Let us not forget; in June 2013, the U.S. Senate voted by a large margin to pass a bill for immigration reform to solve one of the major problems facing this nation right now (by a vote of 68 to 32 to be precise). It is now going on 13 months since the Senate sent the bill to the Senate. Absolutely nothing has happened. There has been bickering and grandstanding. The opposition party has a million excuses why it has blocked a vote on this reform bill.
Why not vote on Immigration Reform?
The House Majority says that it is all Obama’s fault because the conservatives “don’t trust him to enforce the laws.” The excuses all mask a very serious problem in modern politics: We as a nation have ceased to be problem solvers. Our national discourse does not include large plans for fixing what needs fixing. Instead, there is whining, vitriol and selfishness. We don’t invest in our communities, our economy and we don’t invest in our nation’s futures. Forget about creative problem solving–we as Americans can’t seem to get a vote by our elected representatives on immigration reform.
Instead, we hear excuses and the angriest of them all seems to get the most coverage on the radio and television. In addition to it all, national politicians count on the many distractions that Americans now have to keep them from demanding that these elected officials work hard to solve our problems. Here is a link to the Washington Post article from last year after the Senate voted to pass immigration reform.
Aside from the other important changes in the legislation, it should be noted that the bill would *DOUBLE* the amount of border patrol officers. All Americans, pro or anti-reform, agree that we shouldn’t have so many immigrants crossing through our nation’s borders without authorization. It would also require those who entered illegally to pay fines and back taxes with penalties, yet to this day, no action has been taken. Let us not forget the lack of quality leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives who have avoided solving a very big problem.