US Branches

Obama Can’t Wait for Congress, Will Abuse Executive Order Power

As re-re-reposted on TCOTS, Obama just can’t wait for Congress to approve his leftist agenda, so he’s announced that he’s going to begin abusing his power of executive order for the sake of side-stepping the Constitution:

“I’m here to say to all of you and to say to the people of Nevada and the people of Las Vegas, we can’t wait for an increasingly dysfunctional Congress to do its job. Where they won’t act, I will,” Obama said.

“I’ve told my administration to keep looking every single day for actions we can take without Congress, steps that can save consumers money, make government more efficient and responsive, and help heal the economy. And we’re going to be announcing these executive actions on a regular basis,” the president said.

[emphasis mine]

Except, Obama, one of the most important jobs that Congress has is to counterbalance your power to prevent a despotic executive branch.

This should not be surprising coming from the party that praises such political leaders as Woodrow Wilson and FDR, who specifically cited the Constitution as an obstacle to their plans:

Government is not a machine, but a living thing. It falls, not under the theory of the universe, but under the theory of organic life. It is accountable to Darwin. — Woodrow Wilson

[read more here]

Few people know that after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous line about ‘fear itself’, he made clear that the Constitution would not get in the way of his plans, and he’d happily brush it aside to accomplish them:

It is to be hoped that the normal balance of Executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.

But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.

[entire text here]

Of course, FDR would later famously try to pack the Supreme Court when it struck down his unconstitutional orders. A judiciary committee called out this attempt for what it was: “”a needless, futile and utterly dangerous abandonment of constitutional principle … without precedent or justification.”

[read more here]

Obama’s announcement goes even beyond that of FDR. Roosevelt at least said he would seek the expansion of power by asking it of Congress. Obama cites the Congress as the very reason for the need of this power – he certainly won’t deign to ask the other, equal legislative branch. The Left will embrace this, as they already have compared Obama to FDR, and are open to these tactics.

As I noted in an earlier post, Obama’s grand intellect pierces beyond the common understanding of the Constitution, and sees how the founders were actually against absolute truth.

Given the history of the Democratic party, those politicians they hold in high honor, and Obama’s own personal beliefs, it should be no surprise that he sees the Constitution as a stumbling block to be ignored and avoided.

Any American with a true understanding and respect for the Constitution would see it as a cornerstone of our prosperity and liberty, not a hindrance.