The Imperial Presidency


      This past Monday President Obama challenged the Supreme Court by stating that in effect it did not have the authority to judge “ObamaCare”. His comments were quite specific and challenges arose from many quarters rather rapidly. The following day, he refined his comments and made them less severe but that did not change the uproar from numerous quarters. On Wednesday the White House press secretary explained the President’s comments even more in an effort to quiet the uproar. Many Presidents have been upset at the Supreme Court, but that normally occurred after the court made a ruling that was contrary to the President’s desire. The greatest example was in the 1930′s when President Roosevelt threatened to stack the court with six more justices who would be in agreement with his desires. Fortunately, that went nowhere.

The media has been reporting and opining from every direction in an effort to make sense of the situation. Some suspect that the President was trying to intimidate the court, while others believe that he was sending a message to his base about his commitment to people without health insurance. This is just the latest example of President Obama acting like his decisions should not be questioned. Remember when he chastised the Supreme Court at his State of the Union address because the court ruled against him on campaign contributions by businesses.

Since the midterm election when the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives, the President has stated that he will use his executive powers and the various agencies to achieve his desired results and not wait for Congress to act. True to his words, the auto industry has been given additional requirements concerning gas mileage for future cars. Kathleen Sebelius head of Health and Human Services issued a mandate for organizations associated with the Catholic church to provide medical insurance for areas that are contrary to the church’s tenets. That is still in the news and being fought by the Catholic church as an attack on the First Amendment. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of references in the ObamaCare bill that dictate “as directed by the head of HHS.”…WOW!!

General Motors and Chrysler were both in financial straits and the President in effect nationalized those companies. Bankruptcy laws were ignored as the government stepped in and provided federal money (i.e. taxpayers money). Even though the unions had no financial interest involved in backing the companies they received a huge share of the companies in the final settlement. There are those who say that the takeover decision was proper, but no one will ever be able to determine if the bankruptcy laws could have done the same.  Under bankruptcy laws, both companies could have reorganized and eliminated some of the burdens that arose over the years.

Banks and insurance companies have not been immune to intrusion by this government. Some banks were forced to take TARP loans and later when banks wanted to return the money with interest to the government, the government dragged its feet so that it could keep more control over the banks. These actions all add up to an Imperial Presidency and until Congress and the people rise up in righteous indignation, it will continue and become more severe.

Colonel Don Myers,

USMC (ret.)

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