Immigration Reform

If this is your first visit, please read "Introduction".

I was going to continue my diatribe on food.  However, I find myself compelled to comment on the upcoming battle over immigration reform.

Because it appears that the battle is not going to be about immigration reform. It is going to be about the Constitutionally mandated separation of powers and the roles and authority granted each branch of government in the Constitution, and whether or not the current President is going to uphold the Constitution, or violate it.

There is a myth that the Constitution is terribly complex and can only be understood by highly educated experts. That is total horse feathers.  The Constitution was intentionally written to be understood by citizens with average intelligence and education.  I grant that the general level of education was higher in the 18th century than today. Imagine that, and public education was generally not available.

Laying commentary on the current state of education aside, anyone capable of finding and reading this blog is fully capable of reading and understanding the Constitution.  So I advise you to break out your copy and dig into it.  What? You don't have a copy? And you vote? PLEASE STOP!

Better yet, acquire a copy.  A .pdf version is available at http://www.usconstitution.net/const.pdf .
You can get multiple pocket Constitutions at the Heritage Foundation web site for free. It takes a few weeks. You can hand them out to your friends.

You don't like the Heritage Foundation? Well, I am sorry you do not value your freedom.

Upon examining the Constitution, you will find that the primary role of the President is to implement (execute) the legislation passed by the Legislative Branch (the Senate and the House of Representatives), which is why the presidency is called the Executive Branch.  The President does have the power and authority to veto legislation. In which case it is referred back to the Legislative Branch. The Legislative Branch may vote to override the veto, in which case the President is required to implement the legislation.  If the Legislative Branch does not vote to override, then the legislation is dead.

Note that the President may choose not to act on legislation through the use of the veto, unless the Legislative Branch overrides the veto.  There is no provision for the President to act unilaterally independent of the Legislative Branch. If there is something the President wishes to do, he, or someday she, must present the idea to the Legislative Branch. If the Legislative Branch chooses not to act on the request, the issue is dead.

Any attempt for the President to take action contrary to the decisions of the Legislative Branch is a violation of the President's oath of office to uphold and protect the Constitution. End of story.

We have a President who has decided that he is a power unto himself. He must be stopped. Not because of the merits, or lack of merits, of the particular issue, but because the survival of our constitutionally limited representative republic, and our individual liberty, depends on it.