The Washington Post is raising another instance where the Obama Administration appears to be withholding information on immigration for political purposes — further contradicting President Obama’s pledge to be the most transparent Administration is history. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection releases its annual statistics on October 10th before the elections. Someone in the Administration then ordered the statistics taken down in what the Post is calling a move that seemed to confirm the view of “the Obama administration playing politics with public information.” Notably, the Post however only wrote about the story today so any such intention worked to keep the information out of the public debate. There is a reason why these statistics would be particularly bothersome before an election.
The Administration previously admitted that it would not discuss its plans for unilateral immigration action until after voters had gone home from the polls.
The data that was taken down within hours contained one potentially negative piece of information for the Administration: Most of the people the Border Patrol stopped from sneaking into the country last year were from countries other than Mexico. That would support the view that the border has become a magnet due to the porous protection and the draw of stories promising plans for amnesty. Regardless of the reason, such information should be released to the public — particularly before an election where immigration was a prominent issue.
The Administration says that it merely wants to release all data as part of a comprehensive disclosure and that internal administrative issues have delayed the released until after the election.
Once again, I am less concerned with the merits of the immigration debate than I am about the active effort to prevent voters from learning about the data or the plans for immigration policies. There seems a growing cynicism over the goals transparency in government — an open dismissal of any obligation to allow voters to make their own decisions based on data of this kind. I felt the same way about such efforts during the Bush Administration. While we cannot always expect honest government, we can at least demand open government as citizens. That was one of the most redeeming issues upon which President Obama ran as a new candidate. It seems a long time ago.
Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-impeachment/2014/08/01/1f00f4ea-1808-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265_story.html
Five myths about impeachment, by Jonathan Turley.
Swarthmoremom, I didn’t bring race into my comments, because it has no “standing” there.
Annie, I had read the Five Myths, and thought the one about ordering unlawful acts applied. Opening our borders. Lying about Ocare, more about character. Maybe this is Republican vs. Democrat.
slohrss29, Biden certainly knows how to work with Congress, he’s done it for decades.
Thank you, Paul. Rafflaw, we lost one of the best foreign policy Presidents we’ve had. As we learn about behind-the-scenes of other Presidents, we find some dicey stuff. Haters of Nixon will always be so. He was threatened impeachment. It takes a lot of guts to actually do it. I think smarter heads would have prevailed. I want Obama to feel possible impeachment. The “Red Wave” Tuesday was an angry public at a dishonest President. We are still angry.
Sandi,
I don’t recall the Professor ever calling for impeachment. Perhaps I’m mistaken?
Annie, he was speaking at a House committee hearing about Obama’s overreach and the Constitution. He spoke about Madison’s writings in The Federalist Papers. He spoke of Congress having a duty of protecting the Constitution. He expressed his concern that the Constitution was at risk. How do you stop overreach? No, he never said impeachment. I prefer the Supreme Court rulings, I believe ten times at this point, striking down an Obama action. It just takes so long to get there. And you have to have standing. If you are not frightened by Obama’s rule by Executive Order, so be it. I’m afraid. I’ve never experienced anything like this. I grew up in the greatest country in the world. And it’s in deep trouble. I want to protect it.
That people trying to get into the US come from countries other than Mexico has nothing to do with this administration. It merely means that conditions in the countries of the immigrants are so bad that they will travel that distance for a better life.
It’s astonishing that someone with the cognitive ability to type can’t understand that a pair of scissors requires both blades in order to cut.
This type of ‘effing politics’ should disgust everyone on all sides of the argument. If you have a caveat to the data you are releasing, put a statement out with it which says just that! The people who wait for all the facts will speculate, yet they will be well aware that something could come out which changes their perception. We call these people ‘reasonable’.
Good luck with the impeachment avenue Sandi. And you might want to look a little closer at Nixon’s reasons for resigning. His own party leaders basically forced him to resign. He didn’t do it to “save” the country and your implication that President Obama does not love this country is offensive. Finally, Watergate was not trivial then and it is not trivial now.
rafflaw – I have yet to see Obama do anything that shows any love for this country.
I felt bad for 2008 Obama voters, as we went through four years of zero transparency. In 2012 I was sure he could not be reelected. The same lie, over and over about Ocare and the complete misrepresentation of the disaster at Benghazi. But you clung to an unfulfilled promise, which will never be fulfilled, transparency. Is he sincere about wanting to work with a Republican-controlled Congress? He’ll, no! His temper tantrum, begun Wednesday morning, will last until 1/19/2017. Unless, as Professor Turley has testified several times, Congress does it’s job of preserving and protecting the Constitution, by removing Obama from office. They won’t, unless the demands of citizens can’t be ignored. Nixon loved this country and resigned to save us from a messy impeachment (he would never have been jailed). How trivial does Watergate seem today? Obama’s overreach is far worse, and much more dangerous. This week’s election has shown we are a much stronger people than media ever knew. If enough Senators and Representatives were as strong as the people, impeachment, as Maduson said it should, will remove from office a President who ignores the Constitution.
Bailers,
You do realize you are telling someone who has a diverse opinion of yours that he/she are not welcome on this diverse site, don’t you?
Vary good jobs. Am interested in putting humble self on Internet. Most excellent information here perhaps could be giving me tips. Ancestors be most pleased.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Very good comment Bailers.
Bailers, AMEN!
“Turley, another layer of your disguise as an impartial person has been removed. ”
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Perhaps you will find others less critical and more supportive of the President and his administration on sites that don’t place the same value on diversity of thought and opinion as this site does.
This spoiled child President is going scorched earth his final 2 years and his cult like followers will applaud it. He is more pissed @ Dem politicians who shunned him this past year than he is w/ Rep. But, this whole country will suffer as he tries in one last ditch effort to be relevant. If only he had a father in his youth,
‘Transparency in government’ is a useless phrase for a skeptical electorate. Any reasonable expectation for trust in government should have reached its zenith the moment George Washington concluded his first oath of office. We should rue the day the people EVER give government high marks in either trust or transparency.
I think the story stands on its own here. More of the same. Gee whiz. Thought we were going to better.
Turley, another layer of your disguise as an impartial person has been removed. That people trying to get into the US come from countries other than Mexico has nothing to do with this administration. It merely means that conditions in the countries of the immigrants are so bad that they will travel that distance for a better life.
Cherry picking data to support political attacks has been the main ingredient that served to sway the vacuous minds in this last election. Or would you rather return to the good old days of the three stooges. This administration wishing to release the consolidated data all at once is a far better move than allowing the rabid liars of the republican party access to it where they can use what they see will support more lies and exaggerations and sweep the realities of the situation under the rug.
The American people deserve to be informed of the entire situation, not piecemeal filtered through the republican political machine.
Hope and change!
Aren’t progressive president wonderful
Most politicians are self serving liars – however Pres. Obama seems to be in the top tier of bare faced politicians.
Do you ever have this feeling you are just hitting your head against a brick wall?