Fwd: Morning Bell: The Imperial President Will Act on His Own

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "The Heritage Foundation" <morningbell@heritage.org>
Date: August 12, 2013 9:12:42 PM GMT-06:00
To: Bobby Martin <bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com>
Subject: Morning Bell: The Imperial President Will Act on His Own
Reply-To: morningbell@heritage.org

The Imperial President Will Act on His Own 08/13/2013 In a recent email to supporters, President Obama lamented the frustrating inadequacy of his office. "There's only so much I can do on my own" without Congress, he confessed. As a matter of constitutional interpretation, he's right. But in practice, the President has shown a distinct contempt for the legal limits on his power. Obama's imperial presidency has manifested itself in many ways. Often he willfully neglects his constitutional duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." As we've seen with education, immigration, and health care, suspending the law amounts to rewriting the law. Other times, the President is more direct. The legislative power may be vested in Congress, but that didn't stop him from rewriting welfare legislation on his own, hollowing out the successful federal work requirements. Unfortunately, it appears that this is only the beginning of Obama's imperialism. Once liberated from the constraints of reelection, he wasted little time signaling his enthusiasm for unilateral action in his second term. "Congress is tough right now," he recently declared, "but that's not going to stop me." Armed with electoral immunity, the President is also more candid in justifying his actions. [W]here Congress is unwilling to act, I will take whatever administrative steps that I can in order to do right by the American people. From this perspective, the legislature is more of an inconvenience than one of the three co-equal branches of government. Constitutional prerogatives are up for grabs; whoever is most willing to write the laws wins. The President's view of how our system works is not only dangerous, but it also flatly contradicts the Founders' understanding of government. The President sees no need to bother with all the arguing, deal-making, compromising, rivalries—in a word, politics—involved in the constitutional order. Reserving to Congress its lawmaking authority is an unnecessary obstacle to progress. But our system was intentionally designed for messy political fights. The Founders understood that the alternative is even worse. Experience with Britain taught them the dangers of a government that tended toward the accumulation of powers. Despite his fondness for mocking those who distrust government, President Obama accidentally vindicates the Founders' fear of tyranny in American when he boasts, "We're going to do everything we can, wherever we can, with or without Congress, to make things happen." With no sign in sight of the President slowing his imperial march, it would be naïve to hope for the kind of modesty he feigns in emails. Rather, it is the duty of Congress to oppose his encroachments. With so much at stake this fall—from defunding Obamacare to cutting government spending—it is a critical time for Congress to do its job. Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad. Quick Hits: You will be angry when you see this beach bum collecting food stamps. The Obama Administration is the "most transparent" ever, right? Would you like to travel from Los Angeles to New York in just 45 minutes? Try a vacuum-sealed tube. The first public photos of the royal baby will be family photos released on this social network. Secretary of State John Kerry needed just 4 minutes to get 4 things wrong in this video. Print | Comments | Forward

The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE | Washington, D.C. 20002 | (800) 546-2843 Add morningbell@heritage.org to your address book to ensure that you receive emails from us. You are subscribed to this newsletter as bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com. If you want to receive other Heritage Foundation newsletters, or opt out of this newsletter, please click here to update your subscription.