Sidesteping President

From Yahoo:

"Obama Administration Plans to Sidestep Congress on Cuba Travel"

 

Travel to Cuba could soon be nearly as easy as travel to any other part of the world. The Obama administration plans to unilaterally ease the travel restrictions to Cuba, sources told ABC News.

The new measures would bypass limits on travel imposed by Congress by changing regulations at the executive level. Talks are already underway between the Federal Aviation Administration and Cuban aviation authorities to resume regularly scheduled non-charter or commercial flights between the two countries. And ABC News has learned that the Treasury Department is now considering new regulations that would allow all Americans to travel to Cuba as individuals and not in tour groups or with other third-party arrangers. These two changes are being developed separately by the two U.S. government agencies but, when complete, would allow Americans to book tickets to the island nation without going by charter. Those are now the only flights from the United States to Cuba because of restrictions by the embargo. While no specific timetable exists for the aviation agreement, it could come as soon as the end of the year. Americans going to Cuba would still have to fall into one of the 12 pre-approved licenses to travel, but would merely attest to compliance on-line or at the airport as they buy a ticket. No special visa would be required. ABC News has also learned Obama plans to loosen credit to Cuba so the country, which has little hard currency, can buy U.S. goods, especially agriculture. Right now it's legal to sell food to Cuba but they have to pay cash. The president also plans on unilaterally giving banks cover to allow use of credit cards, which already is supposed to be happening but is not because banks have been cautious. While American Express and MasterCard announced they would allow their cards to be used on the island, no Cuban bank has authorization, meaning those traveling from America must still pay in cash. A bill was introduced in Congress earlier this year to lift the travel embargo but has yet to move through committee. All of the changes are part of the Obama administrations goal to affect change in Cuba through contact with Americans.

 

^ This is no real surprise. Obama usually does things behind everyone's back whether it's Congress or the public. I don't see these changes having any major affect on Cuba's Communism. The USSR collapsed from within and that's really only how Cuba will change. I think Obama just wants to vacation in Havana once he  leaves office. The only thing we can look forward to is that he can never run for the Presidency ever again. He knows it and so that's why he is doing all these shady moves now. For most people his legacy will be lots of part-time jobs with no benefits offered (thanks to his Obamacare), knowing that he was the reason IS was allowed to take control of much of Iraq and becoming even more dangerous than Al-Qaida (thanks to him removing our soldiers there the first time without a good back-up plan), promising to remove our troops from Afghanistan, but going back on that promise, promising to recognize the Armenian Genocide as a Genocide (especially since 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the killings) and then going back on that promise, not doing much of anything to help the Ukraine after Russia invaded, occupied and annexed the Crimea and has been supplying the ethnic-Russian terrorists in eastern Ukraine, not doing much of anything else really except talking tough and creating "czars" to look into the matter. The only good thing I can say he did do while President is repealing DADT. It will be a good day for the country when we can finally use the world "was" regarding his Presidency  and that will be coming up soon enough. Of course for now we have to deal with all his whims and of course go through all the candidates on all sides before that day comes. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-administration-plans-sidestep-congress-cuba-travel-173504543--abc-news-topstories.html