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Obama: Bypassing Congress is his ‘obligation’
In an interview last month with KOAA-TV in Colorado Springs, President Obama warned about his intentions to behave as a dictator:
“Where Congress is not wiling to act, we’re going to go ahead and do it ourselves.”
In a subsequent interview with 60 Minutes, he repeated his intention to secure his reelection enact his agenda via executive fiat:
“What I’m not gonna do is wait for Congress. So wherever we have an opportunity and I have the executive authority to go ahead and get some things done, we’re just gonna go ahead and do ‘em.”
This week, he made good on those threats.
President Obama has decided to break 20 years of legal precedent so that he could use his recess-appointment power to appoint Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He did this despite the fact that Congress is not actually in recess.
President Obama argued this afternoon it is his obligation to bypass Congress and make a recess appointment of Richard Cordray as his consumer watchdog. [emphasis added]
In a speech in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Obama made it official that he would install the former Ohio general as the head of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau through recess appointment and hammered Republicans for blocking Cordray’s appointment.
The president tapped Cordray last summer to head the agency, but Senate Republicans have used the filibuster to block an up-or-down vote on his nomination. GOP lawmakers have argued that the bureau should be accountable to Congress.
“When Congress refuses to act and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them,” Obama said “I have an obligation to act on behalf of the American people.”
…Republicans note that the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the House and Senate cannot adjourn for longer than three days without the consent of the other body – agreed to by a concurrent adjournment resolution. Neither chamber has passed an adjournment resolution, and instead both have been holding pro-forma sessions every three days.
Obama cites Republican opposition to Cordray’s appointment as justification for his abuse of power, but he conveniently leaves out the fact that despite holding a majority in the Senate, Democrats couldn’t muster the 60 votes needed to move ahead on the nomination:
Few question former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s credentials for the job. But nearly all of the Senate’s 47 Republicans are expected to vote against him Thursday, maintaining a GOP filibuster that requires 60 votes to break.
“This is not about the nominee, who appears to be a decent person and may very well be qualified,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. “It’s about a process that is running out of control.”
The agency, which officially opened in July, is designed to protect consumers taking out loans, using credit cards and making other financial transactions.
Republicans say it was constructed with far too much power and far too little accountability, and 45 of the Senate Republicans have signed a letter to Obama saying they would vote against any nominee to head the agency unless changes are made in its structure.
They want the director replaced by a bipartisan board and Congress to have control over its purse strings rather than the Federal Reserve. They also want to make it easier for other financial regulatory offices to overrule bureau decisions.
Now that he has been unable to create another unaccountable bureaucracy loaded with political appointees, Obama is choosing to behave like a dictator and circumvent the Constitutional checks and balances upon which our government is established. Regarding the power of the President, Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution states:
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
King George III ain't got nothin' on me!
Once again, Dear Leader thinks his agenda justifies him to “break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.” He’s clearly forgetting his actual Presidential obligation, as expressed in his oath of office: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Funny, it doesn’t say anything there about a President’s “obligation” to circumvent the Constitution whenever he thinks it’s really, really important. Or whenever there are political points to be scored in advance of a reelection campaign.
Now we see what Valerie Jarrett (co-chair of Obama’s transition team) meant when she said he would be “ready to rule” on day one of his administration.
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UPDATE: The National Patriot makes several good points about Obama’s habitual abuse of power:
Emperors are typically, legends in their own minds and EMPEROR Obama, in his mind has anointed himself as the 4th greatest President in our history. EMPEROR Obama can do whatever he wants to do including ignoring the Constitution.
Remember back when I stated that Obama’s decision to not defend the Defense of Marriage Act was a trial balloon? There is no Constitutional authority for a PRESIDENT to unilaterally decide what laws will and will not be enforced but Obama made THAT decision on the DOM unilaterally didn’t he?
It was a trial balloon to see what would happen if he ignored the Constitution.
What happened?
Nothing.
He got away with it.
Remember when he bypassed Congress by declaring kinetic action against Libya?
What happened?
Nothing.
He got away with it.
Who needs the Constitution? Certainly not the EMPEROR. Not EMPEROR Obama.
Yesterday, when EMPEROR Obama appointed Richard Corday to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he did more than just ignore the Constitution.
The bill which created that Bureau SPECIFICALLY states it can ONLY have power to act with CONGRESSIONAL approval.
This is language not found in very many bills creating such bureaus but it IS in this one. This means, anything this new bureau does, any actions they take, are in violation of Congress and therefore, unlawful.
The problem is NOT with Corday, who by almost every account, is a stand up guy. The problem is with the Bureau itself. The CFPB was created in July 2011 as part of the Dodd/Frank bill but it provides no guidelines for it’s director and THAT is why no director has ever been confirmed.
Senator Shelby has stated that 3 things must be in place before a director of that bureau can be confirmed.
- The bureau should have a board of directors for oversight.
- The bureau should be subject “to the congressional appropriations process to ensure that it doesn’t engage in wasteful or unnecessary spending.”
- Bank regulators like the FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency could keep the CPFB from infringing on “the safety and soundness of financial institutions—as it would, for example, by unduly banning profitable products or imposing unwarranted and onerous regulations that threaten banks’ solvency.
Without these guidelines, the Director can basically do whatever the Director wants to do with unlimited authority.
Sort of like…An EMPEROR.
There’s a lot more to the article, be sure to read the whole thing.
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RELATED ARTICLES:
Heritage Foundation — “Obama’s Tyrannical Abuse of Power”
Excerpt: Why take such action? The President says it’s because he can’t wait for Congress to act on behalf of the American people. The truth is that the President is hell bent on ramming through his agenda, and he is entirely unwilling to compromise with the duly elected representatives who sit in the House and Senate. By circumventing the Senate and appointing Cordray, the President can ensure that his big-government regulatory agenda is enacted without the reforms that Congress is demanding. Unfortunately, the Cordray appointment is not the only example of the President’s wanton, unilateral actions.
Red State — “A Blatant, Frontal Assault on the Constitutional Separation of Powers”
Excerpt: I can safely say that this is the ballsiest thing I have ever seen a President do that served absolutely no meaningful purpose at all. If Congress – and I am including Congressional Democrats in this – takes this lying down, it will set a breathtaking precedent and instantaneously demolish a significant part of Congress’ relevance. Consider that if Congress allows this to stand, then the next Republican President might just announce Jay Sekulow for his next SCOTUS appointment, and then two weeks later when the Senate breaks for the weekend, declare them in recess and appoint him to the Court. If Democrats consider this to be an undesirable view of the future, I would suggest that they figure out a way to cooperate with Republicans in making Obama pay a very real price for this blatant slap at their constitutional authority.
Center for Individual Freedoms — “Obama’s Tyrannical Tendencies”
Excerpt: This usurpation of power is part of a pattern. Obama fired an inspector general without properly notifying Congress. He said he would continue paying his various “czars” even as he signed a bill defunding them. He said he would continue paying for foreign aid forbidden by law. His “science czar” ignores legal restrictions on dealings with China. His Justice Department refuses to enforce civil rights laws to protect white victims from black perpetrators, and refuses to enforce laws against vote fraud if those laws aren’t seen as helping turn out (Democratic) votes. It ignores direct Supreme Court precedent by blocking South Carolina from implementing laws requiring serious identification at the polls.
His Secretary of Education improperly ties “waivers” for states’ education goals to the states’ adoption of administration policy preferences nowhere existing in law. His National Labor Relations Board, without a smidgen of actual authority to do so, blocks Boeing from building planes in a non-union state. His Environmental Protection Agency overstretches its lawful authority on issue after issue. In all these instances, and many more, the guiding Obamite principle is to act first, no matter what legal restrictions exist, and then let private lawsuits and the court system try, somehow, to catch up with all of the transgressions and stop them. Even then, reversing some of the things that have already been done in the meantime might prove as difficult as it is to overcome “squatters’ rights.”
Investor’s Business Daily — “Acting Like A King Isn’t Among The President’s Duties”
Apparently feeling like a gambler on a roll, Obama followed up the Cordray appointment by placing Sharon Block, Terence Flynn and Richard Griffin on the National Labor Relations Board. Of little concern to Obama are the wishes of the Senate Republicans, who had blocked these appointments, which they have the right to do within our system.
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Cross-posted at Left Coast Rebel
Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT
We need to stop this BS
[...] Metal Patriot: Obama: Bypassing Congress is his ‘obligation’ President Obama has decided to break 20 years of legal precedent so that he could use his [...]
[...] has already demonstrated that he has no qualms in doing an illegal end-run around Congress whenever it suits him. Like any tyrant, he can’t stand to be told “no.” If Congress [...]