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| Gary Bauer |
Discussing immigration reform, Obama once said that he would like to "bypass Congress and change the laws on my own." At the time, the media thought he was joking. Maybe not. His administration seems to be making immigration policy on a whim now. And the New York Times reports that Obama may issue a new executive order "each week through the rest of the year."
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) defended Obama's bypassing of Congress saying, "It's necessary now because it's a gridlock between the president and the United States." Sorry, Charlie, but gridlock does not make it necessary. The president is not a dictator. He is not entitled to get whatever he wants. And while Obama is blaming congressional conservatives for blocking his demands, his fundamental problem is with the Constitution.
In their wisdom, our Founding Fathers created a system of checks and balances dispersing power throughout three branches of government. But Obama is increasingly usurping the powers of the other two branches. He is rewriting legislation with his executive orders, and refusing to defend established law. For example, he unilaterally declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
Writing law and determining its constitutionality are functions reserved for Congress and the courts, respectively. You would think a former constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago Law School would know that! But then again, we have never seen his law school grades. Maybe he flunked -- the same way he has failed as president.
The left and the media were apoplectic about George W. Bush's use of executive authority to try to win a war and defend this nation -- precisely the area where a president has the most authority and discretion. What exactly are the national security issues that required rewriting the laws on student loans?
Of course there weren't any. It was a purely political ploy that really won't help anyone, but it gave Obama a good campaign sound bite.
Obama also seems to have a problem with the process of governance. I realize people don't like the bickering in Washington. But there has always been political division and disagreement in Washington since the days of the Federalists and the Whigs.
Yet since his first days as president, Obama has demanded that Congress pass his bills "without delay." Remember how Obama has chided members of Congress asking "What are they waiting for?" Remember the chants of "Pass this bill!"?
That is not the way Congress works. There are subcommittees and full committees in each chamber. Both chambers must vote and then there is a conference committee to work out any differences. The process of governing a nation of 300 million may be slow and ugly, but it takes time to do it right.
Instead, Obama rushed through the stimulus bill, which was full of waste, and rammed through ObamaCare, which was so poorly written he has had to issue over 1,000 waivers and repeal certain sections.
But time is not a luxury Obama has. Each day he grows more desperate to revive an economy struggling under his socialist policies. And in his desperation to produce results he seems to be saying "We can't wait -- to violate the Constitution."
"Push The Envelope!" If you need more evidence of the kind of campaign we can expect from the Obama White House, consider this Politico interview with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daly.
Daly complained, "It's been a brutal three years. It's been a very, very difficult three years." But as I recently noted, Democrats had huge majorities in both the House and the Senate for Obama's first two years. He got virtually everything he wanted. The few things he didn't get were so radical -- like closing GITMO and cap and trade -- that he couldn't even convince some of his fellow Democrats to go along. But now, Daly reveals, they have a Plan B.
"Let's figure out what we can do [without Congress] and push the envelope on some of these things. On the foreign policy-military side, you can act pretty quickly. That is why the president, based upon frustration, is doing this 'we can't wait.' … Let's re-emphasize what powers we have! What we can do on our own! Push the envelope!"
When asked if Obama would be happy being a one-term president, as he has suggested in the past, Daly said, "Nope, no, absolutely not! I think he'd be angry! Pi**ed! Unhappy! Frustrated!"
Obama and his radical allies will either rule this country or they will wreck it!
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Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families.
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