Has Obama crossed the line? Abuse of presidential powers through executive actions.

[Twilight Hue]

Simple question. Many answers.

While I understand his frustration, no president should be doing what he is doing now. Imo this is now in the grey area of real tyranny. Ignoring the branches of goverment and trampling over the US Constitution. I think impeachment should be considered now.

[youtube]_WvamnrQcto[/youtube]
Executive Lawlessness: Obama Skirts Constitution in Pursuit of Power - YouTube

What do you think about it all?

 

[Revoltingest]

Instead of impeachment, it will set a new standard of executive power.
I wonder if he considered that some day a Republican president will
inherit this power?

 

[esmith]

No, he could care less. He is only interested in implementing his ideas and is totally blind to his current agenda could contribute to the Democrats losing the Senate.

 

[LuisDantas]

If there is a line, it is certainly not self-evident, nor particularly valued.

Odd that you are realizing that now, though. I noticed as much when GWB invaded Iraq against the UNO's will back in... 2003, was that it?

 

[Revoltingest]

If there is a line, it is certainly not self-evident, nor particularly valued.
Odd that you are realizing that now, though. I noticed as much when GWB invaded Iraq against the UNO's will back in... 2003, was that it?

That war was authorized by Congress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Resolution
I didn't & don't approve of the war, but Dubya did pursue it legally.

Btw, why would he need the approval of a pizza restaurant (Uno)?

 

[LuisDantas]

That sortta proves my case, you know.

 

[Tarheeler]

Every president for the last 50 plus years has paved the way for Obama, and they have done the same things. It has long been established that each branch of government is independent for one another and has the authority to interpret the Constitution in regards to the powers it grants them. If the other branches thinks one has overstepped its bounds, then they can seek remediation, which is often through the Supreme Court (who's power of Judicial Review is an assumption of authority in its own right).

The office of the President and the powers exercised by the executive branch have been evolving since the inception of the republic; as problems arise or new situations come up our government adapts to meet it. The world is a much different place than it was 250 years ago, and our Constitution is slow to change; all branches of the federal government wield powers that were not explicitly given to them in the Constitution. Obama is using the powers that GW Bush, Clinton, GHW Bush, Reagan, and every other President fought so hard to give him.

 

[Revoltingest]

Every president for the last 50 plus years has paved the way for Obama, and they have done the same things. It has long been established that each branch of government is independent for one another and has the authority to interpret the Constitution in regards to the powers it grants them. If the other branches thinks one has overstepped its bounds, then they can seek remediation, which is often through the Supreme Court (who's power of Judicial Oversight is an assumption of authority in its own right).

The office of the President and the powers exercised by the executive branch have been evolving since the inception of the republic; as problems arise or new situations come up our government adapts to meet it. The world is a much different place than it was 250 years ago, and our Constitution is slow to change; all branches of the federal government wield powers that were not explicitly given to them in the Constitution. Obama is using the powers that GW Bush, Clinton, GHW Bush, Reagan, and every other President fought so hard to give him.

Yes, pols so often fail to understand that new found powers will pass on to their foes.

 

[Reverend Rick]

LOL BHO is going to shoot himself in the foot here. I say let him have at it. He is having a hard time realising that he is fast becoming a lame duck president. This is not uncommon in your 6th year as president. It must be very frustrating not getting his way and realising his future is bleak.

The midterm election should be the last nail in the coffin.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Just imagine the response if a Republican did what Omama has done.

 

[Alceste]

Just imagine the response if a Republican did what Omama has done.

Are you claiming they haven't already?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Are you claiming they haven't already?

Maybe. But to use executive action to the extent and purpose as Obama put forth seems to be something new here and sets a precedence that should be worrysome. For all political parties.

 

[Dingbat]

Maybe. But to use executive action to the extent and purpose as Obama put forth seems to be something new here and sets a precedence that should be worrysome. For all political parties.

It is merely a continuation of policy as Tarheeler said. This is hardly an Obama only thing but merely a long daisy chain of events.

 

[Alceste]

Maybe. But to use executive action to the extent and purpose as Obama put forth seems to be something new here and sets a precedence that should be worrysome. For all political parties.

Nah. It's not new. Bush signed more executive orders and did more blabbity blah fascist stuff than all previous presidents combined, in the whole of American history. Certainly, a precedent has been set and Obama is up for carrying on the legacy, but it wasn't Obama that set it.

 

[Revoltingest]

It is merely a continuation of policy as Tarheeler said. This is hardly an Obama only thing but merely a long daisy chain of events.

This seems faint praise for Obama, ie, that he's continuing a tradition of unconstitutional excesses. This is especially ironic given that he was presented to us as a constitutional scholar. If illegal administrative directives by Reagan & Bush were wrong, this certainly doesn't justify the same in Obama. But there's a real question about whether Obama is worse than his predecessors. Ignoring temporary mischief, like Lincoln's suspending habeas corpus, we're seeing new law created by the executive branch which could become permanent. New standards of government secrecy & spying concern me most. One might disagree about Obama being worse than his predecessors, but this cannot be dismissed by simply citing the number of executive orders.
Ref: Nat Hentoff holds forth....
Obama Keeps Showing Why He's Impeachable | Cato Institute

 

[Tarheeler]

This seems faint praise for Obama, ie, that he's continuing a tradition of unconstitutional excesses. This is especially ironic given that he was presented to us as a constitutional scholar. If illegal administrative directives by Reagan & Bush were wrong, this certainly doesn't justify the same in Obama. But there's a real question about whether Obama is worse than his predecessors. Ignoring temporary mischief, like Lincoln's suspending habeas corpus, we're seeing new law created by the executive branch which could become permanent. New standards of government secrecy & spying concern me most. One might disagree about Obama being worse than his predecessors, but this cannot be dismissed by simply citing the number of executive orders.
Ref: Nat Hentoff holds forth....
Obama Keeps Showing Why He's Impeachable | Cato Institute

It wasn't praise of any sort, nor did I claim that the use of this executive power, by Obama or any of his predecessors, was unconstitutional. Quite the opposite, in fact: There is a longstanding legal tradition of each branch determining for itself just what its role is as defined by the Constitution. And, as a constitutional scholar, Obama is well aware of that.

Obama hasn't "created" any new powers, nor has he used the Office of the President in any way out of the ordinary. Every President for the last half century has been just as active in direct policymaking (in not more so), and has helped to establish the rules of the game.

 

[Revoltingest]

It wasn't praise of any sort, nor did I claim that the use of this executive power, by Obama or any of his predecessors, was unconstitutional. Quite the opposite, in fact: There is a longstanding legal tradition of each branch determining for itself just what its role is as defined by the Constitution. And, as a constitutional scholar, Obama is well aware of that.

Obama hasn't "created" any new powers, nor has he used the Office of the President in any way out of the ordinary. Every President for the last half century has been just as active in direct policymaking (in not more so), and has helped to establish the rules of the game.

There is legal policy making, & then there is over-stepping legal authority.
You might see it as all the former, but I see much of the latter.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Nah. It's not new. Bush signed more executive orders and did more blabbity blah fascist stuff than all previous presidents combined, in the whole of American history. Certainly, a precedent has been set and Obama is up for carrying on the legacy, but it wasn't Obama that set it.

That remains to be seen once Obama serves his full terms for the final stats.

The way he is sounding now according to his state of the union address makes one think he will surpass Bush notably. Im not under the impression executive orders were ever meant to be used in the fashion it's used today.

Here are the actual stats on executive orders as they stand now from the government itself. ......

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...TL1YBo&usg=AFQjCNG9D97zQU_iciHKt9S1hsmbHq8tAg

 

[Twilight Hue]

Nah. It's not new. Bush signed more executive orders and did more blabbity blah fascist stuff than all previous presidents combined, in the whole of American history. Certainly, a precedent has been set and Obama is up for carrying on the legacy, but it wasn't Obama that set it.

Incidentally, Clinton had quite a few more than Bush. ;0)

 

[Valjean]

Maybe. But to use executive action to the extent and purpose as Obama put forth seems to be something new here and sets a precedence that should be worrysome. For all political parties.

What are you talking about? Obama's issued fewer executive orders than any president in a long time. Practically everything he or the Democratic party try to accomplish is purposely blocked by the Republicans, even when it's a Republican policy he's supporting.
Executive orders are the only option he has to get anything done, yet he's been using it amazingly sparingly.

From the Great Wiki:

George Washington 8 n/a John Adams 1 n/a Thomas Jefferson 4 n/a James Madison 1 n/a James Monroe 1 n/a John Quincy Adams 3 n/a Andrew Jackson 12 n/a Martin van Buren 10 n/a William Henry Harrison 0 n/a John Tyler 17 n/a James K. Polk 18 n/a Zachary Taylor 5 n/a Millard Fillmore 12 n/a Franklin Pierce 35 n/a James Buchanan 16 n/a Abraham Lincoln 48
Andrew Johnson 79
Ulysses S. Grant 217
Rutherford B. Hayes 92
James Garfield 6
Chester Arthur 96
Grover Cleveland (first term) 113
Benjamin Harrison 143
Grover Cleveland (second term) 140
William McKinley 185
Theodore Roosevelt 1,081
William Howard Taft 724
Woodrow Wilson 1,803
Warren G. Harding 522
Calvin Coolidge 1,203
Herbert Hoover 968 5075 Franklin D. Roosevelt 3,522 6071 Harry S. Truman 907 9538 Dwight D. Eisenhower 484 10432 John F. Kennedy 214 10914 Lyndon B. Johnson 325 11128 Richard Nixon 346 11452 Gerald R. Ford 169 11798 Jimmy Carter 320 11967 Ronald Reagan 381 12287 George H.W. Bush 166 12668 Bill Clinton 364 12834 George W. Bush 291 13198 Barack Obama (as of 01/14/14) 167 13489