CRomnibus: the Fallout

Joe Guzzardi
December 16, 2014

Millions of Americans who just voted and gave Republicans a huge congressional majority are shaking their heads in dismay over their representatives’ failure to block President Obama’s executive amnesty. The Republican Party successfully made opposition to amnesty one of its main planks in their fall campaigns. Then, newly elected and re-elected Republicans abruptly turned their backs on their constituents.

The House could have defeated the huge $1.1 trillion CRomnibus bill if only seven of the 162 Republicans who voted yes had switched to no. A no vote would have forced the House to pass a short-term spending bill covering all government spending that would have given next year’s incoming Congress the leverage it needs to defund President Obama’s amnesty before it started.

Although much has been made of the partial funding of Department of Homeland Security, that argument is a non-starter. CRomnibus will provide for amnesty through other agencies like the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The irony is that most Republicans who voted yes have repeatedly insisted that they oppose rewarding aliens and condemned Obama for his executive action. Yet, in the end, Republicans voted to give Obama what he wanted even though they protested that the president’s action is unconstitutional. Notice also the convenience of the vote—a full two years away from the next election cycle.

Few Republicans acknowledge that illegal aliens will be rewarded with five million work permits. They will compete in a tight job market that has, according to the Economic Policy Institute, seven million missing workers. EPI defines missing workers as “potential workers who because of weak job opportunities are neither employed nor actively seeking a job.” Factoring in missing workers, EPI pegs the true unemployment rate at 9.2 percent, far higher than the official 5.8 percent.

Not only did the newly elected Congress stump on ending illegal immigration, it also promised more job creation.

Yet the Obama amnesty does exactly the opposite by expanding instead of contracting the labor market. The five million amnestied immigrants will be able to take any available job in America.

Obama’s expansive immigration vision, favored by billionaires and open borders lobbyists, is a nightmare for struggling Americans. The following data comes from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey: nearly one in four Americans in their prime working years (ages 25–54) are unemployed, a statistic that includes 10 million men and 18 million women; real median weekly earnings are lower today than they were in 2000; and median family income is down $4,000 since November 2007.

The question Senator Jeff Sessions and others raise is who is looking out for American workers? The CRominbus provided the disappointing but truthful answer: not this Congress. Instead of protecting Americans, the White House and Congress bow to the elite and to radicals who have little interest beyond their own agenda.

Only the most trusting have the slightest confidence that Boehner or others on his leadership team will mount vigorous resistance to whatever liberalized immigration regulations Obama may propose in the future. During the summer, Boehner repeatedly said that the U.S. needs immigration reform. Apparently, Boehner favors Obama’s definition of reform, amnesty, and not the version the people want, enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

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Joe Guzzardi is a Californians for Population Stabilization Senior Writing Fellow. Contact him at [email protected]