Radio America Online News Bureau

immigration

Low Energy Trumps ‘American Gothic’, Radical Dem Agenda, Immigration Insanity

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America think President Trump did alright in his speech and agree that his presentation was better than the stiff stares of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.  They also shake their heads in wonder as more Democrats embrace huge tax increases and government-run health care and Jim breaks down the truly radical ideas contained in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal.  And speaking of the new congresswoman, Jim unleashes a fantastic rant after Ocasio-Cortez suggests on national television that the people trying to enter the U.S. illegally are more American than people who want a border wall.

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Shifting Syria Logic, GOP Wilts on the Wall, Flake’s Final Insult

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America fume as President Trump says ISIS is defeated in Syria on Wednesday and Thursday he claims that Russia, Iran, and Syria can handle the fight.  They’re also disgusted as Trump’s insistence on $5 billion for a border wall seems to be shifting and congressional Republicans appear to have no interest in this fight despite promising one just before the midterm elections.  And they hold the door open for Sen. Jeff Flake to leave and never come back as the retiring Arizona lawmaker proposes a new carbon tax just days before leaving office.

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Murdock: Trump Should Use Farm Bill to Force Wall Funding

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President Trump is insisting on $5 billion to fund significant construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock says Trump should use the recently passed Farm Bill as leverage to get what he wants from Congress.

Known formally as the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the bill has already passed the House and Senate but is awaiting Trump’s signature.  Many conservatives, including Murdock, already oppose the legislation.

“It contains $867 billion over ten years in farm subsidies, including brand new subsidies for barley, for hops, for hemp, ridiculous nonsense we don’t need.

“(It also has) food stamp money used to have work requirements that basically said, ‘If you want to get food stamps, you’ve got to work or take classes, or do something to get yourself out of poverty.  Those work requirements have been weakened if not removed…so this is welfare un-reform,” said Murdock.

Murdock says Trump should threaten to veto the Farm Bill if he does not get the funding he wants for the border.

“‘You give me money for the wall? Great, I’ll sign this bill.  You don’t give me money for the wall?  I veto this bill.’  Throw that right back in their faces,” said Murdock.

But there’s a limit to the effectiveness of that threat.  The Farm Bill passed the Senate 87-13 and cleared the House 369-47, meaning Congress could easily override a Trump veto.

Murdock says it can still be a useful issue for Trump as the funding debate plays out, both by taking the issue directly to the American people and by putting pressure on congressional Republicans to get something done on border security before the House flips to Democratic Party control in January.

“If he vetoes this thing and he gets his veto overridden, he can say, ‘Look, I tried.’  He needs to give Republicans and conservatives, including everybody left, middle, and right in this country the sense that he worked for this and pushed for this as hard as he could.  He needs to whip Republicans.  He needs to get Republicans to do their jobs,” said Murdock.

He says time is of the essence because Trump and Republicans will have an easier time “squeezing champagne out of a cinder block” than getting wall funding our of incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Murdock’s explanation of why congressional Republicans are so hesitant to fight for border wall funding and what he thinks President Trump must get in funding to avoid looking like he broke his promise.

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McCaskill’s Pitiful Argument, Trump’s Power Grab, Nelson’s Lunacy

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America get a kick out of Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill suddenly claiming she’s not like those “crazy Democrats” as she tried to convince a red state to give her six more years in office.  After years of blasting Barack Obama for trying to change immigration law unilaterally, they now shake their heads as President Trump claims he can end birthright citizenship with an executive order.  However, they do agree that a debate on birthright citizenship is worth having.  And they blast Florida Sen. Bill Nelson for suggesting the intense political divide in the United States has us on the path to repeating the Rwandan genocide over our differences.

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Enforcing the Border, Obama’s Tiresome Act, Sasse’s GOP Dilemma

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America commend Attorney General Jeff Sessions for beefing up the number of immigration judges in an effort to expedite hearings for cases of illegal immigration and improve enforcement of existing immigration laws.  They’re also weary of former President Barack Obama lecturing us about the need for civility in our politics when he trashed his opponents and accused them of sinister motives consistently over his eight years in office.  And they understand why Ben Sasse is frustrated with certain aspects of the Republican Party but also see his public agonizing over whether to stay on the GOP as a bit of grandstanding.

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Brat: Legislative Success Will Mean Midterm Success

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Congress still has time to accomplish major legislative goals this year and one embattled incumbent believes success in Washington will lead to success back home in November.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Virginia, stunned the political world by toppling then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the 2014 Republican primary.  This year Brat finds himself in a toss-up race against Democratic challenger Abigail Spanberger.

The race leaves voters in the Old Dominion’s seventh congressional district with a stark contrast between the free market-oriented Brat and a staunch liberal challenger in Spanberger, who favors sanctuary cities and government-run health care.

Brat says the venom of the far left is up close and personal in his campaign.

“The last town hall I had, this hard left fringe is swearing at the pastor while he’s giving the opening prayer.  It’s all on tape.  Abigail Spanberger was in the front row and didn’t do anything about it,” said Brat.

But before November 6 arrives, Brat and his congressional colleagues hope to pass major legislation that proves to voters that they can still be entrusted with the majority.  Brat says getting the spending bills done is at the top of the list, but he also wants to see action on health care, immigration, opioid addiction treatment funding and more.

In holding town halls, Brat says the one thing that transcends party is that frustration everyone has with the health care system.

“I had Democrats, independents, and Republicans.  They would sit down with horror stories.  ‘I’ve got one insurance company.  I’ve got one prescription drug.  I have no alternatives.  I can’t choose another company.  I can’t choose another prescription.  I have to pay whatever price they have.  My doctor’s not involved in it in any way shape or form,'” reported Brat.

He’s hearing the same stress from small business owners, who either can’t afford to hire skilled workers or offer health benefits at all.

Brat points out that the Senate has not done a budget resolution yet for this year so leaders could still pursue budget reconciliation, which would allow a health care bill to pass with a simple majority in the Senate.

Brat thinks turning around major repeal legislation in two months is a tall order but that it would also send a powerful message to voters that Republicans will do what they promise to do.

“That would be a home run if we could accomplish that.  The election would be over,” said Brat.

While not diving too much into what would have to be included in a GOP plan to win his support, Brat says Spanberger and the Democrats want government to have complete control over health care, even though “Medicare for all” carries a 10-year price tag of $32 trillion.

Brat says the Richmond Times-Dispatch ran the numbers and discovered that both personal and corporate income taxes would have to be doubled to pay for that.

“That would not put you into a recession.  That would put you into a depression,” he said.

The alternative of course is bigger deficits, which Brat condemns, but Democrats can now say that Republican leadership is producing trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.  Brat says that’s true but not because of the tax cuts passed last year.

He says three percent growth is enough to offset the tax cuts and anything greater, like the 4.2 percent growth posted in the second quarter of this year, will lead to a net positive.  Brat says the real culprit is the $400 billion in new spending agreed to back in February in both chambers of Congress.

Brat is also hoping to see progress on immigration policy through the budgetary process.  He wants to see funding for President Trump’s border wall and also hopes to see Congress approve mandatory E-Verify programs, by which all employers must confirm that their employees are in the country legally.

“That would be a huge component.  E-Verify goes a long way to making sure we have a legal workforce,” said Brat, who says rooting out illegal hires would lead to higher wages for citizens and legal residents and help the country see what areas of the economy need help through legal immigration.

He says immigration enforcement is another clear difference in his campaign, pointing out that prominent Democrats who endorse Spanberger, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

“I want to defend ICE.  I want to help them keep our country safe.  The left wants to prosecute the ICE agents who work every day, put their life on the line to keep us safe,” said Brat.

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Encouraging Senate Polls, Tone-Deaf Warren, Delay Kavanaugh Over Cohen Plea?

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America cheer up as they see new Senate polls showing Rick Scott with a healthy lead in Florida and Republicans within striking distance in Wisconsin.  They also shake their heads as Sen. Elizabeth Warren issues perfunctory condolences to the family of Mollie Tibbetts but says we need to focus on our real immigration problems.  And they marvel at Senate Democrats, who now insist that the consideration of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh must wait because Michael Cohen has accused President Trump of a campaign finance violation.

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Jordan: GOP Must Do What We Promised

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Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, says he is focusing on helping Republicans retain their House majority before he worries about his bid for Speaker of the House but he says GOP lawmakers need to prove to voters they will do what they’ve promised the past four election cycles and that’s exactly how he would lead in the next Congress.

The race for speaker was triggered by Speaker Paul Ryan’s decision that he is retiring from Congress come January.  House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Calif., is considered Ryan’s natural successor, but Jordan says the past two years have shown plenty of conservative actions from President Trump but very little from Congress in comparison.

He applauds Trump’s actions on the Iran deal, moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and cutting taxes and regulations.  He says the legislative branch is failing to do its part.

“We certainly helped with the tax cuts and we shouldn’t downplay that.  But where’s the border security wall we promised?  Where’s the Obamacare repeal?  Where’s the welfare reform?  Where’s defunding Planned Parenthood?  Where are those key issues that we told the American people we were going to get done?

“We haven’t accomplished those, so if we keep the majority and I’m given the chance to lead the House, we’re going to focus on one simple message: doing what we told the American people we were going to do,” said Jordan.

Jordan chalks up the dearth of legislative achievements to “lack of political will” on the part of current Republican leaders.  He says that cannot continue for another two years.

“It boils down to a simple fact.  You’ve to be willing to actually engage in the debate and have the fight.  You can’t just forfeit before the referee even blows the whistle and starts the game,” said Jordan.

He says the point of no return on the existing GOP leadership came earlier this year when it snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and agreed to major spending increases in an omnibus bill.

“Instead of doing what the swamp always does, which is spend more money on everything and make up excuses for why we can’t do what wee told the people we were going to do and more importantly what they elected us to do, we should have fought on that omnibus spending bill.

“Remember, (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer had shut the government down before that.  When Chuck Schumer said amnesty was more important than funding our troops, we were well-positioned, we were poised, we were right on the cusp of victory, and yet we did what the swamp always does.

“We were ready to win and do what had to be done for national defense, hold the line on the other spending, fund the border security wall.  We were in a position to do that and yet our leadership didn’t do that and Republicans failed to deliver on the promises we had made,” said Jordan.

He says Republicans have a chance to prove they can be trusted when they return to work next month.

“When we go back in September, we better put the border security wall funding on the spending bill and send that to the Senate,” said Jordan.

With all of the alleged failures of Republicans to fulfill promises in this Congress, why should GOP voters bother heading to the polls in November?  Jordan says the alternative will be disastrous.

“You elect Democrats, they’re going to raise your taxes, they’re going to abolish ICE, they’re going to socialize medicine and they’re going to impeach the president,” said Jordan.

Jordan’s efforts to ascend the Republican leadership ladder was quickly met with accusations that he knew about and failed to report the sexual abuse of wrestlers by a team doctor while an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University in the 1980s and 1990s.

Those accusations were met with a long list of former coaches and athletes who said Jordan never covered anything up and never would.  Some of the allegations were eventually retracted.

Jordan says the bias of the media was on full display with that story.

“If you’re a conservative, they’re out to get you.  If you support the president and you’re fighting to support the president, particularly in this issue of the Department of Justice, they’re out to get you,” said Jordan.

He also categorically denies any such cover-up and says it’s completely contrary to his fighting spirit.

“I’ve taken on the Speaker of the House from my own state.  I’ve taken on the IRS when they were targeting people.  I’ve taken on the Department of Justice and the FBI for the wrong they did when they took this dossier and took it to a secret court to spy on President Trump’s campaign.

“The idea that I would not stand up for our wrestlers is just ridiculous and everyone sees through that story,” said Jordan.

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Trump Sets Judicial Confirmation Record, Big Business Supporting Dems, Bill Kristol 2020?

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Chad Benson of Radio America congratulate President Donald Trump for appointing more judges to regional circuit courts than any president has at this point in his term. They also criticize big businesses that are supporting Democrats in 2018 because of Trump’s trade and immigration policies. And they think the only major support for a Bill Kristol 2020 presidential campaign would come from the Kristol household.

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‘They Don’t Want Immigration Enforcement at All’

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A growing number of elected Democrats are now on record in wanting to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, a development that one immigration law expert believes has exposed the desire among many liberals to have fully open borders.

The trend started on Wednesday after avowed socialist Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez defeated 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in a stunning congressional primary.  Reporters discovered Ocasio-Cortez wants to abolish ICE.  She publicly defended that position, saying ICE has run far off course by separating parent and children entering the U.S. illegally.

Thursday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., echoed Ocasio-Cortez in supporting the abolition of ICE, appalled that the agency is acting like a “deportation force.”  On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his solidarity as well, and “Abolish ICE” posters were frequently seen at rallies around the country over the weekend denouncing President Trump’s immigration policies.

Center for Immigration Studies Research Fellow Andrew Arthur helped write the homeland security legislation that created ICE in the wake of 9/11.  He says the Democrats are just trying to score political points.

“This is just a political stunt.  This is all political theater,” said Arthur.

“Blaming ICE for immigration enforcement is sort of like blaming the janitor for the mess that you left if you’re a member of Congress.  They created the laws.  They can change the laws,” said Arthur.

But Arthur firmly believes that Democrats do want open borders.

“They don’t want immigration enforcement at all.  There’s no other way to explain it,” said Arthur.

He says such a policy move would lead for a human tidal wave at our southern border since word would spread quickly that getting into the U.S. would guarantee they get to stay.  He also says it would lead to a massive increase in Mexican drug cartels pushing their products across the border.

The calls for abolishing ICE come on the heels of a passionate debate over ICE enforcing existing law which requires parents and children to be separated while the parents are prosecuted for an illegal border crossing.  Arthur stresses ICE is doing the job it was created to do.

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement performs many critical tasks.  They counter trafficking in the United States, child smuggling.  They go after foreign corruption, and they enforce the immigration laws of the United States.  To say that they’ve suddenly become a vast deportation force is to say they are exactly what they were when they were set up,” said Arthur.

Arthur says the immigration laws being enforced exist for a very simple reason.

“First and foremost, the immigration laws exist to protect the wages and working conditions of working Americans.  That’s not just United States citizens, but it also includes aliens who are lawfully here,” said Arthur.

Democrats are already touting legislation to abolish ICE.  Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., is planning legislation that is short on details but would establish a commission to determine what duties ICE should be performing.

Arthur says that ambiguity is at the heart of the problem.

“They just don’t want immigration enforcement.  They don’t like the idea of it but they really haven’t thought through the ramifications of their proposals or their ideas,” said Arthur.

For his part Pocan, wants borders enforced for the purposes of stopping terrorists but is staunchly opposed to removing people from the country because they came here illegally.

The Democrats are looking to benefit from the family separation controversy in the midterm elections, and Arthur admits the images from the border have been difficult to watch.  However, he says Democrats are in for a big surprise if they think calling for the abolition of ICE will play well all over America.

“I’m supportive of the president’s policies but the optics of it were very bad.  There was no way to avoid that.  [Democrats] are now taking that policy and taking it way too far to an extreme.  I think that’s actually going to turn off independent voters who understand there is a reason why we have immigration laws in the United States,” said Arthur.

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