a source in the room.
Still – even Boehner claiming to have said it to Obama is bound to raise questions about how he is handling the issue on the right.
The battle over whether to address the issue in a must-pass spending bill is heating up, with 54 conservative lawmakers signing a letter urging for a preemptive strike on executive amnesty.
Notably, however, a report from Fox News timed the release of the action as soon as next week, which could render the whole intra-GOP debate moot and result in Republicans passing a simple short-term bridge bill to wait for GOP reinforcements in the Senate.
Boehner told Republicans at the meeting that no decisions had been made about the spending bill. He also said Congress would be departing Dec. 11.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...hot-At-Amnesty

My gut instincts tell me there is probably a special place in hell for people like John Boehner and his master Obama.

W

Can someone get us a copy of the letter and the names of the 54 lawmakers that signed it???

W

Hmmmm....

54 GOP Reps Demand Preemptive Strike on Executive Amnesty


by Jonathan Strong 13 Nov 2014

Dozens of House conservatives are pushing for an upcoming “omnibus” spending bill to prohibit President Obama from implementing his planned executive amnesty.

In a letter to the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), the lawmakers say an executive amnesty “would be in direct violation of U.S. law” and that “the Congress has the power of the purse and should use it as a tool to prevent the President from implementing policies that are contrary to our laws and the desire of the American people.”

As of Wednesday evening, 54 members had signed the letter, a significant number under the circumstances.

Rogers is pushing against including the language in the bill, and many top Republicans are privately advocating for Republicans to wait until Obama issues his action to act themselves.

Read the letter:

Dear Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Lowey,

As the House continues to deliberate and draft appropriations legislation before the current continuing resolution expires on December 12, 2014, we write to encourage you to include language that would prohibit funding for the President’s reported intentions to create work permits and green cards for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States.

There are currently millions of undocumented immigrants living within our borders. Recently, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a procurement request for 34 million work permits and green cards over the next five years. President Obama has spoken publicly and privately about his intentions to use executive action to create these work permits for those who are here illegally. This would be in direct violation of U.S. law. As you know, the Congress has the power of the purse and should use it as a tool to prevent the President from implementing policies that are contrary to our laws and the desire of the American people.

We respectfully request that as you work to finalize the year-end funding legislation that language be included in all relevant appropriations legislation for FY 2015 to prohibit the use of funds by the administration for the implementation of current or future executive actions that would create additional work permits and green cards outside of the scope prescribed by Congress. We thank you for your efforts with this legislation and for your consideration of this important request.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...cutive-Amnesty

Conservatives threaten immigration showdown

By ANDREW TAYLOR and ERICA WERNER, Associated Press
Updated 2:38 am, Thursday, November 13, 2014


WASHINGTON (AP) — Some conservative Republicans want to drag must-pass spending bills into their fight with President Barack Obama over his planned executive action on immigration, inviting comparisons to last year's shutdown showdown over the health care law.

In the Senate, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Mike Lee of Utah are among those arguing to use an upcoming must-pass spending bill — either in December or next year — to try to block Obama from taking unilateral action to protect millions of immigrants here illegally from deportation.

"Congress appropriates the money," Sessions told reporters Wednesday. "That's a clear constitutional power. If Congress disapproves of the president providing ID cards for people who've been in the country illegally, then it should not appropriate money to fund it."

GOP leaders appear cool to the effort since it could lead to a confrontation with Obama that, if taken too far, could spark another government shutdown. They have given the Appropriations Committee the green light to negotiate a catch-all omnibus spending bill for the budget year that began last month. Any deal with Democrats still in control of the Senate would not include language to block Obama on immigration.

A temporary spending measure expires Dec. 11 and a partial government shutdown would occur if Congress doesn't act by then. Sessions said he'd rather have Congress pass another short-term spending bill so that the new Republican Senate could be in place to tackle the issue.

Rep. Matt Salmon said he had more than 50 GOP lawmakers' signatures on a letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., urging that any spending bill include language saying nothing in it could be used to implement an executive immigration policy.

"This is an opportunity for everybody to come together and speak clearly and forcefully that doing this unconstitutional act would be a mistake, and if you do it, there won't be funding for it," said Salmon, R-Ariz.

But he stopped short of threatening to withhold his vote for any spending bill that omits such language.

"Members are going to decide for themselves whether or not it's something they want to fall on their sword over," Salmon said.

"I've had several members contact me and say 'How about if we try to 'defund'" Obama's immigration efforts, said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. "And I do sense there is movement to take that action."

The plans circulated on Capitol Hill as lawmakers returned to Washington a week after midterm elections in which Republicans trounced Democrats and retook the Senate. Obama's determination to move forward with his promised executive action despite the election results has emerged as a major point of conflict between congressional Republicans and the White House. Obama is under intense pressure from Latino advocates to act.

Incoming Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said it would be a "big mistake" for Obama to issue an executive order on immigration, but has promised that there will not be a government shutdown.

But any attempt by conservatives to use must-pass spending legislation to block Obama raises the specter of a government shutdown similar to last year when conservatives insisted on trying to use a spending bill to defund the health care law. That was a temporary political blow to the GOP, and Republican leaders have vowed to avoid a repeat, especially when they're determined to show voters they can deliver on a positive agenda.

It's unclear how widespread the support is for trying to use spending legislation that must come to a vote during the lame-duck session to stop Obama from acting. At least a few high-ranking Republicans sounded open to the idea. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who will take over in January as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is looking at the idea, according to spokeswoman Beth Levine.

A spokeswoman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said he supports "employing every tool afforded to Congress by the Constitution to stop President Obama's unconstitutional actions."

The sentiment appears to be growing in the wake of defiant comments by Obama in support of executive action, which he argues is necessary because the GOP-led House never acted on a sweeping, bipartisan immigration bill passed last year by the Senate.

The plans could present problems for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and McConnell as they try to navigate a controversy-free lame duck session in which they complete necessary work on a few items, including legislation to fund the government into the new year.

And it's a fight that Democrats might welcome as they look to 2016 presidential elections in which the power of Latino voters is expected to be greater than it was in the midterms, and Republicans instead of Democrats will be playing defense with 24 GOP Senate seats at stake to Democrats' 10.

Obama has not provided details of his plans, but advocates in touch with the White House anticipate he will expand a two-year-old program that temporarily lifted the threat of deportation for more than 500,000 immigrants brought here illegally as kids, while allowing them to get permits to work legally in this country. The program could be extended to potentially millions more people based on criteria including how long people have been in this country and whether they have children or spouses who are U.S. citizens.


http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/ne...ve-5888454.php

Can't find a list, but I did find that these have signed--

Quote:

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Other Tea Party and conservative members signed onto the letter, including Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Steve Stockman (R-Texas), Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) —many of whom often have been influenced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
...
Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who faces Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in a Dec. 6 runoff for her Senate seat, also signed on to the campaign.

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http://thehill.com/policy/finance/22...gains-momentum

New GOP Congress Split Over Gov't Shutdown To Stop Obama 'Amnesty'

http://a5.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/...dfeqqhel8x.jpg AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite




By Dylan Scott Published November 13, 2014, 5:30 PM EST

The tea party and establishment wings of the House Republican caucus are already splitting over how to respond to President Barack Obama's promised executive actions on immigration reform, which could be issued as soon as next week.

The big question is: Should Republicans be willing to shut down the government to block Obama's unilateral moves on immigration?

The far right believes they have the 2014 election outcomes, and therefore popular sentiment, on their side. But leadership sounds more cautious about wading into another showdown with the president after last year's shutdown left the Republican brand tarnished.

"Our goal here is to stop the president from violating his own oath of office and violating the Constitution. It's not to shut down the government.," House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told reporters Thursday, though he added that "all options are on the table" and "no decisions have been made."

"Every administration needs this, needs that, needs all kinds of things," Boehner said. "If (Obama) wants to go off on his own, there are things he's just not going to get."

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also said on Thursday when asked about the prospect of a government shutdown over Obama's immigration actions: "We will not be shutting down the government or threatening to default on the debt." McConnell used a similar line last week in his press conference after the election.

But how they'll pull that off while appeasing their more conservative members hankering for a fight will be an early test for the new Republican leadership.

More than 50 Republican lawmakers signed a letter Thursday circulated by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) that urged Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) and ranking member Nita Lowey (D-NY) to defund any executive actions on immigration by including language blocking its funding in upcoming government funding bills.

They specifically singled out "current or future executive actions that would create additional work permits and green cards outside the scope prescribed by Congress.” According to the New York Times, Obama's planned actions would give work permits to up to 3.3 million undocumented immigrants whose children are U.S. citizens or legal residents. And as many as five million people could be protected from deportation in total.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), an influential member of the tea party caucus, told reporters Thursday that the election should embolden Republicans to face off with Obama. He was one of the signees of Salmon's letter (reprinted below).

"No one ran on getting along with the president," he said. "That'll be the difficulty if folks turn around and do a 180 and say, 'Oh now we're going to compromise with the president."

Huelskamp said that "nobody wants a shutdown," but then he placed the responsibility on Obama if one occurred.

"We don't control that. That's the president," he said. "Is the president going to shut down the government over a failure to fund an amnesty proposal? I think the House will stand up, and perhaps even the Senate, and say, 'No funding for amnesty.' Then would the president shut the government down?"

"The House pretty clearly isn't going to fund amnesty," he concluded.

But other members of the House leadership sounded more hesitant about flirting with a shutdown over immigration.

"I think our leaders have been pretty clear that it would be a mistake for the president to use executive action in a lame-duck session, and I think it would have consequences for the president's relationship with the Congress going forward," House Ways and Means chair Dave Camp (R-MI) told TPM Thursday.

But pressed on the proposal by his colleagues to cut off funding for any legalization action taken by the president -- and thereby inviting the possibility of a government shutdown -- Camp was less enthusiastic, though he didn't outright dismiss it.

"I think that we're going to have all options on the table and not rule anything out," he said. "I don't think a shutdown is a good idea. I didn't think it was a good idea in '95. I didn't think it was a good idea last time. That's really not something that lends itself to a solution."

Salmon Letter by Joshua Gray

November 13, 2014

Dear Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Lowey,

As the House continues to deliberate and draft appropriations legislation before the current continuing resolution expires on December 12, 2014, we write to encourage you to include language that would prohibit funding for the President’s reported intentions to create work permits and green cards for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States.

There are currently millions of undocumented immigrants living within our borders. Recently, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a procurement request for 34 million work permits and green cards over the next five years. President Obama has spoken publicly and privately about his intentions to use executive action to create these work permits for those who are here illegally. This would be in direct violation of U.S. law. As you know, the Congress has the power of the purse and should use it as a tool to prevent the President from implementing policies that are contrary to our laws and the desire of the American people.

We respectfully request that as you work to finalize the year-end funding legislation that language be included in all relevant appropriations legislation for FY 2015 to prohibit the use of funds by the administration for the implementation of current or future executive actions that would create additional work permits and green cards outside of the scope prescribed by Congress. We thank you for your efforts with this legislation and for your consideration of this important request.

Sincerely,


Matt Salmon, Bill Posey, Trent Franks, Randy Weber,
Walter Jones, Duncan Hunter
Paul Broun, David Schweikert
Paul Gosar, David W. Jolly
Jeff Duncan, Diane Black
Tom McClintock, Mike Pompeo
Thomas Massie, Kenny Marchant
Doug Lamborn, Doug LaMalfa
Stephen Fincher, John Fleming, M.D.
Paul Cook, Lamar Smith
Steven M. Palazzo, Gus Bilirakis
Curt Clawson, Cynthia Lummis
Marsha Blackburn, Ron DeSantis
Steve Stockman, Louie Gohmert
Charles Boustany, Jr. M.D., Mo Brooks
Ted Yoho, John Duncan,
Lou Barletta, Tim Huelskamp
Mick Mulvaney, John Campbell
Michele Bachmann, Bill Cassidy, M.D.
Marlin Stutzman, Michael C. Burgess, M.D.
Sam Johnson, Phil Roe
Dan Benishek, M.D., Brad Wenstrup
Billy Long, Adrian Smith
Blake Farenthold, Roger Williams
Rob Bishop, Joe Wilson
Bradley Byrne, Jim Bridenstine
Dave Brat, Bob Gibbs
Steve King, Joe Barton
Jeff Miller

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hous...eform-shutdown

Quote:

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Originally Posted by imblest

The far right believes they have the 2014 election outcomes, and therefore popular sentiment, on their side. But leadership sounds more cautious about wading into another showdown with the president after last year's shutdown left the Republican brand tarnished.

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Yo, genius! The Republican brand is so tarnished that the electorate rejected 'Bama big time at the election booths. Pay attention - please.
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