Immigration reform 2013: Can Obama make a difference on comprehensive reform

President Obama’s popularity has dwindled as per recent polls. American citizens are impressed by results, so the only field in which Obama can now perform is the immigration reform. If he can get the reform bill passed before the national budget deadline of January 15th. deadline, then it would be a feather in his cap to impress the citizens who would soon be voting in the coming 2014 elections. An idea put forward by Gittelson, vice president for Governmental Affairs at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference is a very viable solution for President Obama.

The President has the power to pull the strings and tie immigration reform with the passing of the budget. This would also come with the bonus of the $175 billion in revenue that the CBO has scored for passage of the legislation during its first 10 years after enactment to the budget. In one step the President can win over the nation by getting the ‘earned coveted pathway to citizenship’ for the immigrants and also get $175 billion in deficit reduction in the budget negotiations. For the Republicans it is a good bargain: give the President hisreform bill and the House gets the $175 billion.

This trick is doable because a majority of the House Republicans is not averse to the bill being passed. While a number of them actually want the immigration reform, others are only struggling with the appropriate legalization vehicle. The deficit reduction would do away with the reluctance to conference on the Senate’s large comprehensive bill. In this bargain both parties gain, and no party loses.

Though currently Obama is, as Gittelson puts it, “not operating from a position of strength”, this trick can be pulled because the President has the authority to pull the required strings. Obama has been known to not be a heavy lifter, the post of presidentship sometimes does require firm steps. The president has the ground beneath his feet. He just needs to put his foot down.

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