Friday, July 25, 2014

Less like a president than a king

The Supreme Court ruled recently in a rare unanimous decision that President Obama exceeded his authority in making three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.  The ruling was reflective of a long brewing constitutional conflict – the unchecked expansion of federal executive power.

Executive power expansion began soon after the republic’s inception and accelerated in recent decades to a new level.  The core constitutional “balance of power” principle may be at risk.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. authored “The Imperial Presidency” in 1973 and coined a phrase that is increasingly used to describe presidents since Reagan.  A Google search for “imperial presidency” returns 84,000 hits for Reagan; 130,000 for Clinton; 188,000 for Bush (may capture both); and 225,000 for Obama.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Presidential Action Recommendations for the Border Crisis

Kris W. Kobach, Secretary of State for Kansas, appeared on CNN on July 17, 2014 to discuss the crisis of unattended minors arriving at the southwest border of the United States.  He made three very important recommendations for action by President Obama that require no legislative action and rest within his executive authority.

I have researched the foundations of Secretary Kobach’s comments and recommend them as further action the President could take to resolve the crisis at the border without legislative action, but has not:

1. Issue a Section 212F Proclamation using the authority vested in the President and expressed in a previous proclamation on August 4, 2011.  That Proclamation stated, “NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of persons described in section 1 [DESCRIBE CRISIS POPULATION] of this proclamation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.  I therefore hereby proclaim that:  The entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of the following persons is hereby suspended:  [DESCRIBE CRISIS POPULATION]

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Is the Unemployment Rate Meaningful?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported earlier this month that 288,000 jobs were created in June and the unemployment rate decreased to 6.1%.  Headlines in response to the June report were positive.

A look beyond the headlines reveals that unemployment and under-employment remain in an unhealthy state.  The BLS “U6” report is a broader measure of unemployment that includes those marginally attached to the labor force.  The U6 unemployment rate was 12.1% in June and may represent better the condition of the job market.

The labor participation rate in June was a disappointing 62.8%.  The labor participation rate is the percent of the working age population that is actually working or seeking work.  In June, 156 million of the 248 million people of working age were working or seeking work.  146 million were employed and 9.5 million were unemployed – generating the unemployment rate of 6.1%.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

They must go home to Central America

The flood of Central American minors arriving at the southwest border of the United States is a complex issue. It may be easier to look at this issue in two ways — push and pull.

It is not violence in Central America alone nor is it border insecurity that caused the crisis. It is a combination of both: the conditions in Central America and poor U.S. policy that provided the conditions for the surge to the border by unaccompanied minors.

Central Americans are being pushed from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala largely because governments there are corrupt, opportunity is rare, and violence is high. When these conditions deteriorate to a point where people feel desperate, they take desperate action, such as the journey to the border.

The Push and Pull to get to the border

The flood of Central American minors arriving at the southwest border of the United States is a complex issue.  It may be easiest to look at this issue in two ways – Push and Pull.   It is not violence in Central America alone or poor border security alone that caused the crisis.  It is a combination of both the conditions in Central America and poor U.S. policy that incent the migration.

Central Americans are being pushed from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala largely because government is corrupt, opportunity is rare, and violence is high.  When these conditions deteriorate to a point where people feel desperate, they will take desperate action.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Balancing Borders and Brotherhood

The plethora of legal and illegal immigration issues confronting the U.S. will not be resolved in 2014, but can and should be resolved in 2015.  Resolution will require a common sense approach that focuses on the interests and desires of most U.S. citizens over those of special interests of both the left and right.

Any resolution should extend mercy and compassion to the migrant – legal and illegal – consistent with the history of a generous nation, but in a manner that does not jeopardize national security or subject citizens to undue economic and social burdens.

The 2013 U.S. Senate “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, S.744” was an initial step toward resolution; however, like most such expansive proposals, S.744 is highly flawed.