executive overreach
36 pieces tagged “executive overreach”, newest first.
Obama's Legacy Is Executive Abuse
Over the winter break, I finally got around to binge-watching "Parks and Recreation." In case you missed the show's seven-year run, it's about a fascistic small-town councilwoman who believes it's a politician's job to impose her notions of morality, safety and decency on everyone, no matter what voters want or what the system dictates. She is justifiably recalled by the people of her town after attempting to regulate portion sizes at fast-food restaurants but ends up running a federal office where she can do big things without the consent of the people.
The One-Man Rule
"Kings or parliaments could not give the rights essential to happiness, as you confess those invaded by the Stamp Act to be," John Dickinson wrote in 1766. "We claim them from a higher source — from the King of Kings, and Lord of all the Earth," he said in a public letter he signed simply "A North American." "They are not annexed to us by parchments and seals," Dickinson said. "They are created in us by the decrees of Providence, which establish the laws of our nature. They are born with us; exist with us; and cannot be taken from us by any human power, without taking our lives. In short, they are founded on the immutable maxims of reason and justice."
Obama — and FDR — Set Precedent for Trump's One-Man Rule
There has been a lot of talk — almost all of it accurate — about how Barack Obama's presidency has fueled the rise of Donald Trump. The president's fans hate this talk, for understandable reasons. They see the president as dignified and cerebral. They see Trump as crude and bigoted, a "short-fingered vulgarian," as Graydon Carter famously put it. The argument that Obama paved the way for Trump takes many forms. He "lowered the bar" for presidential qualifications, argues Peggy Noonan. Trump's Don Rickles act, writes Michael Barone, reflects "the coarseness of Obama's non-stop insults of Republicans and anyone who does not share his views and priorities."
Obama Takes Aim at Second Amendment
"The biggest problems that we're facing right now have to do with [the president] trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all. And that's what I intend to reverse when I'm president of the United States of America." Those words could have been spoken by any conservative in opposition to President Obama's newly announced executive actions targeting Second Amendment rights. But they weren't. They were uttered by then-Senator Barack Obama in 2008 in opposition to George W. Bush's limited use of executive authority.
President Obama Wants to Disarm America
President Obama is plotting with his attorney general to get our guns. The president will purportedly bypass Congress and crack down on small scale gun sellers. Fox News reports the plan would require gun sellers to order background checks on prospective buyers and tighten laws for gun sales to those who have committed domestic-abuse offenses. If the White House really wants to crack down on gun violence, maybe they should enforce the laws that are already on the books.
Ready to Get Squeezed?
As the calendar counts down to 2016, most Americans are focused on New Year's Eve parties. Some are focused on next year's campaign to replace President Obama. But what is Barack Obama thinking about? He's thinking about how much more he can do to forever change America. In a recent email to his left-wing supporters, Obama offered a preview of what we can expect in the remaining days of his presidency: More assaults on our values and more attempts to end run Congress — as if the past seven years weren't enough.
Obama's Environmental Legacy Hangs in the Balance of the Courts
After running for president on a hard-Left environmentalist platform in 2008, Barack Obama neither attempted nor achieved much in his first term — and for good reason. Actually *doing* what he'd promised would alienate huge numbers of voters as they saw jobs disappear, incomes fall, and costs rise under the increasingly tyrannical bureaucracy of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and of course he wanted a second term.
Standing Athwart the Administrative State
As the administrative state distorts America's constitutional architecture, Clarence Thomas becomes America's indispensable constitutionalist. Now in his 25th year on the Supreme Court, he is urging the judicial branch to limit the legislative branch's practice of delegating its power to the executive branch.
Obama’s Citizenship Push for Immigrants the Focus of New Judicial Watch Lawsuit
Further proof that the Obama administration is a menace to the rule of law, our nation's security, and our republican form of government can be found in the background behind just one new Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. Judicial Watch attorneys filed the lawsuit last month to obtain records related to letters sent by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to current green card holders, urging individuals to become naturalized U.S. citizens prior to the 2016 election.
Obama’s Unilateral Immigration Amnesty Plan Gets to the Supreme Court
On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department filed a 35-page petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review Texas v. U.S., the case filed by 26 states against President Obama's immigration amnesty plan. The government is appealing a preliminary injunction that stopped implementation of Obama's amnesty plan, which was issued by a federal district court and upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 9.
Obama Can't Rewrite Immigration Law, Even for the Better
During a speech about immigration in Chicago last November, President Obama was interrupted by hecklers demanding that he stop deporting illegal aliens. "You're absolutely right that there have been significant numbers of deportations," Obama replied. "But what you're not paying attention to is the fact that I just took action to change the law."
The Left's Lawlessness
There are disturbing reports in a leading Capitol Hill newspaper that the Obama Administration is, once again, looking for ways to circumvent Congress and ignore the courts. Using his pen and his phone, Obama is hoping to enact a radical climate change agreement through executive regulation, just like he did with the Iranian nuclear deal. In addition, leaked memos from the Department of Homeland Security indicate that the administration is preparing to ignore court orders that have so far frozen his executive amnesty efforts.