During the campaign, Donald Trump sold himself as a great deal maker and great negotiator, and enough of the low information rubes voters who don’t know any better bought that con job and made him president.
The self-proclaimed “greatest negotiator” met with GOP and Democratic leadership on Wednesday to negotiate a budget deal, raising the federal debt ceiling to avoid a default at the end of September, nd hurricane relief aid for Texas.
The GOP’s alleged boy genius and Ayn Rand fanboy, Paul Ryan, “the zombie-eyed granny starver from the state of Wisconsin,” made the GOP position clear at a press conference earlier in the morning. Ryan and the septuagenarian Ninja Turtle, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, just assumed that Trump would tow the GOP line since he, you know, is the leader of the GOP.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made the Democrats’ opening low-ball offer, and the world’s “greatest negotiator” said “fine, we’ve got a deal,” throwing his own GOP leadership under the bus without even making a counter-offer or attempting to negotiate. I’m sure Chuck and Nancy must have given each other a confused look that said “Wait, did we just win? This is way too easy.”
I love this photo from Roll Call — the look on the faces of the Senate GOP leadership says it all. So this is what a constipated turtle looks like.
Undocumented workers and students protested at the DNC in 2012. (That’s me in the turquoise dress before the cops told me to move.)
Our country’s most ill-prepared president just lobbed one of our country’s stickiest problems into the court of the country’s least effective Congress, ever. What could go wrong? The dreams of nearly one million young people.
On Sept. 5, 2017, Attorney General and long-time anti-immigration advocate Jeff Sessions announced the Trump administration’s decision to rescind President Obama’s executive order that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Implemented five years ago, DACA was supposed to be a stop-gap measure to shield children and young adults, who were brought to the US illegally as minors by their parents. The plan was that Congress would move on immigration reform while DACA protected these young people from immediate deportation.
Roughly 800,000 young adults under DACA could face deportation if Congress fails to act within the next six months. The crux of the problem is that DACA was created because Congress shirked its duty on meaningful immigration reform. For 16 years, Congress has failed to pass any immigration reform– let alone comprehensive reform, which is sorely needed. Even the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) — which outlined a path to citizenship for Dreamers– has died a bipartisan death in Congress multiple times, since it was originally proposed in 2001.
The ACLU is claiming that, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), young people eligible for deferred deportation are "authorized to stay and lawfully present in the country" — not "illegal people."
Within the last year, Governor Jan Brewer had issued an executive order stating that Dreamers were not eligible to apply for Arizona drivers licenses or any state benefits because they are here "ilegally".
According to the New Times, the DHS says:
"An individual who has received deferred action is authorized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be present in the United States, and is therefore considered by DHS to be lawfully present during the period deferred action is in effect," the website says. "However, deferred action does not confer lawful status upon an individual, nor does it excuse any previous or subsequent periods of unlawful presence."
Tough luck, Jan, the Feds say Dreamers can drive… even in Arizona.
For the whole story check out this article in the New Times.
Citizens for a Better Arizona (CBA) leader Randy Parraz and others protested Governor Jan Brewer's denial of Arizona drivers' licenses to undocumented people who are eligibile for deferred deportation under President Barack Obama's executive order regarding the DREAM Act.
"These people [DREAMERS] already have clearance to work in this state. What does she [Brewer] gain by denying them a drivers' license?" Parraz asked on Monday, January 14, the first day of the new legislative session.
"We want a new level of respect and civility in this state… I'm tired of second class citizenship [for DREAMERS]," he added. "They're good enough to graduate from ASU but not good enough to apply for a drivers' license? That type of mentality has to stop in Arizona."
For more comments and footage of DREAM Act protesters being arrested at the Arizona State Capitol, check out the video by Dennis Gilman after the jump.
Despite Arizona’s reputation as a stalwartly red state, with
a capital R, Democrats are hoping to take back one of the state’s US Senate in November.
Although Democrats have held a percentage of the state’s
Congressional seats for years, the Republican Party has controlled both Arizona
US Senate seats since 1994, when embattled Senator Dennis
Deconcini retired, and Arizona Congressman Jon Kyl won it.
Since
early 2012, former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona has been
crisscrossing the state, campaigning
tirelessly to move that Senate seat to the D column. Over the summer,
Carmona climbed steadily in the polls against Kyl’s heir apparent and
six-term, conservative Congressman Jeff Flake. A recently released poll shows
Independent-turned-Democrat Carmona
leading Flake by four percentage points—a statistical dead heat.
This close—and important—Senate race has attracted the
attention of heavy hitters from both parties. While the Koch Brothers’ Freedom
Works PAC has been pumping money into Flake’s campaign, this week Democrats
sent their secret weapon—President Bill Clinton—to Arizona to help Carmona.
Wednesday night, Carmona and Clinton addressed an estimated
5500 Arizonans at an outdoor rally on the Arizona State University (ASU)
campus.
More details and a videos after the jump.
Following a rousing musical set by Jimmy Eat World and a glowing
introduction by former Phoenix Suns basketball player and current Mayor of
Sacramento Kevin Johnson,
Carmona was obviously pumped up as he took the stage.
“My government made an investment in me, and I’m paying it
off,” Carmona said, alluding to the GI Bill and the community college open
enrollment policy that allowed the Puerto Rican street kid to become surgeon
general and perhaps a US Senator. Carmona explained that one of the reasons he’s
running for the Senate is that he wants to protect our country’s “infrastructure
of opportunity”—veterans’ benefits, Pell Grants, Social Security, Medicare, and
other social safety net programs.
Feeding off of the enthusiasm of the overflow crowd that
spilled out onto the sidewalks, Clinton continued the themes of working
together and investing in the American people.
“Shared prosperity is better than trickledown economics,”
Clinton said repeatedly. “A philosophy that says ‘we’re all in this together’—that’s
what the GI Bill is all about—is better than ‘you’re on your own.’ The more we
expand opportunities for everybody,
the more we build a great middle class.
“In every successful country on Earth today, there is the
realization that we face a blithering array of complex challenges, and in an
environment like that, creative cooperation beats constant conflict every, single time,” he emphasized.
“We’re in this boat together, and we’ve got to row.”
Although Clinton was scheduled to speak only 15 minutes, the
folksy elder statesman was on a roll for 30 minutes, as Carmona stood by
chuckling at Clinton’s jokes and nodding in agreement. Clinton never mentioned
President Barack Obama, but he touched on a multitude of subjects that are
important to the President’s campaign—from the DREAM Act and the importance of
our diverse society to education, student loans, veterans, healthcare reform, job
creation, solar energy, and, of course, the importance of electing Carmona to
the Senate.
Earlier in the evening, Carmona and Flake
finished his first
debate. Flake, who had refused to debate Carmona, more than one time in a Phoenix PBS studio
with no audience, recently acquiesced and agreed to three
debates in Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma. The coming weeks will be crowded with
dueling campaign ads, debates, and public appearances.
Last week– thanks to an executive memo by President Obama– millions of "Dreamers" were able to apply for deferred deportation, which will allow them to legally live in the US for two years. Dreamers are young, undocumented adults who, as young children, were brought to the US illegally by their parents. Deferred deportation would allow Dreamers to come out of the shadows to live and work without fear of being sent to a country they have never known.
In true heartless form, once the Dreamers were given hope, Arizona Goveror Jan Brewer set up roadblocks by issuing her own memo. Soon after young Arizonans started lining up to apply for deferred deportation, Brewer announced that in Arizona Dreamers would not be issued drivers' licences or state-issued ID card. One of the stipulations for being able to stay in the US is a clean legal record. Her denial of drivers' licenses sets up these young people. Not being able to a car is a serious burden in Arizona because cycling in the summer is grueling and public transportation is sketchy in the big cities and non-existent in the rural areas.
Brewer's actions quickly earned her the label of "George Wallace in a dress" because her memo clearly focused on pandering to the racists in her base and, furthermore, disregards what's best for our state– allowing Dreamers to integrate fully into American society and the workforce without fear of deportation.
