It is always revealing in the current media climate which of the stories continue beyond the 24-hour news cycles, and the border issue has certainly proven to be one of those lasting concerns. This takes place when there exists issues that concern either side of the political aisle and the contretemps carry import that means political capital is in the balance. After years of denial by the Democrats and the press, both have engaged in the issue and suddenly it has been looming.
What caused this? A move by the Democrats in the Senate to tie their desired extended funding of Ukraine war efforts to those tabbed for Israel, and then spot-welding this new spending proposal to legislation allegedly addressing needs concerning uninvited arrivals pouring across the Texas state line. The concept was that Republicans would be so hungry to pass such they would agree to this farce (75 percent of the spending in this “border bill” was going to other nations).
Of course, the flip side would be attempting to shame the GOP if they turned down the bill and claim their outrage at the border crisis was all a political show. The problem became for once the Republicans actually showed a rare strengthening in the spinal cord and pushed back at this gambit.
They pointed out that the border aspects of the bill were pathetic, and this was further diffused by noting there had been a tougher, stand-alone border bill penned by the Republicans in the House, and that had been passed.
This became a successful return serve because now it was shown that Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats were sitting on a border solution for nine months. The discussion has drifted as a result, with the focus now being placed on a separate spending bill for those countries, with Senate leadership appearing more disinterested in border talk. That has turned into a conversation resembling, “The Republicans do not want to discuss the border - so we’ll change the subject.”
But now word has trickled out from the White House that President Biden may act on the southern tier, and this is ripe to cause some true challenges.
At Axios, they provided an overview of the various ways the White House is working to rehabilitate Joe Biden’s stature and his flagging campaign, with an eye on the upcoming State of the Union address being a prime tool to rejuvenate his standing.
In this rundown of the methods being game-planned was this nugget of a proposal. You may find this intriguing/surprising/revealing (circle all that apply.)
One bold move that Biden has considered, we're told, is an executive order that would dramatically stanch the record flow of migrants into the Southwest. This could even happen in the two weeks before the address, allowing Biden to say he took action while Republicans just talk.
You can easily see the political calculations at work with this proposal, but the cynical approach to take some form of action at the border in an effort to make the GOP appear ineffectual on the matter is a complete misfire. This plot alone - regardless if they follow through with any actual EO - exposes quite a bit. Just for starters, it shows that Biden is clearly the one not approaching the border with a serious eye.
This also undercuts the past few weeks of claims that Biden was sitting eagerly and waiting on Congress to pass legislation so he could finally take some action. As we have known all along, Biden always possessed this ability. Not only did he always have the potential to act, but we have seen him take action of this nature already – when he took office.
Upon his entering the White House Biden went on a spree of Executive Order signings, nearly a third of which were specifically written to repeal Trump-era border measures or take new actions to benefit arrivals. In a little over a month of his time in office, Biden began having to deport arrivals (something he pledged not to do when he campaigned), he was reopening the allegedly horrific holding facilities, and those hit over 95% capacity in that time.
He instantly created this fiasco, and Democrats and the press have been attempting to lie to us during the ensuing time frame. They are now becoming exposed by this one attempt to rehab his stature. Just by simply saying the new executive orders concerning stemming the tide at the border are a consideration means they are admitting the EOs are an existing option.
This unravels years of claims made in the press that there was no means for him to act, to go along with those who insisted there had not been a crisis. For him to take this action blithely as something they are announcing for a possible strategic maneuver shows off what a lie this has always been, as it means it could have been easily employed at any time.