Even Messiahs Must Pay Homage
An important milestone for E-Verify is on the horizon, as it may soon be required for all federal contractors. Before Bush left office he instated regulations for federal contractors requiring them to use E-Verify when hiring employees. The US Chamber of Commerce immediately appealed the regulation in court and it's been tied up in court ever since. Obama has repeatedly taken the easy way out and delayed the implementation of the regulation with the excuse that it was out of his hands, it's up to the courts.
Now the courts have ruled that the US Chamber of Commerce is smoking some serious dope and have throw out their case. The way is open and clear for the E-Verify regulation to be implemented. And coincidentally the last time Obama delayed it he delayed it until September 8th. Within the next week Obama has to decide if he's going to implement the regulation or else find another excuse to avoid it. Compared to the health care debate, this is relatively small potatoes but it could signal quite a bit about how vulnerable Obama is feeling.
If there is one thing that Obama does better than Bush did, it's piloting his public approval ratings straight into the ground Hindenburg style. Until recently it was simply the shine coming off that rose. Now the game is a little different, in much the same way it was for Bush. Bush, while rabidly unpopular with the left and soon the center, retained the loyalty of the right until around late 2005/early 2006. Then you started seeing his approval drop even further as even Republicans expressed disapproval.
Now his approval rate has dropped that further drops indicate that even Democrats are abandoning him, and the latest Zogby poll indicates that's exactly what's happening. Democrats are frustrated with the lack of progress and the inept manner in which this administration has behaved so far. This is obviously a path which can't be sustained if Obama intends to accomplish anything in his term, much less win re-election. As much as he likes to pretend to be above it, he realizes this better than anyone.
So what are his options? After all the right always disliked him. The center is realizing they were had on Election Day and elected an ultra-liberal who taxes and spends impulsively. The left oddly enough is mad because Obama hasn't governed left enough. Essentially the amazing spectacle that his campaign was is coming back to haunt him. Everyone was promised the moon and they got a few crumbs of extremely moldy cheese.
So what's this got to do with E-Verify?? Well Obama is going to toss the left a few token measures and hope that satisfies them for now. He can't move to the left any more on any of the high visibility stuff. The public is just too wound up over this health care issue. E-Verify is a relatively low profile (to non-politicos) that could give him some credibility with the left. It also gives him the chance to get a waiver on bringing up the immigration issue again, which nobody left of McCain wants to see brought up again.
While it would be great to see E-Verify required for federal contractors, this is destined to be the sacrificial lamb on the alter of Obama. Even Messiahs, it seems, must pay homage.
[Crossposted at EckerNet.Com, comments welcome]
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