Quick Hits: Volume CLIV

- It's been rumored for some time that President Trump would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program instituted (unconstitutionally) via executive fiat during the Barack Obama administration. Said program allowed children of illegal aliens to remain in the country legally, thus not punishing them for the sins of their parents.

On Tuesday, Trump made it official.

The Trump administration on Tuesday announced the “orderly wind down” of the Obama-era program that gave a deportation reprieve to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children – putting pressure on Congress to come up with a replacement.

“I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are a nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws,” Trump said, in a lengthy written statement explaining the decision.

The Department of Homeland Security formally rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, with a six-month delay for current recipients. According to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, the interval is meant to give Congress “time to deliver on appropriate legislative solutions.”

This issue adds to an already daunting workload for Congress this upcoming session as they look to tackle tax reform, address raising the debt ceiling and perhaps still look into the Obamacare mess. As such, I feel President Trump is in an advantageous position here, particularly when it comes to his signature issue.

In the House, senior Republicans still believe there’s a possible deal to be struck with Democrats: codifying DACA in return for Trump’s sought-after border wall.

This would appear to be the most expeditious method to resolving the DACA issue, thus allowing Congress ample time to address the other pressing items on their agenda. The question now is will the Democrats be willing to play along? I'm skeptical, if for no other reason then they'd no longer have this issue as the proverbial bloody shirt to wave around. We'll see.


- With headlines like this.....

Female hurricanes are deadlier than male hurricanes, study says

....is it any wonder why CNN's credibility has all but circled the drain?


-  I have not watched an entire episode of The Simpsons in more than 20 years (their 29th season begins next month). No reason in particular, just not all that interested. 

But with that said, I absolutely have to give credit where credit is due for the show's occasional brilliance. After predicting Donald Trump would be President 16 years before it actually occurred, the series producers recently did a bang up job depicting the whiny mindlessness of Social Justice Warriors on college campuses. 

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