Law expressly prohibits temporary work visas for illegals
Re: “A lawyer by training, Obama ignores rules of law,” Oct. 9
There should be little doubt that President Obama’s two-year deportation deferral is within his presidential powers. In Heckler v. Chaney (1985), the Supreme Court decided that an agency normally enjoys absolute discretion as to whether or not to prosecute or enforce a particular requirement of civil, administrative or criminal law.
Otherwise, our legal system would be a Prussian parody with every law applied rigorously in every circumstance, regardless of whether it made sense, and half our population would be in prison.
Until the grass roots forced former President George W. Bush to start taking illegal immigration seriously, enforcement authorities also exercised prosecutorial discretion to look the other way for millions of illegal aliens.The only difference was that “W” lacked procedural formalities for granting such discretion.
But under the prosecutorial discretion rubric, what the president cannot do is something the law expressly prohibits, such as giving temporary work visas to illegal immigrants.Michael Barone should have objected to the work permits Obama is handing out, not his deportation deferrals, because if the president can get away with something the law prohibits, what is to stop him from subsequently waiving the citizenship requirements specified in law to grant illegal aliens citizenship and turn them into instant voters?
Dino Drudi
Alexandria
In a bad economy, cable is unaffordable luxury
I just canceled my Cox Cable TV subscription. It was not a big deal, though a customer service representative from Pakistan followed up via phone and wanted to know why.
Listening closely to his less-than-adequate English, I told him it was because of President Obama’s economic policies.He laughed, but I corrected him immediately: “No sir, this is not a joke.”
Since he apparently didn’t know how to check the appropriate box, I explained that to my knowledge, Obama has never even taken a course in either macro or microeconomics, run a business or met a payroll, so how could he possibly be qualified for the highest office this country has to offer? More laughter.
But the joke is on me and the American people.
David Mugan
Alexandria
Governor mum on extending wind tax credit
Since 1992, the Production Tax Credit for wind energy projects has been promoting offshore wind while sparking controversy in the political realm. I am thrilled to see that the Offshore Windpower Conference in Hampton Roads led to public discussion of this important issue. It is vital that the public is aware of politicians’ stance in this election year, especially with this tax credit due to expire on Dec. 31.
President Obama is for the tax credit, but presidential hopeful Mitt Romney would let it lapse for the fourth time since its creation. Gov. Bob McDonnell has failed to take a stance either way.
This tax credit is not only necessary for environmental reasons, but because it also creates new jobs, injects funds into our economy, spurs American innovation and helps lead us to energy independence.
It is time to speak up and let our governor know that he needs to keep our well-being and our planet’s future in mind and support extending this tax credit.
Erin Fagan
Norfolk, Va.
