The NY Sun has never been a cheerleader for the President, but they certainly didn't pile on about his latest executive order.
This essay has to be considered an even-handed critique.
1. "...Obama’s immigration speech last night could yet go down as his finest hour. .... this isn’t saying a whole lot, given the disappointments of his presidency. But we are among those on the right who reckon that if we want — as we do — the free movement of trade and capital we also need the free movement of labor.
2. The virtue of our system of democratic capitalism is that incents individuals to produce more than they consume, so that the more is the merrier.
3. This was understood by the American Founders....The penchant of the British tyrant, George III, for interfering with immigration to the colonies was one of the grievances enumerated in the Declaration of Independence. George III, ... had “endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither.”
4. ....James Madison, pressed the point. He recorded in his Notes that he’d said he wished “to maintain the character of liberality which had been professed in all the constitutions and publications of America. He wished to invite foreigners of merit and republican principles among us.
5. The Founders gave Congress a free hand in writing a rule of naturalization, requiring only that it be “uniform,” so as to avoid chaos among the states. Mr. Obama would no doubt characterize his own remarks last night as an attempt to seize as much power as the Constitution would allow him absent the kind of legislation [extant.]
6. But it is no small thing that it is to Congress, not the president or the states, that the Constitution grants the naturalization power.
7.... the president is playing with constitutional fire, and whether he will get away with it is now the question.
8. ....it would be wrong of the president to assume that the failure of the Congress to act is a license for him to usurp powers that are not his. Failing to legislate is, after all, itself a decision by Congress, a principle well-recognized by our courts.
9. ....respect the alarm on the southern border.
The reports of lawlessness there, the loss of control of the border, the abuse of welfare, and the scent of rebellion north of the Rio Grande, these problems would have horrified the Founders
10. But the Founders feared a king, too, and this is the problem the president faces. The best part of his speech was when he quoted the Torah, which enjoins us in Exodus that, as Mr. Obama put it, “we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger — we were strangers once, too.” Let us see whether he can lead the Congress into the promised land."
Obama s Finest Hour - The New York Sun
This essay has to be considered an even-handed critique.
1. "...Obama’s immigration speech last night could yet go down as his finest hour. .... this isn’t saying a whole lot, given the disappointments of his presidency. But we are among those on the right who reckon that if we want — as we do — the free movement of trade and capital we also need the free movement of labor.
2. The virtue of our system of democratic capitalism is that incents individuals to produce more than they consume, so that the more is the merrier.
3. This was understood by the American Founders....The penchant of the British tyrant, George III, for interfering with immigration to the colonies was one of the grievances enumerated in the Declaration of Independence. George III, ... had “endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither.”
4. ....James Madison, pressed the point. He recorded in his Notes that he’d said he wished “to maintain the character of liberality which had been professed in all the constitutions and publications of America. He wished to invite foreigners of merit and republican principles among us.
5. The Founders gave Congress a free hand in writing a rule of naturalization, requiring only that it be “uniform,” so as to avoid chaos among the states. Mr. Obama would no doubt characterize his own remarks last night as an attempt to seize as much power as the Constitution would allow him absent the kind of legislation [extant.]
6. But it is no small thing that it is to Congress, not the president or the states, that the Constitution grants the naturalization power.
7.... the president is playing with constitutional fire, and whether he will get away with it is now the question.
8. ....it would be wrong of the president to assume that the failure of the Congress to act is a license for him to usurp powers that are not his. Failing to legislate is, after all, itself a decision by Congress, a principle well-recognized by our courts.
9. ....respect the alarm on the southern border.
The reports of lawlessness there, the loss of control of the border, the abuse of welfare, and the scent of rebellion north of the Rio Grande, these problems would have horrified the Founders
10. But the Founders feared a king, too, and this is the problem the president faces. The best part of his speech was when he quoted the Torah, which enjoins us in Exodus that, as Mr. Obama put it, “we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger — we were strangers once, too.” Let us see whether he can lead the Congress into the promised land."
Obama s Finest Hour - The New York Sun
