Laura Ingraham Blasts RNC For Supporting Obama's Planned Executive Amnesty

by Matthew Boyle 6 Sep 2014, 5:43 PM PDT
breitbart

Radio’s Laura Ingraham, a tireless champion of anti-amnesty efforts, blasted the Republican National Committee in a statement provided exclusively to Breitbart News, slamming the RNC’s apparent support of President Barack Obama’s plans to grant executive amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.

"The RNC sure seems crestfallen that President Obama didn't sign an executive amnesty for millions of illegal workers in the U.S.,” Ingraham said in an email. “I, for one, am glad that now we all know where the GOP Establishment's allegiance really lies -- and it's not with the American working class that is desperately looking for its champion.”

Ingraham is referring to a statement that the RNC’s Ruth Guerra -- a pro-amnesty advocate who used to work for the pro-Senate “Gang of Eight” bill organization LIBRE Initiative, according to her LinkedIn page, and has since been hired the Republican National Committee -- released on behalf of the RNC in response to President Obama’s announcement that he will wait until after the election to grant executive amnesty of upwards of 8 million illegal aliens.

In her statement, Guerra says on behalf of RNC chairman Reince Priebus that Obama’s decision to grant executive amnesty to illegal aliens after the election was bad because it will make them wait longer for amnesty, a seeming endorsement of the president’s plans. She made no mention of the drastically negative economic effects amnesty would have on American workers, whether it was enacted by presidential fiat or legislative means with Republican support. The statement simply blamed Obama for not including Republicans in the pro-amnesty process.

“It’s sad, but not surprising, that President Obama continues to play politics with such a serious and important issue but for this White House politics seems to dictate everything,” Guerra said. “The President’s empty rhetoric and broken promises are a slap in the face to millions of Hispanics across the country. This is more evidence that Democrats never really wanted to fix our immigration system when Republicans were sitting at the table. Immigration reform will continue to be the President’s biggest failure as long as he keeps playing politics and refuses to work with Republicans.”

On Saturday, a Senate GOP aide raised serious questions about Guerra’s statement, since it takes more issue with the effects of Obama’s delay on illegal immigrants than the effects of an Obama amnesty on Americans—or a congressionally-passed amnesty like the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” bill, Speaker John Boehner’s immigration “principles” written by former Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) aide Becky Tallent, or any other GOP establishment policy—on struggling American workers. The Senate GOP aide who spoke with Breitbart News said Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the RNC, and its chairman Reince Priebus should be focused on the disastrous effects of Chamber of Commerce-backed immigration policies on American workers.

“This sickening and cynical strategy by Obama and Reid and Senate Democrats should be relentlessly exposed by Boehner, McCarthy and every Republican on the national ballot all the way to election day and beyond,” the aide said. “I’m mystified why the RNC and all Republican electoral committees have not recognized how badly Obama’s plans would damage the American working class.”

The RNC’s statement that Guerra issued on Priebus’s behalf seems to be the only GOP one praising amnesty, and blasting Obama solely for not including Republicans in his effort. House Speaker John Boehner’s statement—while clearly not as strong as the statements of Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Mike Lee (R-UT)—says Obama's plans would harm American workers before or after the election.

According to Politico, Boehner said there is never a “right” time to “declare amnesty by executive action.”

“But the decision to simply delay this deeply-controversial and possibly unconstitutional unilateral action until after the election -- instead of abandoning the idea altogether -- smacks of raw politics,” Boehner said. “The American people deserve honesty, transparency, and accountability -- and any unilateral action will only further strain the bonds of trust between the White House and the people they are supposed to serve.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also said the policy was bad no matter when, if or how Obama tried to do it.

“This is clearly not decision-making designed around the best policy—it’s Washington politics at its worst,” McConnell said, according to Politico. “The president is required to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, not—as he has admitted—make them up as he sees fit.”

So did the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), one of the RNC’s campaign arms.

“By conspiring to subvert the legal process thru executive amnesty for millions, President Obama and Democrats in the Senate just gave voters every reason to vote against them this fall,” NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring said in a statement. Dayspring also noted that a vote Sessions forced before the August recess shows every Democrat except Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) as currently on record in support of President Obama’s executive amnesty.

“The President and Senate Democrats are playing a cynical game, hoping that Americans paying attention now won’t be after the election and it will backfire,” Dayspring added. “Threats of unpopular executive fiats sixty days out from an election were already toxic for Democratic Senators -- the promise that they’ll occur after Election Day only will serve to anger their constituents more and elect a new Senate who will stand up to the President. Through the prism of the 2014 elections, the only thing this announcement changes is that Senators like Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Pryor, Kay Hagan, Mark Begich and Mary Landrieu will have President Obama’s executive amnesty threats hanging over their campaigns like a storm cloud for the next sixty-days.”

But the RNC’s Priebus has said absolutely nothing himself and only issued that statement through Guerra in response to the news. Guerra worked for her old employer, the LIBRE Initiative, until March 2013 -- right before Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) joined with Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to introduce the “Gang of Eight” bill. When the “Gang of Eight” bill passed the U.S. Senate, the LIBRE Initiative’s executive director Daniel Garza praised the bill, saying it was “an historic first step to fix our broken Immigration system,” and called for the House of Representatives to pass an amnesty -- something conservatives in the chamber have held off since then.

“This strong bipartisan vote sets the stage for House action to establish a market-based employment visa program; address the 11 million undocumented adults and children already living in the United States; and enhance border security. LIBRE applauds all those who have led in a bipartisan manner on one of the most challenging issues of our time,” Garza said. “History has shown that failure to fix the nation’s Immigration crisis, will only aggravate it. We are hopeful that members of both chambers recognize the magnitude of the task at hand and remain committed to enacting a solution this year.”

In addition to the criticism from conservatives like Ingraham, Guerra’s statement also opened Priebus and the RNC up to partisan attacks from the Democratic Party. Democratic National Committee spokesman Michael Czin called Guerra’s statement “the latest example of callous political rhetoric,” and used the opening Guerra made for him to call for a House vote on the long-considered-to-be-dead “Gang of Eight” bill her old boss lobbied so hard for.

“The GOP, the party that has blocked meaningful comprehensive immigration reform at every turn and sued the President for acting, is now outraged that he hasn't taken steps that many in their party deemed impeachable offenses,” Czin continued. “Their manufactured outrage would be easier to take if their Speaker didn't still have a bipartisan bill waiting on his desk gathering dust with no action. They can put an end to this whole debate by joining us in passing real immigration reform. The bill is there. The votes are there. All they have to do is vote.”

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