White House To Rubio: Don’t Blame Obama If Your DREAM Act Fails

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2...-dream-act.php

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is angling to blame President Obama for the looming failure of his watered-down DREAM Act, and the White House is strongly objecting to that implication, insisting that Rubio’s problem is with his own party, not the president.

“The notion that somehow the president or Democrats would be the roadblock to any progress on immigration is ridiculous,” a White House official told TPM. “If this proposal fails, the reason will be the Republicans.”

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied Rubio’s charge that the White House has been “actively trying to torpedo my efforts” on a compromise DREAM Act, as Roll Call reported. The aide said the White House would need to see an actual proposal before weighing in.

“We can’t speculate on what may or may not be in the proposal. There is no proposal,” the official said. “So there’s nothing that we can be trying to torpedo.”

Rubio’s spokesman declined to elaborate on evidence that the White House is working against Rubio. The senator says his bill will offer legal residency with no promise of citizenship for some undocumented immigrants raised in the U.S. His accusation underscores the delicate politics of immigration for Republicans, and hints that Rubio’s primary aim is to help his party save face with a critical demographic without angering conservatives.

Hispanic voters are disappointed with President Obama for failing to overhaul immigration, but they prefer him by a wide margin to Republicans, who have actively thwarted Democrats’ efforts — including by filibustering the Democrats’ DREAM Act in 2010 — amid fierce conservative opposition to any form of “amnesty.” And as House Speaker John Boehner signaled last Thursday, even Rubio’s watered-down DREAM alternative is all but certain to fail in Congress.

In that case, the only upshot for Rubio and his party — including likely presidential nominee Mitt Romney, has signaled he supports Rubio’s efforts — is to blame Obama once the proposal goes down, and to try to persuade at least some Hispanics that Republicans supported a compromise but the president stood in their way.

The tough politics are also evident in the fact that Rubio has emphasized different aspects of his plan to different audiences. During interviews on English-language media, for instance, he has emphasized that his proposal does not include citizenship; while appearing on the Spanish-language La Opinion, he played up the fact that it opens up possible “access to citizenship.”

The White House says when it comes to the DREAM Act, Obama prefers the Democrats’ version, but would look at any serious proposal.

“The president is ready to work with any serious partners,” the official told TPM, leaving the door open to “stop-gap legislation” that allows certain undocumented immigrants to remain in the country while Congress works on comprehensive reform. “As the president has said, he’s looking for a dance partner but the floor is still empty.”


This post captures two dual truths. Firstly, the democrats are finally in the strategic game of the Rubio DA, and their first move is to laugh at Rubio, a laugh of scorn and pure annoyance. The dems in congress will likely rally behind this position. Secondly, they are comforted in the knowledge that most likely house repubs will gamble away a grand opportunity and continue to act like the xenophobes they are. The fact that they state it will prob fail is telling and evokes many messages, if the WH is even doubting this bill will pass I would heed it well, trust me when I say they have intelligence on what's going behind the scenes. After weeks of being played by Rubio, this is a masterful reassertion of the political reality, or at least a nice democratic strike back.

I find these lines also powerful

"His accusation underscores the delicate politics of immigration for Republicans, and hints that Rubio’s primary aim is to help his party save face with a critical demographic without angering conservatives."

"In that case, the only upshot for Rubio and his party — including likely presidential nominee Mitt Romney, has signaled he supports Rubio’s efforts — is to blame Obama once the proposal goes down, and to try to persuade at least some Hispanics that Republicans supported a compromise but the president stood in their way."


I don't think many of us would deny the fact that although the proposal is powerful , the simple fact is it arised due to the election season and the fact that Romney can barely draw a fourth of the Latino demographic to even support him. Rubio may have some ounce of feeling for our situation, but he is no Durbin, he is a man looking towards 2016 and hoping to one day launch his own Obama like campaign. This now looks more and more by the day as a cynical political move, once again, dreamers are used as pawns.

IThis scenario is only possible if the proposal is brought up for a vote and most democrats vote it down. If republicans vote it down, how are they going to claim they supported a compromise?

“All democrats should support and look at Rubio's proposal as a stop-gap legislation, nothing more or nothing less. If most democrats look at it this way, the only people to be blamed for it when it fails would be the GOP. If democrats play their cards right, they can use Rubio's bill to really show how anti-immigrant and xenophobic republicans are. I mean if they can't support their own GOP watered down version of the dream act, then what would they ever support?

Wow, proposal not even out yet and they're playing the blame game already.

I guess Rubio knows that his bill isn't going to pass if he has already prepared what to say already....

It will depend on how Dems. vote and the rhetoric that Obama uses once the bill is presented. If the bill is perceived as fair by the majority of us, Dems. vote no alongside the GOP, and Obama just criticizes the hell of the bill, Dems deserve part of the blame. Anyways, the pressure has been put on the left to consider a compromise. The biggest concern is the GOP controlled House. I wish the GOP in the house would make it known now what kind of bill they would support or if they would be willing to compromise on a conservative version.

It's so simple. ADD CITIZENSHIP. That simple. THAT way they could end this problem. Once and for alL. They just like to get attention all the time.

I think you mean if the bill is perceived by the majority of the US, because our idea of fair might be way different, and if it is unfair we won't really be able to do much about it. What are you going to say? "Uh uh, I don't want it"?

This bill has to be like a top 100 song, or a good pick up line: as long as it has a hook, is original, and does not raise too many eyebrows, the public will stand behind it. As much as we would like to, it cannot be just another version getting rehashed, because we all know where they have ended up. At the same time, it cannot be too lenient in the eyes of the conservatives, and too harsh in the eyes of liberals. It is not an easy task to come up with a good compromise, but it really is the only way this will ever get passed. We really need to put aside the 2001 version, because at this point it is nothing more than a dream, or at best a relic from a very distant past.

Not simple at all. The whole reason Rubio's bill is created is for the reason that the GOP doesn't like that the DA creates a special pathway to citizenship for us. That........and because they're heartless jerks.