Bloomberg
By Julie Bykowicz
December 1, 2014
Before
President Barack Obama had even uttered the details of his immigration
plan, Republicans were threatening to take him to court. The next
morning, Obama found himself a defendant on
an entirely different matter as House Speaker John Boehner filed his
long-awaited health care lawsuit.
These
days, Republicans seem more eager to sue than an ambulance-chasing
attorney. The win-loss record in court breaks heavily in favor of the
president. No matter; the cases are actually
targeted to the court of public opinion. Republicans want to show their
base that they are fighting Obama without getting their hands dirty by
passing real legislation on some of the biggest issues of the day:
health care, gay marriage and immigration. Crucial
swaths of presidential voters—minorities, independents and young
people—align more with Democrats on those issues, so ahead of the 2016
contest, Republicans are seeking judicial asylum.
"They
need to show the conservative base that they are doing something—that
they're not just whining, they're taking action," said Stuart
Rothenberg, a political analyst and publisher of a
report that bears his name. "There are people in the party who
understand what can and cannot get done with a divided government in
Washington. But the base demands the president be held accountable, and
the courts seem like a reasonable place to handle differences
of opinion." These efforts aren't entirely cynical, he said. "There's a
sincere belief that Obama has exceeded his authority."
“They need to show the conservative base that they are doing something--that they're not just whining, they're taking action.”
"And
as long as they insist on taking no action whatsoever that will help
anybody, I'm going to keep on taking actions on my own that can help the
middle class, like the actions I've already
taken to speed up construction projects and attract new manufacturing
jobs and lift workers' wages and help students pay off their student
loans," Obama told a Washington crowd on July 1. "And they criticized me
for this. Boehner sued me for this. [Laughter.]
And I told him, I'd rather do things with you, pass some laws, make
sure the Highway Trust Fund is funded so we don't lay off hundreds of
thousands of workers. It's not that hard. Middle class families can't
wait for Republicans in Congress to do stuff. So
sue me. [Laughter.]"
State
attorneys general kicked off the Republican courthouse march by filing a
slew of lawsuits after Obama signed the 2010 Affordable Health Care
Act, better known as Obamacare.
Incoming
Texas Governor Greg Abbott liked to tell people that as the state's top
attorney his daily agenda was, "I sue the federal government, and I go
home." He has tried to overturn everything
from the individual mandate portion of the health care law to federal
restrictions on red snapper ocean fishing. Voters apparently like his
style. He just defeated Democratic challenger Wendy Davis by 20
percentage points in the governor's race.
Boehner
escalated the legal threats in June, saying he was fed up with what he
perceived as Obama's penchant for executive overreach. “On matters
ranging from health care and energy to foreign
policy and education, President Obama has repeatedly run an end-around
on the American people and their elected legislators, straining the
boundaries of the solemn oath he took on Inauguration Day,” Boehner said
in a June 25 "memo to House colleagues on the
separation of powers." Jonathan Turley, who represents the House in the
Obamacare case at rate of $500 an hour and is a self-described liberal,
wrote on his blog that Republicans have no choice but to sue. "Judicial
review is needed to re-balance the powers
of the branches in our system after years of erosion of legislative
authority."
On
November 21, House Republicans finally filed the lawsuit. This comes
after they've tried at least 54 times to repeal or change the health
care law, only to be rebuffed by the Democrat-led
Senate. "The fact is, this lawsuit is a bald-faced attempt to achieve
what Republicans have been unable to achieve through the political
process," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
Unlike
health care, where Republicans want the courts to do what they can't
accomplish on their own, they are leaning on the judicial system to give
them a pass on social issues. In February
2011, Obama abandoned the administration's defense of the 1996 Defense
of Marriage Act, which prevented gay couples who married in states where
their unions have been legalized from claiming federal tax benefits.
House Republicans grabbed the baton, spending
more than $2 million in tax dollars on the fight before the U.S.
Supreme Court sided with the White House and struck DOMA down in June
2013. While Republicans attacked the court ruling, legal action on gay
marriage carries a political bonus. The decisions
give 2016-focused Republicans a way to sidestep the divisive issue. In
October, the Supreme Court rejected appeals from five states including
Wisconsin that were trying to preserve bans on same-sex unions. "For us,
it's over," Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
said, noting he'd rather be talking about other things. New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie has adopted a similar stance.
The
courtroom also may offer a solution to the immigration puzzle.
Republican presidential hopefuls must be able to rapidly switch gears
between the primary contest and the general election,
from worrying about turning off conservative voters who cry amnesty to
connecting with Latino voters who passionately want relief for
undocumented immigrants. It's an echo of what's been going on in
Congress. House members with tightly drawn districts fret
more about conservative challengers, while Senate candidates, who have a
broader electorate, are more willing to tackle the topic.
In
a televised Nov. 20 address, Obama said he is tired of waiting for
Congress to act. He announced he will give reprieve to some foreign-born
parents of U.S. citizens and expand the permits
available for skilled foreign workers. Conservative voters hate it;
Hispanics cheered him. Cue the attorneys. Walker and Indiana Governor
Mike Pence, both possible 2016 Republican presidential candidates, are
among those who have offered to be plaintiffs.
And
of course count Abbott in. He made a 10-minute videotaped statement
Nov. 24 outlining why Texas will probably sue over immigration in the
next couple of weeks. "I am addressing this as
a legal issue, not a political issue," Abbott said. "The president has
crossed the line from politics to endangering the constitutional
structure."
This would be his 31st Obama lawsuit.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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