Obama: 0 to 100

The new Senate hasn't even went into Congress yet and we already are seeing some gridlock. Recently, President Obama has used his executive power to push his plan for immigration. But it is not sitting pretty with Republicans or some of his fellow Democrats.


Vocabulary:

• Advisers
• Executive Action
• Capitol Hill
• Impeachment 
• Roosevelt Room
• Reform
• Opposition
• 114th Congress
• Incumbent
• Implement

Key Players:

• President Obama (Democrat): As the president who used his executive action which cause this conflict, he is the head person in this topic. Immigration has been a big goal for him to tackle for a very long time, so he has maneuvered through the system of Congress to get things done on his terms. Democrats tend to be more towards change and giving people equal opportunities. They believe that our country was built on diversity of cultures so it wouldn't be fair to turn people away who just want a better life.
• Undocumented People (Majority Democrat): This whole plan is for them. This plan will allow them to be seen as a citizen temporarily in the country and be able to work. But they will have to do their fair share in the country such as taxes and it doesn't apply to everyone. They have to have been in America for 5 years or have children who are citizens. The reason this is so important is because the Hispanic vote is crucial in helping Democrats win races, which will play a big part in the 2016 election. If Democrats don't try to appeal to them, it will hurt them i the long run. 
• GOPers (Republican): These are Republicans who don't agree with Obama's decision in allowing undocumented people to reside in the country. They have already discussed taking actions against the President such as suing and have even considered impeachment. Republicans don't like the idea of Republicans being in our country and getting access to things like schools that they don't pay for. 

Takeaways:

• Before President Obama announced what he would plan to do for immigrants, him and Jeh C. Johnson spent months going over all of the President's executive actions. This whole ordeal has been planned for a while, but it took time so the President and his team could make sure they were doing things that were in their power. 
• In November 2013, a poll showed that over 44% of Republicans said undocumented people should be allowed to stay in America with citizenship, 15% said stay with no citizenship, and 38% said they should be made to leave. In November 2014, a poll showed that 27% of Republicans said undocumented people should be allowed to stay with citizenship, 15% said stay with no citizenship, and 54% said they should be made to leave. 
• President Obama was constantly asking Speaker of the House, John A. Boehner, to do something about immigration. He was always contacting him and every time Obama saw Boehner he would ask him if he could do something or work with him to make something happen.

I'm honestly really surprised to find out a few things. One, that President Obama has been planning this for a long time. Two, he was talking to a few Republicans trying to get them to do something and they didn't. So my questions are, what else does President Obama have in the works that he might pull an executive action and why are Republicans so upset when they had an opportunity to do something?