Obama: Rule by decree?

House approves lawsuit against Obama over alleged abuse of executive power

When political parties in control of the executive realize they cannot hope to enact their agendas through the legislative process they may, if the constitution allows it and the opportunity exists, vote the chief executive emergency power to rule by decree.

That is how Hitler and Mussolini became dictators.

That is how in some Latin American countries (I forget which), chief executives have lately become dictators.

The US constitution in no circumstance allows executive rule by decree.

But at various points in our past our presidents have, with the support of their own parties in the congress, simply ignored the law, the constitution, the Supreme Court, or any combination of them, and done what they wanted.

And, as I have pointed out in the past, it is really way too hard to get rid of a disappointing president.

In the present case, O has in defiance of his constitutional duty failed to see that the laws are faithfully executed, in the matter of Obamacare by purporting to arbitrarily alter various deadlines that in fact were fixed by law and in the matter of immigration by refusing to deport illegal aliens that the law requires be deported.

And by summer's end he is expected, with the support of his party in the country at large and in the congress, to do so in a considerably more extensive manner, again in connection with immigration, by purportedly amnestying a very large number of aliens whom the law requires he deport.

The strength of his party in the congress and in the country at large together with the degree of popular support for his illegalities make impeachment not only impractical but likely to politically damage those in congress supporting it.

The suit is in lieu of impeachment.

I am surprised and annoyed that Fox News/AP describes the particulars of the case regarding the Obamacare employer mandate deadline in a "he said, she said" fashion, refusing to report the objective fact that the law specified a date neither it nor anything else empowered the president to alter, and he nevertheless has claimed that power for himself by simply refusing to enforce the legal deadline and twice announcing other dates of his own choosing, more convenient to employers suspected of Democratic loyalties, upon which enforcement would begin.

WSJ does a better job of reporting in this piece it classes as "opinion" presumably because it expressly defends and even advocates the lawsuit.

The Case for Suing the President

PS.

None of this is to say that I personally want this president either impeached or sued.