A tale of two injunctions

Sunday, February 22nd, 2015

Last week saw federal judges twice stymie the executive branch by enjoining the Department of Homeland Security from doing what it wants to do. The first injunction, in Texas v. USA,  stopped the government from doing something nice for the undocumented – beginning the implementation of the first of the President’s executive actions announced last November. The action  was to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to both earlier and later arriving children. The second injunction, in…

Why the silence about the Cuban population surge?

Saturday, November 8th, 2014

Saying something is “political” is not necessarily pejorative as the making of government policy is a political act. Nonetheless, when you see the actual political biases in actions, it is hard to be sanguine about the hypocrisy. A recent example is the matter of Cubans surging  to America’s shores. This flood is not much smaller than the flood of Central Americans  in the news earlier in the year, which has been largely stemmed despite the rampant gang violence, domestic violence,…

President Obama’s uncle receives Registry

Sunday, December 8th, 2013

On December 3, 2013, President Obama’s uncle, Onyango Obama, was allowed to become a permanent resident of the United States. News reports, as nearly always happens, are not entirely accurate in their explanation of events and the law (there is an old adage that the more a reader knows about a topic, the more a newspaper account is wrong), I will read between the lines and try to lay out what happened. It appears Mr. Obama (the uncle), came to…

Newt’s pro-immigration line may appeal to real Republicans

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

In a recent New York Magazine article, David Frum,  a former George H.W. Bush speech writer, wrote, “The reality is, however, that the big winners in the American fiscal system are the rich, the old, the rural, and veterans — typically conservative constituencies.” He was pointing out the irony that these Conservatives, associated with a belief in small government, actually benefit from big government most. They are big winners because of the government largesse they receive – be it tax…