U.S. Constitution

Article 1. Section 1. All legislative Powers, herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

Simply translated it means all law making Powers are granted to the Congress. Note that nowhere in the Constitution does it say an Executive is granted powers of law making. It is conspicuously absent.  It is important to note that an executive who can arbitrarily make and break laws has put himself by default above the law to the position of monarch or dictator.  King George comes to mind. Josef Stalin comes to mind. Kim Jong-Un of North Korea comes to mind. We don’t allow that in this country, or do we?

The President’s actions in ordering changes and delays in implementation for the largely unpopular Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) are good illustrations of how the power of executive orders is being abused for political purposes. Some observers  have suggested that the timing of these delays coincidentally fall after the mid-term elections of 2014. The President has side-stepped the only real chance the citizens have of voicing their discontent.  When people start getting their insurance cancellation notices, employment terminations, and start experiencing the real negative effects of Obamacare kicking in, their chance to hold their elected representatives responsible will have come and gone. Convenient huh?

Since February 7, 2013 the President has altered, changed or delayed the implementation of the Affordable Care Act by executive fiat thirteen times according to the New York Times. The White House points to the Internal Revenue Code as its justification for the Obamacare delays. They argue that the Internal Revenue Service has the authority to “prescribe all needful rules and regulations” for enforcing the tax code. In July, before the Ways and Means House Subcommittee on Health, J. Mark Iwry, the deputy assistant Treasury secretary for health policy, said this administrative authority has been used to provide transition relief for taxpayers seeking to comply with new legislation, and to provide a wide range of other guidance. In particular, on a number of prior occasions across Administrations, this authority has been used to postpone the application of new legislation when immediate application would have subjected taxpayers to unreasonable administrative burdens or costs.”

Legal experts however state this power to delay is not unlimited. Nicolas Bagley a University of Michigan law professor who studies administrative and health law stated in a recent interview “The administration’s position is an aggressive one, and the legal basis for the delay isn’t altogether secure,” said Mr. Bagley. The same argument the White House is making could be used by future administrations to justify putting off just about any change in the tax code that Congress makes, he said, calling it a potential concern. “

This president has set records for the number of executive orders issued since he occupied the White House. The count is well over 13,000 and growing and is more than any other US president in history. This President has clearly demonstrated a blatant disregard for the US Constitution and the separation of powers, its underlying framework.  In his most recent State of the Union address President Obama promised to act if Congress will not. There it was for all to see, his contempt for the process. He will legislate from the White House if Congress will not. He is willing to ignore the Constitution and unilaterally taken it upon himself to legislate by executive order and even more disgusting he received rousing applause in support from his Democrat cohorts for this very un-American idea. 

If you haven’t already noticed this country is in trouble. We have a sitting President willing to circumvent the Constitution. We have a sizable percent of the Congress going along with that idea. We have a sycophant press corps and media apparatus willing to go along. Perhaps most disturbing is we have a big percentage of the US population more than willing to surrender their hard fought independence to self-proclaimed government experts in all matters of their life to include healthcare.  Does America want a King again? Are we not capable of making decisions for ourselves and so must have a strong leader to look out for us? It sure looks like it doesn’t it?