Althouse: "Under pressure from nervous Democratic Senate candidates in tight races, President Obama is rethinking the timing..."

August 29, 2014

"Under pressure from nervous Democratic Senate candidates in tight races, President Obama is rethinking the timing..."

"... of his pledge to act on his own to reshape the nation’s immigration system by summer’s end, and could instead delay some or all of his most controversial proposals until after the midterm elections in November, according to people familiar with White House deliberations."

The NYT reports.

I wonder who the "people familiar with White House deliberations" are and what they are trying to achieve. Something principled? Is anyone familiar with White House deliberations principled?

55 comments:

Robt C said...: No.; 8/29/14, 6:33 PM
YoungHegelian said...: I would think that if doing something would so thoroughly turn the electorate against you that your party is going to get pasted at the polls, that would be a very good moral reason not to do that thing.

If the Republicans take the Senate & Obama then does some hare-brained executive order on immigration, expect Congress to come down hard & heavy. If I was in the Senate, I'd recommend defunding the Executive Office in the next budget. I worked for 8 years at the EO, and even under a popular Republican President (Reagan), we lived in fear of antagonizing the legislative branch who watched our budgets like hawks.; 8/29/14, 6:35 PM
traditionalguy said...: Obama is scared to launch his next attack on the USA right away. So he is as scared of us as he is the Russians, the Iranians, the Chinese, the Israelis and the Sorosocrats. That is good to know.; 8/29/14, 6:36 PM
Big Mike said...: Is anyone familiar with White House deliberations principled?

No. Next question?; 8/29/14, 6:46 PM
Zach said...: Funny how "the elections" stopped being the point where decisions were ultimately made and began to be the time after which the most undemocratic policies could be imposed.; 8/29/14, 6:47 PM
Hagar said...: Trial balloon from the White House to try to gage what the reaction(s) mught be.; 8/29/14, 6:56 PM
Michael K said...: Even gangster government seems to notice public revulsion.; 8/29/14, 6:59 PM
FleetUSA said...: Sadly, we have a WH adrift on policy and not in coordination with the Senate and House. It has been like this ever since Obamacare was passed.

With the ISIS situation unraveling they have lost all sense of strategy and silence. They tend to think out loud and frankly it is demoralizing to the Dims as well as the country.; 8/29/14, 7:00 PM
Brent said...: The answer to your question Professor is an unqualified "no".; 8/29/14, 7:03 PM
Bobber Fleck said...: Oh, does this mean Barack actually had interaction with the plebs in his party and listened? What's next, a strategy for ISIS?; 8/29/14, 7:06 PM
sane_voter said...: If GOP senate candidates aren't slamming the red state Dem frauds on immigration and Obamacare 24/7, they deserve to lose.; 8/29/14, 7:07 PM
sane_voter said...: Dang, moderation is back in effect.; 8/29/14, 7:08 PM
AustinRoth said...: If the Democrats felt they had no chance of keeping the Senate, Obama would act on his original timetable.

As long as they feel they have some hope, he will wait. If prior to the elections it becomes obvious it is a lost cause, I bet he acts earlier.; 8/29/14, 7:13 PM
Clyde said...: No. Next question.; 8/29/14, 7:13 PM
Bob said...: Hey, Machiavelli had principles. So did Vlad Tepes. Just because they aren't your principles....; 8/29/14, 7:14 PM
rcocean said...: The power elite want Amnesty, especially the billionaires who fund both parties.

Cheap labor.

The average American, not so much. It will happen AFTER the election during the lame duck session.; 8/29/14, 7:22 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: So the one thing inhibiting Obama from usurping the powers of the legislative branch is the possibility of damaging the election prospects of some Democrats. Duly noted.; 8/29/14, 7:23 PM
madAsHell said...: "I'll have more flexibility after the elections"

-Barack Obama in Moscow, 2012; 8/29/14, 7:48 PM
garage mahal said...: No!; 8/29/14, 7:53 PM
gk1 said...: I think the dems are freaking out at how badly amnesty polls even among democrats and are switching to another strategy for President short pants to try on. They even have gone back to telling everyone the republicans will shut down the govt. they want to change the subject so badly.; 8/29/14, 7:57 PM
exhelodrvr1 said...: THere's no room for presidents like Obama in the 21st century.; 8/29/14, 7:58 PM
Curious George said...: Almost everything this asshole does is postponed until after an election. That's all you need to know about Obama. History will not be kind.; 8/29/14, 8:02 PM
Curious George said...: Mary Burke won't even be seen with this guy. Dems up for election are once again treating him like he has the herp.; 8/29/14, 8:04 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Of course all members of a White House are principled.

The fundamental truth is the White House is America, therefore anything that damages the White House damages the country and is unacceptable.

After a while some members will become ex-members and start to throw the panther out of the bag, but almost never while a member of the administration.

Lawyers, of course, are the worst. They have been told there is no truth, only victory in court at any cost, and when they get in office they don't change their stripes as it were.

F*^%%^( Democrat lawyers.; 8/29/14, 8:29 PM
Michael K said...: When the car bomb goes off in El Paso, the deck will be reshuffled.; 8/29/14, 8:48 PM
n.n said...: Think of the American children.

Also, think of the conditions which motivate an exodus from 2nd and 3rd world nations, in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia.; 8/29/14, 8:57 PM
Sebastian said...: "I would think that if doing something would so thoroughly turn the electorate against you that your party is going to get pasted at the polls, that would be a very good moral reason not to do that thing."

You would think that because you are a reasonable person.

Obamacare shows Dems don't have such "moral reasons." Neither does Barry himself.

They'll watch the polls, of course, but do what they can get away with.; 8/29/14, 9:04 PM
Seeing Red said...: Nah, he has always had a strategy. The citizens of the USA voted for fundamental change. No one ever said it would be smooth.

They wanted a king, they got one. This is what happens when one has the attention span of a gnat.

Besides 40% of the country still supports him.; 8/29/14, 9:06 PM
Paul said...: If president Skippy keeps it up there will be enough Republicans in both houses to IMPEACH and CONVICT HIM.

And folks, I'm beginning to think Biden would actually be a better PRESIDENT than Obama.; 8/29/14, 9:07 PM
Original Mike said...: "Is anyone familiar with White House deliberations principled?"

Snort.; 8/29/14, 9:14 PM
The Godfather said...: They hope the suckers will vote for Democrat Senate candidates if they don't know what Obama has in mind for after the election. They're probably right. "If the suckers believed they could keep their health insurance policies, they'll believe anything." [Insert sinister laugh.]; 8/29/14, 9:15 PM
PB said...: He really is a lawless coward.; 8/29/14, 10:38 PM
The Drill SGT said...: No

and deliberations is too principled a term

try calculations; 8/29/14, 10:45 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Holy cow Drudge is channeling Althouse.

Just look at the first couple seconds of his "Wisconsin" link.

I'll be damned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAD-ky3TYQk; 8/29/14, 11:00 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: "June 25, 2013
"Things I Learned in My Twenty-Four Hour Althouse Comment Withdrawal."
From betamax3000 (at 12 midnight):
• the Shakes -- they Get Real Bad;

• Twenty-Four Hours is A Long Period of Time When You Deny Yourself;

• the Baby Spiders are Real;

• I Love the Commenters: Read All the Posts, All Day, Tongue Bound, and Realized in Retrospect that -- Perhaps -- I Occasionally Suck Too Much Oxygen From the Room;

• Still Don't Quite Get Central Time;

• the Scientology "No Fear' Paradigm Crosses Neuropaths with Cruel Neutrality: when I get it Down to Four Paragraphs I Will Thrust it Sideways Into a Thread about Gabe Kaplan;"; 8/29/14, 11:21 PM
Achilles said...: Democrats play chess, Republicans cheer about winning a midterm election.

And what exactly will they accomplish if they win? They want amnesty too. Obama will do it and get away with it. The Republicans are the real problem here. Obama and the Republicans work for the same people, and they don't care about this country or it's well being.; 8/29/14, 11:46 PM
Biff said...: Waiting until after elections to enact deeply unpopular policies? I vaguely recall an old document that said something or other about governments deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed and what might happen whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends. The document must be over a hundred years old, though, so it can't have any relevance today.; 8/30/14, 12:03 AM
Jim in St Louis said...: Yes, I think there are many people familiar with WH deliberations that are principled. And I think what they want to achieve is to allow the president to back away from a amnesty promise that was never formally made-- only assumed by supporters and by opponents alike.

Obama has never really committed one way or the other- but he does play these 'wink-wink' games that leaves us guessing.
The principle here is that the president is a political creature and every topis is viewed in its political impact.

I think that constitutionally the President has wide powers granted to him for pardon and yes he could grant amnesty. So this leak is to answer the question: 'Why doesn't he?'; 8/30/14, 4:20 AM
Anonymous said...: popular Republican President (Reagan), we lived in fear of antagonizing the legislative branch who watched our budgets like hawks.

We just better hope Obama doesn't have an Ollie North stashed away in the basement, doing all his dirty work for him and willing to fall on his sword for Dear Leader.; 8/30/14, 5:51 AM
Anonymous said...: Almost everything this asshole does is postponed until after an election

Gov. Walker make a decision about that casino yet?; 8/30/14, 5:54 AM
Jaq said...: Remember though, Obama is a CENTRIST per ARM. So this is odd that his input is not wanted in the elections. You would thing that everything he does would just help Democrat's chances.; 8/30/14, 7:00 AM
damikesc said...: That both parties want this horribly unpopular policy is reason enough to overthrow the entire system.

If nobody listens to the people, then the consent of the governed cannot be claimed to actually exist.; 8/30/14, 7:01 AM
RonF said...: Of course the White House has principles. I should think that any resident of Wisconsin who has been paying any attention to the State and major city to their immediate south would have a handle on them:

1) Perpetuate the hold on power possessed by the current officeholders by manipulating social policies and electoral rules.
2) Support the above by using public money to enrich private supporters.
3) Use the power of the Executive branch to intimidate and impoverish opponents through regulatory abuse and lawfare.
4) Marginalize and co-opt the Legislative branch.
5) Ignore the Judicial branch.

It works efficiently in Chicago and Illinois, but has led both to financial ruin. It doesn't work so well in Congress because there's actual opposition that application of these principles cannot control. A decent politician would change and adapt to attain incremental changes. But the current occupant of the White House has no experience in working in a government where there is real opposition that - despite constant and strenuous effort to almost the exception of any other kind of relationship - he cannot marginalize. He is poor at actually fulfilling people's aspirations instead of symbolizing them.; 8/30/14, 7:46 AM
khesanh0802 said...: Ann;
Is anyone familiar with White House deliberations principled?

Wonderful question. The obvious answer is "Hell, no!"; 8/30/14, 7:54 AM
khesanh0802 said...: @ Paul;

I never, ever thought the day would come when Biden could/should be president, but I think you are right.; 8/30/14, 7:58 AM
chillblaine said...: "Some of Mr. Obama’s advisers are... fearful of the political ramifications of a broad action to protect millions of immigrants in the country illegally from deportation and to provide many of them with official work papers."

This is the trial balloon. This is what immigration lawyers connected with La Raza are feverishly trying to justify.

There are millions of these people already here, and they are working, so let's get their SS withholdings aboveboard. It's for the economy!; 8/30/14, 8:14 AM
Beta Rube said...: Ollie North in the basement?

Obama would do the shredding on the Whitehouse lawn. He'd dare the press to cover it, ignore subpoenas, stonewall congress, lament Republican obsession with phonetic scandals, and hide behind Eric Holder's ever larger balls.; 8/30/14, 9:07 AM
MaxedOutMama said...: What Zach said @ 6:47 PM.

It's frightening.; 8/30/14, 9:17 AM
traditionalguy said...: But Obama is coming to Milwaukee to raise funds for Scot Walker's defeat.; 8/30/14, 9:21 AM
Beta Rube said...: Phonetic instead of phoney? Really iPhone auto-correct jerk face?; 8/30/14, 9:42 AM
Anonymous said...: Achilles said:

"Obama and the Republicans work for the same people, and they don't care about this country or it's well being."

Ding-Ding-Ding.

Achilles wins the internet.

The Parties have sold us out for some money, jobs, sex, and attention. We do nothing. The Islamists see our lack of will and plan our defeat.; 8/30/14, 12:53 PM
Hyphenated American said...: Don't forget that enrollment in obamacare starts after the November elections this year.... It started in October in 2012.
Apparently, dems don't feel too confident about obamacare...; 8/30/14, 12:53 PM
Birkel said...: I would ask the majority of commenters here to reconsider their answers to the question of whether any in the White House are principled.

The answer is clearly "Yes."

That their principles do not reflect your own does not make them unprincipled. Instead, let us come to understand what those principles are so that we may fight against them at every turn.

President Obama and his staff understand the principles of their collective political enemies. And they actively treat political opposition as enemies which allows them to win. Dismiss them at your own peril.; 8/30/14, 1:09 PM
Brando said...: Doesn't that still give the GOP the issue? Putting it off still keeps it on the table.; 8/30/14, 6:22 PM
Paul said...: Yea khesanh0802, scary thought but Biden, while a buffoon, has been in office for over 30 years and does know how the congress works.

And that is why if they do impeach Obama, it's fine with me. Better a buffoon than a weak weasel of a president.; 8/30/14, 10:12 PM