Ellington

"The president's unilateral action on immigration is not an effective, long-term solution to our broken system, and it will set back the American peoples' goal to move forward with effective and accountable solutions."

— U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, on President Barack Obama's plan to protect undocumented immigration from deportation under certain conditions.

Why it stinks: Harper and his ilk—which includes conservative Republicans and Democrats—can never really articulate how welcoming immigrants is a step backward for the U.S. After all, that's always kind of been our thing. Plus, where is the House GOP immigration solution? Where is Harper's? With so many traditional immigration magnets becoming saturated, southern states including Mississippi are attracting more and more immigrants. Locally, Madison County, which is in Harper's 3rd Congressional District, is booming with immigrant families right now. Instead of just attacking Obama to score cheap political points, maybe Harper should show some leadership and come up with a plan of his own.