Viguerie:
Impeach or shut down gov't to stop amnesty 'We
can't allow Obama to become a dictator' Legendary conservative activist Richard
Viguerie is imploring Republican leaders in Congress to do whatever is
necessary – including impeachment or refusing to fund parts of the
government – to stop President Obama’s plan to unilaterally legalize up to
six million illegal immigrants through executive action.
Viguerie pioneered the use of direct
mail in political campaigning in the 1960s and 1970s. He is now the chairman of
ConservativeHQ.com. His most recent book is “Takeover:
The 100-Year War for the Soul of the GOP and how Conservatives Can Finally Win
It.”
Reports this week suggest the president is planning to grant
legal status to the parents of children who are U.S. citizens or already have
legal status. Viguerie is among a large consensus on the right that the
president’s actions would be unconstitutional, but there is great divide on
what the Republican response ought to be. For Viguerie, stopping what he
considers amnesty means using every tool in constitutional toolbox.
“The Republicans should use all means available to oppose
this effort, including impeachment as well as shutting down the government, if
that’s what it takes to protect our form of government,” Viguerie said. “We
can’t allow Obama to become a dictator.”
He added, “A failure to use all legal means to oppose his
illegal amnesty efforts that’s being rumored about here would be a sign of
serious sign of weakness on the Republican leaders’ part. And it would embolden
the Democrats to continue to act outside of the Constitution.”
Listen to the WND/Radio America interview with Richard
Viguerie:Last week, both House Speaker John
Boehner and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lashed out at
Obama’s plans to legalize millions of people through executive action.
McConnell likened it to waving a red flag in front of a bull. Boehner said
Obama was playing with matches and was bound to get burned. Both leaders shied
away from the defunding strategy, however, leaving Viguerie wondering how
committed they are to stopping it.
“The Republican leaders pretty much have always talked a
tough game, but the Democrats have always been able to roll them,” he said. “I
don’t think we’re expecting much more than just more talk from the Republican
leaders.”
Both of Viguerie’s suggestions carry risks, as Republicans
leaders and rank-and-file members have stated. Impeachment could easily be
seized by Democrats characterizing Republicans as wanting to gain
power for no other reason than to try to remove Obama from office. It’s an
argument the GOP fears could play effectively to the Democratic Party
base.
Similarly, they see the threat of a
government shutdown as a public-relations nightmare that cost the party greatly
in the mid 1990s and again last year until the horrific roll-out of Obamacare
overshadowed the controversy. GOP leaders believe another shutdown would turn
popular opinion back in favor of the president, meaning the amnesty would
eventually remain intact and Republicans would get slaughtered in 2016. Viguerie
isn’t buying any of it.
“That is a patently nonsensical argument because the
government was shut down for 16 days last year and it had zero effect on the
election results. What had an effect on the big election victory the
Republicans had last week was opposing amnesty,” he said. “The voters gave the
Republicans a big victory, expecting them to provide leadership and stop
Obama.”
Viguerie added, “Republican leaders, if they take impeachment
off the table and shutting down the government off the table, they are left
toothless and will have defanged themselves and given Obama free reign to not
only grant amnesty but pretty much anything else he wants.”
One option mentioned by Boehner is to take the president to
court to challenge the constitutionality of his actions. Viguerie is not
impressed. “And will you send a strongly worded letter also? That’s weak and
toothless,” he said.
In addition, Viguerie believes confrontational Republican
action would trigger strong public support and maybe even some help from
Democrats. “A lot of Democrats will support this action too because this is now
threatening our form of government,” he said.
However, Viguerie ultimately expects Obama to tone down his actions
and Republicans to let him do it. “I expect the president will probably do
something less than what he has indicated he will do, and the Republican
response will be a lot more rhetoric and less action,” he said. If that
happens, Viguerie expects this to badly inflame tensions between conservatives
and Republican Party leaders.
“Lincoln told us, the Bible tells us, a house divided cannot
stand,” he said. “Right now, we have a major divide between the supporters at
the grassroots of the Republican Party and the Republican leaders in
Washington. This is just going to make the situation worse.”
Source:http://www.wnd.com/2014/11/conservative-champ-impeach-or-shut-down-govt-to-stop-amnesty/
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