Sunday, February 15, 2015

AFGE: "Wrong Way To Run A Country."

A debate is underway in Congress right now concerning funding of the Department of Homeland Security. Since President Obama decided to unilaterally grant (the next best thing to) amnesty to millions of people in the country illegally, the newly elected Republican Congress is trying to figure out how to reverse the President's highly questionable, if not flat out illegal, action.

The House has drafted and passed a bill that would reverse the President's executive amnesty but it won't pass the Senate (they don't have enough votes) so it will never get to the President. And the President has already made it known that he would veto it anyway, just he will the upcoming Keystone Pipeline bill. So the only meaningful way Republicans can stop Obama's executive amnesty, which is one of the things they were overwhelmingly elected to do, is through the power of the purse.

While no one wants to shut down the Department of Homeland Security, Republican leaders of both Houses have not taken that possibility off the table.

"If funding for Homeland Security lapses, Washington Democrats are going to bear the responsibility," House Speaker John Boehner said. "The House has done its job. We've spoken. And now it's up to the Senate to do their job."

At this point the Republicans have only three choices with the proposed bill. They can pass a short term extension of current funding levels. They can cut the language out of the bill to which Democrats object, thus caving in to Democrat pressure and failing to make sound, constitutional changes to the President's plan. Or they can simply let the funding run out for DHS until Democrats are ready to consider compromise.

None of them are good choices and the Republicans know it. If DHS funding is allowed to run out and its employees are furloughed the President, Democrats, the American Federation of Government Employees (the federal union), and main stream media will all blame the Republicans, as they have in the past, even though the Republicans are fighting the good fight against Obama's overreach.

Among other complaints, AFGE is saying that those DHS personnel considered to work "essential positions," which will be around 90%, will still have to go to work and not get paid. But that statement is misleading, at best. All furloughed federal employees get paid as soon as the furlough is over - whether they worked or not. Their pay is sometimes delayed past a regular payday but they never lose money - even those who sat at home. And for the Union to say otherwise is deliberately deceptive.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (what kind of name is Jeh, anyway?) has asked Congress for a "clean funding bill without any policy riders that would undo the administration’s policies and executive actions. Let's have that debate, but don't tie that to funding public safety at Homeland Security for the American people,” he said. 

I'm sure Johnson and his boss would love that. But Republicans were elected (did I mention overwhelmingly) to stop President Obama's unlawful acts not to allow and/or ignore them. And that's what they're beginning to do.

AFGE President J. David Cox Sr., weighed in on it.

“To block certain administrative actions or policies, lawmakers have regularly taken appropriations bills that fund government agencies hostage," he said. "This political maneuvering led to furloughs of employees and a government shutdown in 2013. This is exactly the wrong way to run the country.”

Having a President, supported 100% by AFGE, who is ignoring the Constitution and the rule of law, is no way to run the country. Perhaps Mr. Cox should be more concerned about unconstitutional actions by a President and the millions of American jobs that will be lost by legal citizens due to Obama's executive amnesty. Cox is all about keeping federal employees working but doesn't seem to care that the President is guaranteeing more unemployed Americans with his actions. 

But you won't see AFGE standing up and demanding the President stop doing what he wishes. How about for once they put America first instead of their own interests? But what am I saying? It's a union.

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