Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Obama's unilateral usurpation

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." ~ Lord Acton
Obama unconstitutionally rewrites Obamacare time and time again, along with the Court and other Executive Departments (i.e., the IRS), with as much ease as he's allowed to get away with rewriting welfare laws or anything else that he doesn't see fit to enforce, basically disregarding the rule of law by simply ignoring law...Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) explains...
PennLive: It’s one of the first things you learn in government class: Separation of Powers. It’s one of the things we’re most proud about in the American form of government. The Constitution was designed with a system of checks and balances that would prevent any one person or branch of government from becoming dominant.

All three branches of the government would be subject to the Constitution but would also be checked by the other two.

The system only works properly when federal officials, both elected and appointed, enforce the law regardless of their opinions or preferences. In John Adams’ words, we have “A government of laws and not of men.”

However, this President and his administration have taken to ignoring laws that they find inconvenient rather than coming to Congress to have the law amended. This is not only a recipe for chaos, but it is a horrible precedent that could have lasting harm on our nation.
Pitts points to the most recent evidence of Obama's ignoring of law within the President's implementation of his own first-term namesake: Obamacare. Pitts says that because of the sloppy way the bill was written, serious problems continue to arise; and instead of admitting the flaws, Obama just keeps preaching to the masses about how great it is, while his executive departments (namely HHS & the IRS) keep unconstitutionally tweeking it.
If the President can do whatever he wants, then there is no real point to Congress or the judiciary.

The scales are tipping heavily toward the executive branch and we need the American people to stand up and insist that our checks and balances be respected. No one should be above the law.
But as long as a feckless Congress doesn't hold this President accountable, Obama is allowed to raise this office closer to dictatorial status.

Mark Levin touched on this very topic during the third hour of last night's program, in reference to a Byron York piece on Obama's unilateral actions...
WashingtonExaminer: In an interview after his speech Wednesday in Galesburg, Illinois, President Obama was asked if he consulted White House lawyers before unilaterally delaying the employer mandate in Obamacare. Since Congress, in the Affordable Care Act, specified that the mandate is go to into effect at the start of next year, reporters from the New York Times asked if the president investigated whether he had the legal authority to put it off without going through Congress.

Obama didn’t exactly answer the question. But judging from what he said, his answer was: No, I didn’t consult White House lawyers because I know a lot more about the Constitution than the Republicans who are complaining about it. And besides, they don’t think I’m legitimately the president, anyway.
Levin says you can tell Obama has 'serious, deep rooted issues,' because even though he's President of the United States, 'he still acts like he's put upon.'

This was Obama’s complete answer:
"And if Congress thinks that what I’ve done is inappropriate or wrong in some fashion, they’re free to make that case. But there’s not an action that I take that you don’t have some folks in Congress who say that I’m usurping my authority. Some of those folks think I usurp my authority by having the gall to win the presidency. And I don’t think that’s a secret. But ultimately, I’m not concerned about their opinions — very few of them, by the way, are lawyers, much less constitutional lawyers.

I am concerned about the folks who I spoke to today who are working really hard, are trying to figure out how they can send their kids to college, are trying to make sure that they can save for their retirement. And if I can take steps on their behalf, then I’m going to do so. And I would hope that more and more of Congress will say, you know what, since that’s our primary focus, we’re willing to work with you to advance those ideals. But I’m not just going to sit back if the only message from some of these folks is no on everything, and sit around and twiddle my thumbs for the next 1,200 days."
This guy is nothing but an usurper. Mark points out that one doesn't usurp their own authority; rather, one usurps the authority of something else, say the law, more specifically the Constitution, in Obama's case. But then again, you can see within the next few sentences that he feels entitled to, particularly over those in Congress, because they're not lawyers, much less constitutional lawyers. It's a joke to consider this usurper a constitutional scholar. And he's so concerned about the folks...which I guess is why he says tax rates should be 28% for corporations, but 40% for small businesses...what tha?
Levin: "So Obama's justification for unconstitutional, unilaterally rewriting Obamacare, is that he's doing it for the folks. Now isn't that a despots mind? Isn't that how a despot expresses himself? Isn't that how a despot conducts himself? I would never call Obama a despot, with all due respect. No, he calls himself a despot by what he says and what he does. The man literally rewrote a federal statute, and nothing happens, as he did with workfare and wrote it out of welfare. It's amazing with the country we live in, isn't it?
I guess this feckless Congress wants a despot ruling...? What other explanation could there be for not holding the highest office of the land accountable to the Constitution, the Rule of Law or the American People? An Ameritopia, as Levin has coined it, is not the way it was ever meant to be, folks. If ever the time were ripe to begin restoring the American republic, it is now.