Governing by presidential decree should scare the "you know what" out of Hispanics

This article was published over at The American Thinker.

Years ago, I was working in Mexico City and enjoying lunch in one of those wonderful "Zona Rosa" restaurants.  I was catching up with a couple of Mexican friends who happened to be PAN-istas, or members of the conservative party.  (Back then, the PRI was still governing the country, and PAN never thought that they'd elect a president.  They did in 2000 and 2006.)

 

It turned out that President López-Portillo was delivering his "informe," or the Mexican version of the State of the Union speech, that day.

Let me add some context.  Mexico was reeling from a February devaluation and more currency collapses in August.  It got so bad that a Mexican delegation was sent to Washington, D.C. for an emergency meeting with President Reagan and then-Treasury Secretary Regan.  It was a very bad summer for Mexicans, and capital flight was the order of the day.

López-Portillo's informe was a boring speech, full of numbers and "I did this" and "I did that." 

At one point, López-Portillo dropped the bomb.  He expropriated the Mexican private banking system.  He was trying to blame the bankers for the devaluations that his own irresponsible policies had caused.

My two friends screamed at the TV and called him a "dictator."  They also said a couple of Spanish words that I can't repeat in a PG blog.

I said: Can he do that?

My friend replied: Yes, that's what's wrong with Mexico.  The president can do whatever he wants.

I said: What about Congress?  What about the courts?

My friend looked at me and said: This is Mexico, not the U.S. 

I never forgot that moment.  I was witness to an irresponsible power-grab by a man desperately trying to change the subject.

I can add to that story what is happening in Venezuela with Hugo Chávez.  Or what my parents saw in Cuba -- who can forget Fidel Castro saying, "Elections, for what?"

Every Hispanic in the U.S. has roots in Latin America.  We are either political refugees like my family or people looking for better economic opportunities.

What do we have in common?  We are from countries with no rule of law.

Let me caution my Hispanic friends who are cheering amnesty by presidential decree.

First of all, it is not a change in the law, because the next president can cancel what President Obama just did.

Second, it is a bad habit to let presidents get away with violating the U.S. Constitution.  What will they do next?

Click here for the Hispanic Roundtable with Israel Ortega, Sylvia Guzman and George Rodriguez:

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The Hispanic "love affair" with Pres BO is more of a personality cult rather than anything based on accomplishments

At some point, someone has to ask a simple question:  What has this guy Obama done to merit such "a blind love" from so many Hispanics?

Here is the answer:  The love is not based on results or anything that he has done to make things better for the Hispanic population.

Over the years, Pres BO has carried the water of the labor unions.  He certainly did in 2007 when he was one of the Dems who introduced the amendments who killed the "work visas" included in the Kennedy-McCain immigration bill.

As president, Pres BO did not lift a finger to push immigration reform when he had 60 votes in the US, or the super majority that made any GOP objection totally irrelevant.

Don't take my word for this.  Read Ruben Navarrette, an honest Hispanic journalist who is not buying Obama-mania:

"Obama tends to forget that, while in the Senate, he supported -- at the behest of organized labor -- a "poison pill" amendment intended to kill bipartisan attempts at comprehensive immigration reform. And, as president, he failed to make reform a top priority, as he promised Latinos he would."

Today, The Dallas Morning News has an editorial on Pres BO's unilateral, and in my opinion unconstitutional, executive decree about granting a legal status to the "dreamers".  

The editorial does make this point:

"The truth is that Obama has not done nearly enough to advance immigration reform. His record does not begin to approach his predecessor, George, W. Bush, who was both active and progressive on this front."

Let me go further.

Pres Bush, and Sen McCain, had the courage to put their idea to a vote in Congress.  Some may agree or disagree with the bill but it was done correctly or thorough the constitutional system that we operate under.

Let me ask again:  What has this guy done to merit such affection, and even blind love?  

It must be a personality cult because there is nothing behind the rhetoric.

No one has done less to advance the interests of Hispanics than Pres BO.  Nevertheless, he continues to receive blind support.

Click for the "The Tuesday Hispanic Roundtable":

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Tags: The Hispanic "love affair" with Pres BO is more of a personality cult rather than anything based on accomplishments To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!