As is customary nowadays for President Obama he is facing a headwind of ordeals, each one seemingly more withering than the next.? With the appointment of a new leader at the VA one problem has been momentarily patched, but other pressing matters at home and abroad continue to plague his daily routine and threaten his legacy.
His Middle East headaches in Iraq and Iran got a bit more painful the other day when three Israeli youth were kidnapped and killed, allegedly by members of Hamas, precipitating a massive retaliation from Israeli forces.??
The president may need a couple of more Advils with the recent decisions from the Supreme Court that tampers with his Affordable Care Act on the issue of contraceptives and Hobby Lobby, the Court?s smack on unions and hampering dues paying.?? The week ended badly with Speaker Boehner and his declaration that there will be no action of immigration reform in the immediate future, or anytime thereafter it seems.
?If Congress will not do their share, at least we can do ours,? Obama announced Monday from the White House Rose Garden, promising to exercise his executive authority.? ?The failure of House Republicans to pass a darn bill is bad for our security, is bad for economy, [and] is bad for our future.? America cannot wait forever for them to act.?
Obama believes that if the Speaker would cooperate a bipartisan approval would occur if House members were allowed to vote on the issue.??
Conservative Republicans balk at immigration reform charging that it provides millions of illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship and amnesty.? Such provisions existed in the Senate bill but Republicans in the House opposed them.
The stagnation on immigration reform leaves thousands of people, and far too many children, in limbo, many of who face deportation since the government seems unwilling or incapable of handling the huge influx of immigrant children.
Equally moored in a no man?s land is the countless number of undocumented men and women who without any reform measure in sight will linger in the shadows if they aren?t otherwise apprehended and deported.
With no movement on the issue from Congress it may be until 2017 before there are any concrete steps made to remedy a problem that with each day becomes a larger and larger dilemma for President Obama.
