Are the policies of Democrats helping Indian Country? The answer is no according to one of the newest American Indians elected to the Montana Legislature. Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen the Saturday Night Live episode mocking President Obama’s illegal immigration executive order- I’ve got that and much more as we catch you up on everything you might have missed in the Weekend Wrap.
KTVQ-TV: Billings clerk opts out of issuing same-sex marriage license
A few clerks in Yellowstone County requested that they not be required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
One clerk cited a religious reason, while three others wanted to opt out because of morals and values.
However, the county’s human resources department, along with the County Attorney, determined that only the person with religious concerns is exempt because of Title VII of the federal 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The media sure was all abuzz once they thought that House Republicans violated open meetings laws…expect that buzz to quiet down now that it is clear both sides have been meeting like this for years, as Mike Dennison reports:
Montana’s 2015 House Republican caucus got itself in hot water recently, when two news reporters found its members in the basement of a Helena restaurant at a secret meeting – a violation of Montana’s open-meetings law.
Since 2011, groups of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have engaged in various meetings during legislative sessions that might be considered party caucuses, where they discussed issues and strategy – without public notice.
The Billings Gazette: ‘More conservative than people realize’: Meyers only American Indian Republican in Legislature
Bruce Meyers says growing up on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation in north-central Montana, he was taught not to trust anything “white, rich or Republican,” and never questioned it.
Yet three weeks ago, Meyers won an upset victory as state representative for the House district including the reservation — running as a Republican.
“After talking with a number of tribal leaders and elders statewide, I asked them if they were better off with 40 years of Democratic rule and social-welfare policies, and they said, honestly, no.”
Now, on to the national news- as President Obama gets Schoolhouse Rock’ed by Saturday Night Live:
Washington Post: Did George H.W. Bush really shield 1.5 million illegal immigrants? Nope.
As part of its justification for President Obama’s executive action on immigration, the White House and its allies have repeatedly stressed that Obama’s action, in impact, is roughly equivalent to a step that George H.W. Bush took in 1990. The United States had about 3.5 million illegal immigrants in 1990, so 1.5 million would be about 40 percent of that number. Given that about 40 percent of the current number of undocumented immigrants would be covered by Obama’s actions, that 1.5 million figure is crucially important to the White House’s defense of the president’s decision.
Much of the news media, including The Washington Post, has repeated the 1.5 million figure as a fact in recent weeks. But it turns out that the number hangs on a rather slim reed.
National Review: No, ‘Prosecutorial Discretion’ Does Not Justify Obama’s Lawless Amnesty; Obama’s planned action perverts the meaning of the legal doctrine.
If the Justice Department decides it is going to target its anti-drug-trafficking resources against big time heroin and cocaine distributors, that does not mean that personal possession and sale of small amounts of those drugs is now legal — or, indeed, that the government should facilitate drug possession and sales.
If police in a big city are overwhelmed with violent crime and focus their attention strictly on murder, maiming, and rape, that does not mean it is now legal to go around punching people in the nose.
Yet that is President Obama’s theory. He is claiming not only the power to determine what immigration laws get enforced and which illegal immigrants get prosecuted — power he unquestionably has. He also claims the power to declare (a) that criminal acts are somehow lawful — that illegal aliens now have a right to be here — just because Obama has chosen not to prosecute them; and (b) that those who engage in this unprosecuted activity will be rewarded with benefits (lawful presence, relief from deportation, work permits, etc.), as if their illegal acts were valuable community service.
The Daily Signal: 29 Tweets About Obama’s Immigration Speech
The Hill: Sunday Morning Talk Shows
Obama: ‘I’ve actually been very restrained’ President Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he “bent over backwards” to give Congress leeway to pass immigration reform. http://ow.ly/EK8SB
The Daily Caller- Lindsey Graham: House Benghazi Report Is ‘Full Of Crap’ [VIDEO]
GRAHAM: The Deputy Director of the CIA when I asked him, “Do you know who changed the talking points?” with Senator Ayotte and McCain, and Susan Rice sitting by his side said the FBI changed the talking points, when in came to al-Qaida. Only later did we find out through a lawsuit that Mike Morell was deeply involved in changing the talking points, the deputy director of the FBI, when he was sitting in front of a congressional panel and he was asked, “Does anybody here know who changed the talking points?” He sat silent. So the intel community through him lied.
BORGER: So you’re saying the intel community is lying to the House Intelligence Committee? The administration’s not exonerated…?
GRAHAM: No, I’m saying the House Intelligence Committee is doing a lousy job policing their own.
The Hill: Obama expands combat mission in Afghanistan to target Taliban
The new authorization allows U.S. troops to carry out missions against the Taliban and other militant groups that threaten Afghanistan’s stability with the use of jets, bombers and drones.
The Hill: Tax break negotiations stall on Capitol Hill
Neither Republicans nor Democrats are quite ready to budge in negotiations over a slew of expired tax breaks, lawmakers and aides said last week.
Both sides want to wrap up talks soon over the so-called tax extenders, the dozens of expired tax breaks whose restoration has lately become something of a Christmas time tradition every two years.
Weekly Standard: How the Obama Administration Has Already Caved to Iran
New York Times: Hagel Said to Be Stepping Down as Defense Chief Under Pressure
He raised the ire of the White House in August as the administration was ramping up its strategy to fight the Islamic State, directly contradicting the president, who months before had likened the Sunni militant group to a junior varsity basketball squad. Mr. Hagel, facing reporters in his now-familiar role next to General Dempsey, called the Islamic State an “imminent threat to every interest we have,” adding, “This is beyond anything that we’ve seen.” White House officials later said they viewed those comments as unhelpful, although the administration still appears to be struggling to define just how large is the threat posed by the Islamic State.