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President Barack Obama said his inability to achieve comprehensive immigration reform during his first term was a disappointment for which he was ultimately responsible, but cautioned Latino voters that Mitt Romney would no better meet their political demands.
At a forum Thursday hosted by the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, Obama said that more pressing issues -- like the perilous state of the economy in early 2009 -- and Republican intransigence were to blame for his inability to accomplish comprehensive immigration reform. Obama had vowed to pursue immigration reform in his first year; the president's failure to do so has to an extent endangered his support from within the Latino community.
"There's the thinking that the president is somebody who is all-powerful and can get everything done. In our system of government, I am the head of the executive branch. I'm not the head of the legislature. I'm not the head of the judiciary," Obama said. "We have to have cooperation from all these sources in order to get something done. And so I am happy to take responsibility for the fact that we didn't get it done, but I did not make a promise that I would get everything done 100 percent when I was elected as president."
The Obama administration did in June authorize administrative action that opted against pursuing the deportment of people who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children. The rule accomplishes much of the same outcomes as the DREAM Act, which Obama had supported and Congress failed to pass over conservative objections.
Obama sought to dispel the idea that his June action was meant to excite Latino voters.
"I think if you take a look at the polls, I was winning the Latino vote before we took that action, partly because the other side had completely abandoned their commitment to things like comprehensive immigration reform," the president said.
In reflecting on the difficulty he had in pursuing immigration reform, Obama also commented that he learned "that you can't change Washington from the inside -- you can only change it from the outside."
That comment quickly was made into fodder by Republicans, and Romney, stumping shortly after Obama's event this afternoon in Sarasota, pounced on that admission.
Moderator Jorge Ramos bluntly told the president that failing to pass immigration reform was a broken promise. Republican presidential nominee has seized upon this to make inroads with Latinos, among whom he badly trails versus Obama.
Like Obama in 2008, candidate Romney has promised to pass comprehensive immigration reform in his first year if elected. But while Obama had specified his reforms -- Obama had expressed support for the DREAM Act and a broader immigration bill that have immigrants in the U.S. illegally a pathway to citizenship -- Romney has not said what form his "comprehensive" effort would take, beyond stressing it would supersede the president's own action on immigration.
For both candidates, electoral considerations are firmly in mind in their politicking. Romney could fare more poorly with Latinos than any other Republican presidential candidate in recent memory. Obama led Romney 63 to 28 percent in the August NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo poll of registered Hispanic voters. That's a level of support well below his campaign's stated goal of 38 percent of the vote.
Obama, however, can't easily rest on that advantage. Enthusiasm in voting among Latinos is well below its 2008 levels, meaning the president still faces major work in motivating this crucial bloc to go to the polls. In states like Nevada, Colorado, Florida, Virginia and beyond, the Latino vote could prove pivotal.
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Can't break a promise the do-nothing, racist, xenophobic Teapublican Congress won't act on.
The Dream Act is the best hope for immigrant children at least.
Hoping President Obama grows coat tails.
Because...
Rombot and the Tea.O.P.Have.Nothing.
Anyone who votes for someone thinking they are going to be able to get everything done in such a short time, especially with the financial mess and that ornery Congress, is just being plain unreasonable and selfish.
Give the President and a Congress who will work most days another four years, then they can accomplish a decent agenda. Get rid of those dam teabaggers and their special interests. Get rid of the Grover Norquist tax pledge too.
Mr. Ramos should be 'blunt' with the TeaPeople, DO NOTHING congress!
Broken promises, legislation efforts stopped by the TeaPeople.....
Vote out the TeaPeople!
what's there to explain? You vote Romney, you vote to self-deport.The only use Romney has for illegal immigrants is cheap labor to do his lawn.
you vote O you get blanket amnesty. Heck with those that do things the right way. So I think O should send a boat to the adriatic and pick up some croats too. Wouldnt want our southern border friends to get all the fun now would we
Unless he's running for elected office...gotta' get rid of those illegals....
....but, but, he's got so many mansions there may be some undocumented workers on either one of those massive properties.
chilled
for Pete's sake
LOL, maybe he could have done something about immigration instead of golfing 85 times this year. Hell, I was only able to get out about 12 times!!
Obama explaining = Blaming on someone else, got it? GET IT!!
Feisty asked that I send all of her friends this:
Dear Lefty Liberal LRU Gang!
Greetings!
I wanted to check in & let you know things are well here in Newsvine solitary. They are treating me well and are giving me 3 "squares" and a cot!
Orange is actually a very good color on me! I can watch MSNBC on their dime 24/7 and NewsforDumbFux is strictly prohibited!
I appreciate the yellow ribbons & will see you all soon!
xoxo
Feisty
sirie
only 85 times, sirie? You can do better than that! Since you're making sh*t up why not aim high? 263 would sound so much better and be as much of a lie.
Thanks for the message from Feisty, SS.
Hang tough Feisty.....time flies, and perhaps with 'good behavior'.....
Miss ya'!
SeekingSanity
I got three days for calling some idiot an idiot. No meals or cot. I was just allowed to read. Nothing else.
Tell Feisty we miss her.
Believe me - she's keeping up! And, she misses everyone. But, I think she'll come back with a ROAR!!!!!
But that's like having your hands tied in the back. You want to type anbut you're not allowed :(
bayllie - I know. But, think of all the comments she'll have stored up! Wouldn't want to be one of the righties when she gets back. Could get VERY hot in here!!!! LOL!
Obama/Biden 2012
I have it on good authority that she is simply brimming with new material!
I can hardly wait! In the meantime, she put me in charge of the popcorn,...anyone? anyone?
Clara - LOTS of popcorn for me, please!!!!
GOOD FOR JORGE RAMOS!LOVED IT! A REAL, actual, non boot-licking,non-liberal lap dog, non-Obama cheerleading, REAL REPORTER! Actually asking REAL questions!, none of this ,What's Your Favorite Color or,Who is Your very, very, favorite rapper? and the Chosen One did not like it a bit, having his failures pointed out and being made to account!,(Wonder who's going to be fired for setting this up?)
Did anyone notice if Obama bragged about deporting more illegals than Bush did, or does he only save that for non Hispanic crowds in Southern states?
Seek - Fox News is going to air the documentary Obama 2016.
HEADS UP For This Sunday Night 9:00 PM
TO ALL AMERICANS, DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN, INDEPENDENTS RIGHT OR LEFT.
SUNDAY NIGHT - VERY IMPORTANT. This Coming Sunday --
Set Your DVR for the Fox News channel at 9:00 PM
Eastern. Maybe this is why the White House has been
discounting FOX. Sounds like this could be history in
the making someone may go down - either Obama or Fox
News. It may be that Fox has been holding this
information back due to the sensitivity of it and out of
courtesy. But, Obama has taken on Fox and it appears
they are ready to spill the ugly beans of truth about
the background of this individual who has had an
extremely radical past. This Sunday, Fox News is going
to air a very important documentary about Barack Obama,
Sunday night at 9P.M. Eastern.
The report will go back to Obama's earlier days, showing
even then his close ties to radical Marxist professors,
friends, spiritual advisers, etc.
It will also reveal details about his ties to Rev.
Wright for 20+ years, i.e., how he was participating
with this man, and not for the reasons he stated.
The report has uncovered more of Obama's radical past
and we will see things that no one in the media is
willing to put out there. It will be a segment to
remember. Mark your calendar and pass this on to
everyone you know: Sunday night, 8 PM CT; 9 PM ET.
Democrat or Republican, this report will open your eyes
to how YOUR country is being sold down the road to
Totalitarian Socialism. If you care about the direction
of our country, pass this notice on to everyone you
know.
Speaking of Popcorn...don't forget to make a big bowl for Sunday night!
Well at least someone is trying to be honest. Kinda refreshing.
im going with sarcasm on that
Caesar Augustus-
Well looky here, seems my sarcasm was Promethean in nature.
you play warhammer?
Caesar Augustus-
No, I read mythology. I expect you have done some reading in that area also. BTW, I went to see Ridley's film of that name and was highly disappointed. Hate to be let down by a favorite director.
you didnt catch my funny. yeah well playing with fire will get you burned
I heard it was good.
Caesar Augustus-
Warhammer? Give me a break Caesar. Make me look up crap like that. I am too old for gaming @!$%#.
Back to the film ... basically a remake of Alien ... same bunch of misfits and sociopaths running a multi-trillion dollar spaceship following exactly the same plot line. Must sound like Democrats to you, and if you go see it with that in mind, I am sure you will like it.
The wife and i just watched that movie the other day, and highly disappointed doesn't begin to cover the outrage my wife had toward the ending. great movie for the first half, and all downhill from there... So many cool things could have been done with the 'rider/engineers' and all we felt was cognative dissonance because of our obsession with the Alien/Predator franchises...
CA: we may never agree on anything in politics, but the warhammer world is teh awesumz (40k, necromunda, blood bowl player here)
Tzalaran
My days of gaming ended several years ago with DOOM.
never too old LOL
if i played DOOM thats where mine would have ended too LOL Hecks no give me Intellivision any day
too bad... FPS have gotten much better since then... i'm more of a tabletop wargamer, although the wife got sick of my "terrain materials" and made me toss them out the last time we moved. :( spurred my interest in 3d and making FPS levels though (which in turn moved me into animation and storytelling), so good comes out of bad.
The wife and 2 boys play Unreal Tournament 2k4 with me on our LAN server on the weekends. Nothing is more fun than listening to the kids whine cause mom is whipping them in a video game. rofl (i can't say much cause she beats me most of the time too...) ahhhh good times.
Tzalaran
Sounds like you are living a blessed life. Your wife sounds outstanding.
Much like the presidential candidates, i married far above what i deserve. ;-)
I am too competitive for my own good; but my strategy when we got the wii was to play well once,...so that no one wants to play with me; plus, the kids witnessed the trouncing I laid on hubby in boxing and that's all they talk about.
You really only have to be great ONCE.
I highly recommend the ski jump on wii sports with the balance board! We laugh for hours playing that.
Another Biden-ism from The One.
Main Stream Media! -- Clean up on Aisle 5!
Castro thought the same way of Batista's regime.
JAS1 ... in the mean time the world awaits Romney learning how to run a campaign not less run a country.
If you're comparing the Tea.O.P. to the criminal Batista regime, then I believe there's something we can
agree upon.
Don't smoke that Montecristo to fast!
exactly how many members are Tea party members? Oh you mean GOP. So you dont like democracy, you want a one party system. Yeah that sounds like General O to me. Does that mean biden gets to play Che Guevara?
Caesar Augustus-
Instead of stretching the truth, why don't you just stand up and stretch instead? Your worst post in ages.
you didnt like it, then i must have done something right. but really stretching? did you check you Fore's statement (check the very top one for starters). so before you criticize at least look at what your buddies say first
The dictatorial Batista regime was essentially letting the mafia run Cuba. Which explains why the
Cubans initially supported Castro. So there was the criminality of Batista cronyism. Sounds
almost like how the 43rd President (and Darth Cheney) tried to run the U.S.
There are 65 members of the Tea Party caucus in Congress, including the sixth, seventh and ninth highest
ranking Republicans in the House and includes the chairman of the House Judiciary Commitee. The caucus
has effectively hi-jacked the rest of the party. Late breaking reports indicate if the President should win
re-election, the Republican Party will eschew the Tea Party philosophy and return to a position of allowing
compromise within the Congress.
If you can disprove that the Tea.O.P. is not racist and xenophobic, go ahead, because it's evident they're
the do-nothingest, laziest gad abouts to be elected. Just compare the number of work day between the
present Speaker and the previous Speaker.
Rombot supporters...smell the desperation. SMELL IT!
you made the claim , i believe the burden of proof is on you.
thats cuz Castro was a commie but kept it quiet because he knew they didnt want that either. Tell me when Castro again officially announced Cuba was Communist?
You're making it to easy. How about "Barack the Magic Negro"? How about depictions of the White House
lawn as a watermelon plantation? How about calling the President "the greatest food stamp President in
history"? Yet neglecting to mention most people using food stamps are Caucasian. So there's just a
couple. Go ahead and look up the House schedules on your own, you might lurch uncontrollably
into the facts.
After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the government of Cuba declared itself Communist on 3 October
1965. This was after the abortive attempt to restore Batista elements to power supported by the C.I.A.
Interesting side note, Castro's own property was redistributed to Cubans prior to 1965.
Why don't you take some time and educate yourself? Our continue to be a Teapublican zombie.
Whatever.
Ding. School's out.
P.S. Rombot.Has.Nothing.
There have been promises after promises from both sides and very little has been done. The Hispanic population should be satisfied with the staus quo because if the Congress really gets into this subject they may not like the results.
Really! Like I stated in an earlier post of mine, when do we stop taking this guy seriously? I mean, c'mon. He's going to do all of this stuff he promises, yet never gives even a tiny hint on how he's going to do it. How can anyone with half of a brain believe a word this man says. A joke of a candidate is beginning to be too kind of a description for Mitt. He's getting downright embarrassing and if I were a Republican, I demand a refund.
Hmm, knowing Romney, it would probably be some sort of "guest worker" bill, allowing foreigners to be brought in legally to work minimum wage jobs with no benefits, with the threat of deportation upon loss of job to keep them in line, out of labor unions, and unable to strike.
The Romney program is to benefit the rich, screw everyone else.
I hope the Hispanic community takes note of the total lack of cooperation from the GOP on immigration reform and notes that President Obama has used administrative measures to help them. People who used to support the Dream Act now don't---that isn't the President's fault.
We don't need reform - get these people the hell out of here so we can help our own.
The DREAM Act...Republicans, you built that!
I wouldn't say this was even remotely possible for anyone except Mitt Romney. The Democratic Underground is asserting that he "tanned" up for his Univision forum....I went and looked at some pictures.....and I actually think he did........I know how stupid this is; but, if it's true....it's just another example of how stupid Romney thinks we all are. I hope this is wrong; because even Romney should have more dignity!!!!
Sueb1 - not sure looking more like the tan man is a great idea for Romney. But, it is really funny that he thinks it's going to help his chances! What an utter buffoon!
Obama/Biden 2012
I can't believe I think this could even be true....but I hear it's now on twitter, gawker, etc....buffoon is an understatement!
I've got the answer for "reform".
Follow the law.
That's what we have them for.
If they all had to show ID I wonder how many votes Odumbo would get
Change Needed - Should not call Romney names like that. However, our President will get the majority of votes - like last time.
You mental midgets know voter fraud is less than .0001% right?????
Obama/Biden 2012