Given the opportunity, the President would rather side step Congress and impose his will directly. At least that was the implication as he spoke to two different Hispanic groups recently on the topic of immigration. If only it were as easy as waving a magic wand... laws would disappear and votes would take their place.

Doesn't it seem like there is a basic disrepect for rule of law and the American political system? You'd think that a President who truly loved the country would embrace it rather than skirt it.  Just sayin.

Facing growing opposition to his economic proposals and dimming prospects that Congress will pass other parts of his agenda, President Obama told a Hispanic group in Washington Wednesday that when it comes to the issue of immigration, "I'd like to work my way around Congress."

"As I mentioned when I was at La Raza a few weeks back, I wish I had a magic wand and could make this all happen on my own," Obama told a meeting of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. "There are times where -- until Nancy Pelosi is speaker again -- I'd like to work my way around Congress."

Here's a happy Labor Day story about our very own Hilda Solis, Labor Secretary

via Moonbattery:

Canadian car-driving Labor Secretary Hilda Solis — an apparent communist — is selective in her devotion to rule of law:

Solis has overseen a number of signed agreements between U.S. agencies and foreign officials pledging to give migrant workers the full protections of U.S. workplace laws — regardless of their legal status — and she says her department will uphold them.

“No matter how you got here or how long you plan to stay, you have certain rights,” Solis said at an event unveiling the latest agreements on Monday in Washington.

Solis says foreign workers need to know their rights, so that they can lodge complaints without fear that they will be fired or deported. She believes the signed agreements with countries like El Salvador and Mexico will serve to “remove those fears.” …

No special treatment, eh? Since the new policy is basically not to deport anyone simply for breaking immigration laws, Mr. Onyango Obama probably would have been safe if it hadn't been for the whole drunk-driving-hitting-a-cop-car thing.

Even so, is it going to be enough for ICE to take action? After all, he has been living in MA, with a drivers license, and a valid Social Security number (how ?!?) for decades even though he was ordered out of the country by a judge in 1992. CNS says,

President Barack Obama’s uncle, facing deportation for being in the country illegally, will not be treated differently than anyone else under U.S. laws, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told CNSNews.com on Thursday.

“I would refer you to ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and DHS [Department of Homeland Security]. It will be handled like any other immigration case,” Carney said.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdWjIY3DKKY&feature=player_embedded)

Gotta hat it when the agencies that were created to enforce security and legal immigration do neither. via Judicial Watch:

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security lied to Congress and the media to cover up a secret amnesty program that dismissed the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S., including those with criminal convictions.

The scandalous story of how the government agency charged with keeping America safe systematically cancels pending deportations was first reported by Texas’s largest newspaper last year. The remarkable program stunned the legal profession and baffled immigration attorneys who say the government bounced their clients’ deportation even when expulsion was virtually guaranteed.

After the story broke other media outlets began to dig around and Senate leaders launched an investigation into the stealth amnesty program that led to a 40% increase in the dismissal of deportations last year. Homeland Security officials denied it existed and scrambled to conceal details, according to new information revealed by the newspaper that originally cracked the story.

If you can't get the people to support it, and you can't get Congress to support it, make it an executive order.

A new enforcement memo handed down by the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week has some accusing the White House of running around Congress to implement the DREAM Act - and consequent amnesty for some illegal immigrants - by executive fiat.

The new memo, penned by ICE Director John Morton, directs ICE agents, attorneys and directors to exercise "prosecutorial discretion" - meaning less likelihood of deportation - for illegal aliens who have been students in the U.S., who have been in the country since childhood or who have served in the American military.

Critics have pointed out the new leniency standards parallel the provisions of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, which could not pass the Senate, despite several votes over the past decade, including three failed attempts at passage last year.

"This is outright lawlessness on the part of the administration," argued syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer on a discussion panel with Fox News' anchor Chris Wallace. "Whatever the politics of this, we do have a Constitution. And under it, the Legislature, the Congress enacts the laws and the executive executes them. It doesn't make them up.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoR3qLgL_uU&feature=player_embedded)

Back in January, I posted about a proposed Foreign Trade Zone being lobbied for in Boise. That concept is not turning out well for Greece.

China has capitalized on the financial crisis to expand its influence in Europe, promising to buy Greek, Spanish and Portuguese bonds. But its most important infrastructure deal in Europe has been its investment in the Greek port of Piraeus.

Through such deals, Chinese influence is changing more than just the financial landscape in Greece — with ramifications for the rest of Europe.

Standing at the container terminal of the port of Piraeus, John Makrydimitris points toward his feet. "There is Greece," he says. Then he gestures toward a metal fence just yards away. "And there is China," he says with a laugh.

The idea is these zones would more or less be foreign territory, and workers would be imported from outside of the U.S. to work. Local companies could take advantage of the lower cost of production as the zones would not be governed by all of the same laws.

For these workers, labor conditions on the Chinese side of the line are very different from those on the Greek side.