Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of August 29, 2014. Give me your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11am. Remember, you can listen online at KFYO.com or on your iPhone/Android with the radioPup App.

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Republicans Ready to Battle?

According to FOX News, Republicans are gearing up for a battle over the budget and immigration.

Lawmakers are sounding the alarm, as they prepare to return from the August recess, over the possibility that President Obama will take sweeping executive actions on immigration in a matter of days – with some Republicans warning of a renewed budget brawl if he takes that step.

“For all intents and purposes, America no longer has an immigration system. Instead, we have unsettling chaos,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote in a letter earlier this week to Obama, urging him not to go forward with unilateral action.

The administration had indicated the president plans to announce a decision around Labor Day before leaving on a trip next week to Estonia and Wales. But administration officials told the Associated Press a host of national security crises have pushed the announcement back, likely until after Obama returns.

Still, Press Secretary Josh Earnest signaled Wednesday that the White House is not backing off its general timetable. Asked whether Republican threats of retaliation would make the president think twice about taking executive actions, he said: “No, it won’t.”

“Nothing the president does is a replacement for the kind of robust solution that passed with bipartisan support through the United States Senate, but the president is determined to act where House Republicans won’t,” Earnest said.

The comments echo Obama’s stated rationale for pursuing unilateral action – that Congress will not pass comprehensive legislation, forcing his hand. The most sweeping, controversial step under consideration involves halting deportation for millions, a major expansion of a 2012 Obama program that deferred prosecutions for those brought here illegally as children. Roughly half a million have benefited from that program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

Republicans fearing that the president will take that step have in recent days warned they could use the budget process as a weapon.

In comments that have received widespread attention, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, told the Des Moines Register that “all bets are off” on a looming budget resolution if Obama pulls the trigger on immigration-related measures.

"If the president wields his pen and commits that unconstitutional act to legalize millions, I think that becomes something that is nearly political nuclear," King said. "I think the public would be mobilized and galvanized and that changes the dynamic of any continuing resolution and how we might deal with that."

Though GOP leaders have shown little interest in reprising the 2013 budget battle that led to a partial government shutdown, King’s comments pointed to a willingness by some on the Tea Party-aligned right to use the budget process – or “continuing resolution” -- to push back.

Rubio, while urging Obama not to go forward, also told Breitbart News that the budget vote could play a role. "I'm interested to see what kinds of ideas my colleagues have about using funding mechanisms to address this issue," he said.

There is talk among congressional conservatives to potentially attach a provision to defund the existing executive order on immigration or curb a future one -- which could prompt a fight that leads to stalemate.

The "continuing resolution" would keep the government funded as of Oct. 1. Senior House Republican leadership sources told Fox News they would like to move the measure as soon as possible, potentially sidestepping such a confrontation by moving before the president acts.

"We want to move quickly. The longer we're in town, the more the chances for shenanigans," a senior House Republican aide told Fox News.

GOP leadership would prefer to avoid another shutdown fight weeks before an election. But one senior GOP source noted there may be an effort to address conservative concerns on immigration through a separate piece of legislation.

The debate comes as the country, and states, continue to grapple with the surge of illegal immigrant children and families coming across the southern U.S. border. Rubio claimed in his letter that the “pursuit of unilateral action” has fueled that crisis and warned that another reprieve will “incentivize more people to immigrate here illegally, and significantly set back the prospects of real reform.”

Amid the warnings from congressional Republicans, Obama's lawyers are carefully crafting a legal rationale they believe will withstand scrutiny and survive any court challenges, administration officials say.

The argument goes something like this: Beyond failing to fix broken immigration laws, Congress hasn't even provided the government with enough resources to fully enforce the laws already on the books. With roughly 11.5 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally -- far more than the government could reasonably deport -- the White House believes it has wide latitude to prioritize which of those individuals should be sent home.

Lubbock City Council

It was a busy day at Lubbock City Hall as the council discussed a possible bond election and much more. The council also heard from citizens on a variety of issues including the possible smoking ban.

The council decided that a bond election was needed but they don't know what projects should be on it. Rather than spend four hours debating each project last night, the council opted to take action at a later time, possibly in October. This looks to be a Mayor and council that wants to get the budget done first and not get distracted by anything else.

Once again you had the liberal West Texas Smoke Free Coalition speak at City Hall. For most of the speakers it was the same old song and dance. Scare tactics and attempting to convince people that they don't have property rights. However at least two speakers stood out to me. Two girls from Texas Tech with the West Texas Smoke Free Coalition included in their list of things to ban e-cigs and vapors. One speaker even wanted the council to ban smoking while she walked to class on the Tech campus.

As I've said before, liberal groups like this can't be trusted. They don't want to stop at indoor smoking and they proved it last night. I'll talk about this and other issues involving the council during the show today.

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These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.

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