The Patriot Post® · Who Condemned 'An Unacceptable Abuse of Power'?
In an impassioned speech supporting the Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law (ENFORCE the Law) Act of 2014, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) gave his fellow House members a “pop quiz” on the House floor. “That may seem unfair to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle,” he said, “but I’m going to give them a hint: The answer to every one of the questions is the same. I’m going to read a quote, and then you tell me who said it.”
First quote: “‘These last few years, we’ve seen an unacceptable abuse of power, having a president whose priority is expanding his own power.’
"Any guess on who said that, Mr. Speaker? It was Senator Barack Obama,” Gowdy answered.
“Here’s another one: ‘No law can give Congress a backbone if it refuses to stand up as a co-equal branch the Constitution made it.’
"Senator Barack Obama.”
‘What do we do with a president who can basically change what Congress passed by attaching a letter saying I don’t agree with this part or that part?’
“Senator Barack Obama.”
‘I taught the Constitution for 10 years. I believe in the Constitution.’
“Senator Barack Obama.”
“And my favorite, Mr. Speaker: ‘One of the most important jobs of the Supreme Court is to guard against the encroachment of the executive branch on the power of the other branches. And I think the Chief Justice has been a little too willing and eager to give the president than I think the Constitution originally intended.’
"How does going from being a senator to a president rewrite the Constitution?” Gowdy asked. “What’s different from when he was a senator?” He continued, “If a president does not faithfully execute the law … what are our remedies? Do we just sit and wait on another election?” No, Gowdy answered, we fight the actions in court.
As Human Events’ John Hayward writes, “Politically speaking, Republicans have already accomplished an important objective by getting President Obama to go on the record opposing a law that would require him to obey the law. But there are serious principles at stake here. It’s not just a gotcha game to remind everyone that Senator Barack Obama claimed to be an implacable opponent of far less serious abuses of power than President Barack Obama has committed. The new law would give the House and Senate legal standing to sue the Administration if they believe he is failing to execute a duly ratified law, and pass a resolution to that effect.”
Gowdy also had some tough words for his colleagues about oaths and duty. “In the oath that brand new citizens take, it contains six different references to the law,” he said. “If it’s good enough for us to ask brand new citizens to affirm their devotion to the law, is it too much to ask that the president do the same?”
The Patriot Post’s mission is to fight for the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary. We believe, as did our Founders, that Essential Liberty, and Rule of Law as enshrined in our Constitution, must be defended at any cost. That means opposing Barack Obama and his cadres, and we’re glad to see at least one member of Congress taking this seriously.