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N
ow is the time Mr.
President. It’s been six
years since you prom-
ised to act to prevent the US
immigration
enforcement
from breaking up families.
Simply by using the power
of the presidential executive
order, you could prevent mil-
lions of deportations that hurt
families, hurt our economy
and destroy lives. Many peo-
ple have been waiting for 10
years or more. Under the cur-
rent system there is no
avenue for most of these peo-
ple to legalize their status.
Immigration reform is not a
bone to throw at America’s
newcomer communities. It is
a necessity. Extending work
visas to highly skilled and
educated people is one no
brainer. Finding a way for the
Dreamer generation to con-
tribute to our society is anoth-
er. And when the children of
immigrants are citizens, we
should find a way for their
parents to become citizens
too. Breaking up families is
not in the best interests of a
civil society.
These are the people who
will be caring for aging baby
boomers and paying into
EDITORIAL
The Skanner News
social security so the next
generation can also afford to
retire. With a Republican-con-
trolled Congress, the presi-
dent knows there is no
chance of a comprehensive
change it.
The Republicans claim an
executive order on immigra-
tion would “poison the well,”
and scuttle any chance of an
immigration law from Con-
gress. They all have the same
talking points.
That’s laughable. For the
last six years House Republi-
cans have been blocking any
and every piece of legislation
that comes their way. They’ve
threatened to shut down gov-
Breaking up families is not in the best
interests of a civil society
immigration bill anytime soon.
Congress has had years to
enact reforms. They did noth-
ing.
Now Republican leaders
are taking to the media,
threatening
Obama with
impeachment and urging him
not to act.
The executive order is part
of the president’s powers.
The Republicans like it well
enough when the president is
a Republican. And if they
don’t like the law they should
ernment and wasted count-
less hours voting to repeal the
president’s healthcare act –
even though that was not
ever going to happen.
And now that Republicans
have control of both the US
Senate and the House they
claim they might work on
immigration reform. They
won’t.
President Obama needs to
push forward with his execu-
tive order on immigration.
With a stroke of his pen he
can accomplish what Con-
gress will never do. Millions of
families will be grateful. And
our economy will benefit.
So stop the hesitation Mr.
President. Do what you know
is right. We can’t think of a
better Thanksgiving and
Christmas gift than immigra-
tion reform. Can you?
What do you think?
What do you think?
Post your comment on articles in The Skanner News
at www.theskanner.com
Democrats: Invest in Black Candidates
A
total of $172 million. That
was the record amount the
Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee (DCCC)
raised in 2013 and 2014. But that
money was poorly spent, which
helped account for such a decisive
midterm defeat.
Look at the record. On Oct. 26,
the DCCC spent $242,421 on a
media buy to assist conservative
Democrat John Barrow get re-
elected. It didn’t work – Barrow
lost. It wasn’t until four days
before the election that the DCCC
dropped money for Rep. Steve
Horsford (D-N.V.), who was tar-
geted by Karl Rove’s Crossroads
GPS. Horsford narrowly lost and
the episode provides a classic les-
son in campaign spending and
timing.
That’s right, in a year featuring a
record number of African Ameri-
cans running for Congress and
statewide, not a dime was spent on
a Black candidate for Congress
until the 11th hour.
If you dare look at FEC.GOV at
the way millions were spent on
some of the races, do it sitting
down – preferably with a stiff
drink in your hand.
Here are five worthy candidate
who didn’t get a dime, but should
have:
(La.-5) Jamie Mayo – Remem-
ber the time Rep. Vance McAllis-
ter (R-La.) was caught kissing a
staffer on video and it exploded
into a big scandal? Well, McAllis-
ter pulled a David Vitter and for-
got to resign and is still in
Congress. McAllister should have
been an easy mark for Democrats.
With a district that is 34 percent
African American and a Senate
race in Louisiana, who knows
NNPA
C OLUMNIST
Lauren
Victoria
Burke
what would have happened if the
Dems had invested in the race.
Mayo is set to win the “jungle pri-
mary” in December and then
everyone assumes he’ll lose. But
once again, the DCCC rolled the
dice on other candidates who were
running in red seats. Why not
invest in the mayor of Monroe,
La.?
gia, right? It is a state that’s 30
percent Black, the third most
Blacks in the U.S. That Georgia.
Georgia’s 1st district was open for
the first time in 22 years.
(Minn.-3) Sharon Sund vs.
Erik Paulsen (R) – This is the
case of a “lean Dem” seat that
Democrats haven’t bothered to
compete in. This seat went 51 per-
cent to 47 percent for Obama in
2008 and 49 percent to 48 percent
for Obama in 2012. You under-
stand there is always some reason
not to try to win a seat with an
incumbent R sitting there —
unless there isn’t. Sund is a pro-
gressive candidate in a progressive
leaning district. But watch care-
fully: DCCC went after incumbent
In a year featuring a record number
of African Americans running for
Congress and statewide, not a dime
was spent on a Black candidate for
Congress until the 11th hour
(Ga.-1) Brian Reese vs. Buddy
Carter (R) — The unwritten rule
for Democrats appears to be: All
money spent on anyone running
for Congress in Georgia must go
to John Barrow. Even though Bar-
row was helped by Democrats to
the tune of $2.3 million, he lost. In
a year where there is a governor’s
race, a Senate race, five Black
women on the ballot and big fat
spending by DSCC on Black
turnout, one would think Democ-
rats might catch a clue that 2014
may have been be a good time to
fund a Black congressional candi-
date in Georgia. You know, Geor-
Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner November 19, 2014
Republican Lee Terry in what is a
red seat. Perhaps the gamble will
pay off but why not go hard after
seats that lean blue?
(Fla.-16) Henry Lawrence vs.
Vern Buchanan (R) – Arkansas-2
went 54 percent to 42 percent for
Romney in 2012. Florida-16 went
54 percent to 44 percent for Rom-
ney in 2012. Which seat are the
Democrats spending millions on?
That would be the Arkansas seat
and not the Florida one.
Henry Lawrence is a former
NFL player who played for the
Oakland Raiders in the 1970s.
Lawrence played in Super Bowl
XI, Super Bowl XV and Super
Bowl XVIII, giving him three
Super Bowl rings. Come on
Democrats you couldn’t market
that? Soon-to-be former Republi-
can Congressman Jon Runyun has
no rings and he was in Congress
for four years. Lawrence’s oppo-
nent was do-nothing fatcat Vern
Buchanan. While Democrats
knocked themselves out to elect
Gwen Graham in Florida’s 2nd
district, there wasn’t a dime for
NFL star Henry Lawrence.
(SC-7) Gloria Tinubu vs Tom
Rice (R) – One of the mysteries of
the Democratic Party’s strategy is
why did they give up on seats with
large Black populations in an era
of mega-voter registration and
GOTV efforts. South Carolina’s
7th district is 30 percent Black.
Nick Rahall sits in a seat that went
65 percent to 32 percent for Rom-
ney and next thing you know mil-
lions are spent to save him. It’s
just interesting that Tinubu is on
her own against a relatively new
Republican with not much to say
for himself in a 30 percent Black
seat and that doesn’t spur a chal-
lenge.
And Democrats are mystified by
how they lost?
Lauren Victoria Burke is free-
lance writer and creator of the
blog Crewof42.com, which covers
African American members of
Congress. She Burke appears reg-
ularly on “NewsOneNow with
Roland Martin” and on WHUR
FM, 900 AM WURD. She worked
previously at USA Today and ABC
News.