President Obama reported not long ago that when the government shutdown finally ended, he'd work on passing immigration reform.
Here's what Republican Idaho Representative Raul Labrador said to the Huffington Post about the matter:
"For us to go to a negotiation, to the negotiating table with President Obama after what he has done over the last two and a half weeks, I think would be probably a very big mistake."
It gets better from there. He then continued by saying this:
"I think what he (Obama) has done over the past two and a half weeks - he's trying to destroy the Republican Party. I think that anything we do right now with this president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind, which is to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies."
Sadly, it appears as if some House Republicans won't learn a thing about the shutdown it enabled. President Obama hasn't set out to destroy the Republican Party. He doesn't need to provide aid there; the GOP is doing a good enough job of that themselves. I'm sorry to break it to Representative Labrador, but every poll indicates that a decent majority of people blame Congressional Republicans for the shutdown and the party's approval rating is at its lowest in recorded history as a result. Why does the public feel this way? First off, Congressional Republicans picked a fight they couldn't win. The GOP lost the 2012 presidential election, as well as seats in both Houses of Congress. Then they cost this nation $24 billion economically during the shutdown, along with many jobs, and brought us to the brink of what some economists called an economic-apocalypse. Obamacare is now a law. Negotiations took place three years ago. It's now time to accept the defeats suffered in the election, in the Supreme Court, and finally accept Obamacare as the law of the land. Under President Obama, especially since the GOP gained control of the House in 2011, House Republicans have been self-serving, placing their own self-interests and ideology over the good of the people. They've had one thing in mind since gaining control of the House - to turn President Obama into a one-term president and a failure as this nation's leader. Since he won the 2012 election, their first objective failed. Now it's time to stop attempting to accomplish goal #2 and help to move this nation forward.
If Representative Labrador wants to see his party's approval numbers stay around 25% or even drop, then he and the rest of his party should refuse to negotiate with President Obama on immigration reform and other potential bills. That's not what the American people want, however. They want the two parties to work with one another, compromise, and help our citizens to both see and feel progress. Most of this country doesn't consider themselves far-right conservatives or far-left liberals, but as moderates. The GOP shouldn't be so fearful of working with Democrats due to the possibility they could see a far-right challenger come election time, which could cost them their job. Most of this country doesn't want extremists, on either side of the spectrum, representing them. They want to see more moderates willing to cross the aisle and work with the other side in order to get things done and do good for the American people. I sincerely hope Representative Labrador is in the minority with his opinion and following this pointless and costly shutdown, that more traditional or even moderate Republicans step forward and rise up against the Tea Party, so we can start seeing progress more regularly.
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/10/16/2792771/congressman-says-gop-pass-immigration-reform-obama-destroy/
Here's what Republican Idaho Representative Raul Labrador said to the Huffington Post about the matter:
"For us to go to a negotiation, to the negotiating table with President Obama after what he has done over the last two and a half weeks, I think would be probably a very big mistake."
It gets better from there. He then continued by saying this:
"I think what he (Obama) has done over the past two and a half weeks - he's trying to destroy the Republican Party. I think that anything we do right now with this president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind, which is to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies."
Sadly, it appears as if some House Republicans won't learn a thing about the shutdown it enabled. President Obama hasn't set out to destroy the Republican Party. He doesn't need to provide aid there; the GOP is doing a good enough job of that themselves. I'm sorry to break it to Representative Labrador, but every poll indicates that a decent majority of people blame Congressional Republicans for the shutdown and the party's approval rating is at its lowest in recorded history as a result. Why does the public feel this way? First off, Congressional Republicans picked a fight they couldn't win. The GOP lost the 2012 presidential election, as well as seats in both Houses of Congress. Then they cost this nation $24 billion economically during the shutdown, along with many jobs, and brought us to the brink of what some economists called an economic-apocalypse. Obamacare is now a law. Negotiations took place three years ago. It's now time to accept the defeats suffered in the election, in the Supreme Court, and finally accept Obamacare as the law of the land. Under President Obama, especially since the GOP gained control of the House in 2011, House Republicans have been self-serving, placing their own self-interests and ideology over the good of the people. They've had one thing in mind since gaining control of the House - to turn President Obama into a one-term president and a failure as this nation's leader. Since he won the 2012 election, their first objective failed. Now it's time to stop attempting to accomplish goal #2 and help to move this nation forward.
If Representative Labrador wants to see his party's approval numbers stay around 25% or even drop, then he and the rest of his party should refuse to negotiate with President Obama on immigration reform and other potential bills. That's not what the American people want, however. They want the two parties to work with one another, compromise, and help our citizens to both see and feel progress. Most of this country doesn't consider themselves far-right conservatives or far-left liberals, but as moderates. The GOP shouldn't be so fearful of working with Democrats due to the possibility they could see a far-right challenger come election time, which could cost them their job. Most of this country doesn't want extremists, on either side of the spectrum, representing them. They want to see more moderates willing to cross the aisle and work with the other side in order to get things done and do good for the American people. I sincerely hope Representative Labrador is in the minority with his opinion and following this pointless and costly shutdown, that more traditional or even moderate Republicans step forward and rise up against the Tea Party, so we can start seeing progress more regularly.
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/10/16/2792771/congressman-says-gop-pass-immigration-reform-obama-destroy/
Comments
Post a Comment