by digby
The Washington Post editorial board is very worried about what President Ted Cruz might do if President Barack Obama shows him how to use executive power:
DEMOCRATS URGING President Obama to “go big” in his executive order on immigration might pause to consider the following scenario:
It is 2017. Newly elected President Ted Cruz (R) insists he has won a mandate to repeal Obamacare. The Senate, narrowly back in Democratic hands, disagrees. Mr. Cruz instructs the Internal Revenue Service not to collect a fine from anyone who opts out of the individual mandate to buy health insurance, thereby neutering a key element of the program. It is a matter of prosecutorial discretion, Mr. Cruz explains; tax cheats are defrauding the government of billions, and he wants the IRS to concentrate on them. Of course, he is willing to modify his order as soon as Congress agrees to fix what he considers a “broken” health system.
That is not a perfect analogy to Mr. Obama’s proposed action on immigration. But it captures the unilateral spirit that Mr. Obama seems to have embraced since Republicans swept to victory in the midterm elections.
Right. Never mind the previous Republican presidents who used executive powers to enable immigrants to stay in the country. Or the Republican presidents who ordered stuff like torture and warrantless surveillance in secret. Surely President Cruz would never think of doing anything like that if Obama agrees not to follow through on his promise.
Villagers ...
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