John Boehner Almost Tells the Truth

“This is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.” ~ House Speaker John Boehner

President Obama’s executive action on November 20 to suspend enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws against certain categories of those here illegally has Republicans foaming at the mouth.

According to the Washington Post, Obama’s executive action has two key components:

  1. It would offer a legal reprieve to the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who’ve resided in the country for at least five years. This would remove the constant threat of deportation. Many could also receive work permits.
  1. It would expand the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that allowed young immigrants, under 30 years old, who arrived as children to apply for a deportation deferral and who are now here legally. Immigrants older than 30 now qualify, as do more recent arrivals.

It also includes:

• A program to facilitate visas for people who invest in the United States and those who pursue science, technology, engineering and math degrees
• Modifying federal immigrant detention procedures
• Adding resources to strengthen security at the border
.

A program to facilitate visas for people who invest in the United States and those who pursue science, technology, engineering and math degrees War, Empire, and the M... Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $5.24 Buy New $9.79 (as of 09:10 UTC - Details)

Modifying federal immigrant detention procedures

Adding resources to strengthen security at the border

Seventeen states (Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin) have filed a lawsuit challenging Obama’s unilateral action (all but Montana and West Virginia have Republican governors).

Some Republicans in Congress suggested that the Republican-controlled House pass a continuing resolution to keep the government operating that included a prohibition on the executive branch implementing the president’s action on immigration.

House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) said at a press conference on December 2 about the president’s executive action on immigration:

We do not believe that the president has the authority to do what he did.

His decision to take unilateral action on immigration, action he himself said exceeded his authority, makes it harder for the American people and our elected representatives to trust his word on any issue. War, Christianity, and... Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $8.95 Buy New $9.95 (as of 09:10 UTC - Details)

This is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

The Constitution? Since when are Republicans concerned about the Constitution?

Republicans never said a word about the Constitution when George W. Bush issued 291 executive orders. They never said a word about the Constitution when Bush issued 161 signing statements affecting over 1,100 provisions of federal law, which, according to a Blue Ribbon Task Force of the American Bar Association, undermines “the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers.” The evil Obama has only issued 30 signing statements.

But wait a minute, Mr. Vance, don’t the Republicans say in their party platform: “We are the party of the Constitution”? Don’t they maintain that the Constitution is “the greatest political document ever written” and that “that sacred document shows us the path forward”? Didn’t House Republicans in their Pledge to America promise to “honor the Constitution as constructed by its framers”? Didn’t they also bemoan there how “Congress has ignored the proper limits imposed by the Constitution on the federal government”? Didn’t they mention how the “lack of respect for the clear Constitutional limits and authorities has allowed Congress to create ineffective and costly programs that add to the massive deficit year after year”? Didn’t they promise to “require each bill moving through Congress to include a clause citing the specific constitutional authority upon which the bill is justified”?

Of course they do and of course they did. But does anything they say or write about the Constitution mean anything? Of course not. Anyone who looked at Republican actions and deeds instead of reading and listening to their The War on Drugs Is a ... Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $5.87 Buy New $5.95 (as of 09:10 UTC - Details) promises and lies would see in just a few seconds that they violate, propose to violate, and are proud to have violated the Constitution at every press conference they give, throughout every interview they grant, in every document they issue, and during every minute that Congress is in session.

(See my critiques of the Republican party platform and Pledge to America.)

Republican criticisms of Obama and the Democrats only serve to mask the gross violations of the Constitution that they are guilty of.

John Boehner almost told the truth. Instead of saying that Obama’s executive action on immigration was a serious breach of our Constitution and a serious threat to our system of government, here are 25 examples of what he could have and should have said:

1. Medicare is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

2. Social Security is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

3. Medicaid is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

4. The war on drugs is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

5. The food stamp program is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

6. Fighting undeclared wars is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government. The Other Side of Calv... Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $19.84 Buy New $29.95 (as of 08:35 UTC - Details)

7. Foreign aid is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

8. The National School Lunch Program is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

9. Head Start is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

10. NASA is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

11. AMTRAK is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

12. NPR is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

13. Imposing CAFE standards is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

14. The FDA is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

15. The EPA is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

16. The federal student loan program is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

17. The USDA is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

18. The Department of Health and Human Services is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government. King James, His Bible,... Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $2.07 Buy New $56.00 (as of 08:30 UTC - Details)

19. The FCC is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

20. The Department of Education is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

21. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

22. The TSA is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

23. The National Flood Insurance Program is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

24. The National Endowment for the Arts is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

25. The Small Business Administration is a serious breach of our Constitution. It is a serious threat to our system of government.

I could give 125 of these.

The reason why Boehner didn’t dare mention any of these serious breaches of the Constitution and serious threats to our system of government is because he and his fellow Republicans regularly vote to fund them. Many Republicans defend some of these things as ardently as Democrats do. If the Republicans were really serious about eliminating any of these breaches and threats they could have easily done so when they controlled both Houses of Congress and the White House for over four years when Bush was the president. But the only thing Republicans are serious about is having Republicans control as much of the government as possible.