Sidelined in Congress, liberal groups send Obama ‘to-do’ lists

By Susan Ferrechio | November 10, 2014

URL of Original Posting Site: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sidelined-in-congress-liberal-groups-send-obama-to-do-lists/article/2555949

President Obama speaks to the media before a meeting with his cabinet members in the White House…

Dozens of liberal-leaning groups are lining up to demand President Obama take executive action on a wide range of regulations and reforms that have no chance of passing a Republican-led Congress next year.

For some groups, the lists are long and specific: A call by the Center for Progressive Reform to implement stricter smog rules, tougher food safety regulations and expanded federal oversight of streams and wetlands.

Dozens of Hispanic organizations, meanwhile, joined together a day after the election to demand in writing that Obama take executive action to legalize millions of immigrants now living in the United States.

Other groups are suddenly asking for new executive action to further raise the minimum wage and implement other workplace requirements aimed at raising the standard of living for low-wage workers.

A coalition of liberal lawmakers and advocacy groups on Monday plans to announce a “To-Do List” for Obama, which includes raising a $10.10 federal minimum wage that would be implemented in January.

“The president has two years left,” Paco Fabian, a spokesman for Good Jobs Nation, an advocacy group for low-wage federal contract workers, told the Washington Examiner. “He’s got a legacy to worry about. That could be a definite incentive for him to do this.”

More than 50 liberal groups that have sent similar post-election wish lists, hoping Obama will agree to their demands out of a desire to cement his legacy.

“We thought this is a time when people will be talking about the president’s legacy and whether he is still relevant,” Rena Steinzor, president of the Center for Progressive Reform, told the Examiner. “So, we decided now would be a good time to say, ‘Mr. President, if you want to be relevant, do this.’ ”

Obama has already promised to use executive authority to deal with immigration reform and other issues, but he has not outlined his plans or when he will take action.

Steinzor’s group last week issued a report that names “13 essential regulatory actions” that the president could take before leaving office.

Steinzor said her organization’s wish list includes regulations that are within the president’s authority to implement but have garnered significant opposition from Republicans.

The list includes broader federal authority to regulate bodies of water, and a new rule to lower smog emissions. Most of the items on the list draw strong opposition from the newly minted congressional Republican majority, which believes the new regulations would kill jobs, close power plants and raise the price of energy and goods.

“It’s after the election,” Steinzor told the Examiner. “And it’s obvious that, while both parties are talking about bipartisan cooperation, the number of issues that they will really be able to cooperate on is very small.”

Last week, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a group of 39 Latino civil rights and advocacy organizations, wrote to Obama to urge him “to act swiftly and broadly in exercising your clear authority to provide administrative relief to the undocumented immigrant population.”

The group argued in its letter that since Republicans in Congress blocked comprehensive immigration reform, Obama should unilaterally legalize the millions who would have benefited from passage of the failed legislation.

The groups have the backing of some prominent congressional Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who told the president in a meeting Friday that she believes he has the authority to take executive action on immigration.

Republicans leaders who attended the same meeting, however, warned him against such a move.

Liberal groups, who have accused Obama of “risk aversion” during his six years in office, say they fear he will shrink from taking executive action that would anger the GOP.

“If there is one guiding principle we would urge for the president, it’s don’t shy away from doing the right thing just because it would pick a fight with Republicans,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told the Examiner. “Americans need to see a debate with Republicans in order to see what Democrats stand for.”

By WhatDidYouSay.org