Posted on 01/05/2012 5:18:21 AM PST by tobyhill
President Obama yesterday played a violent game of kickball with the US Constitution, making a number of high-level “recess” appointments — even though the Senate isn’t actually in recess.
He named former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Board, a nomination Republicans have been fighting.
And then he named three new members of the pro-union activist National Labor Relations Board.
Presidents have the right to make temporary appointments when Congress is away from Washington, of course, and both parties have used that power.
But Obama is the first president to declare that he, and he alone, can decide whether the Senate — which must confirm his appointments — is actually meeting.
In order to block recess appointments, the Senate intentionally has been holding pro forma sessions every few days, each of which lasts only a few seconds.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — with then-Sen. Obama’s support — did the same thing in 2007 to block any recess appointments by President George W. Bush.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
If nothing else, he’s guilty of dereliction of duty. He took an oath, he’s broken his promise. Sadly, the majority of Americans will never hear about this nor care if they do.
As long as American Idol starts on time and gas stays under $4/gal, all is well.
November? He’s guilty NOW! This isn’t a matter of diddling around, he’s literally taken over the Federal government by nullifying the Constitutionally outlined powers of Congress.
Americans should be LIVID about this! But they aren’t...
Yes it is treason and I’m wondering where the Republicans on the hill are?
I’ve only seen a couple of ‘protests’ and absolutely no even implying impeachment.
I’ve gotten very disillusioned with the Repubs that just can’t seem to stand on principal and against tyranny.
It’s time for a new, principled ‘Conservative’ party.
I hate this man so much...in my wildest dreams, I couldn’t imagine electing a president that would actually engineer the demise of our great country.
In former Free Republic postings comparing Obama’s administration in any way to Nazi’s or Fascism has been regarded as a bad idea.
My view is: How can we compare it to anything else.
He is set on destroying the Constitution and getting his way by using the FORCE of the Presidential office.
A force that really des not exist except in his own mind.
The problem is not the checks and balances of our form of Government.
It is the lack of courage it takes by the other two branch’s to see that the Executive Branch does not overstep it’s bounds, and so far I do not see the willingness of the other two branch’s to stop this man from becoming a faux dictator as he is already a faux President.
It started as the Supreme Court did not have the courage to listen to arguments that purported that Obama was ineligible and it has grown from there to here and now when this Narcissist declares that he can make up his own laws, regulations assign the people he wants and the hell with Congress.
P.S. You think he is bad now, Give him 4 more years.
His arrogance will start a Civil War.
“I hate this man so much...in my wildest dreams, I couldn’t imagine electing a president that would actually engineer the demise of our great country.”
My feelings exactly. He has to go.
The fact that he did this on pupose (he could have done it legally the day before) leads me to believe it may be a “watch this hand” moment. I’m not sure what the other hand is doing but I can guarantee it is pretty bad.
Dictators behave alike.
Hussein is no different from the many others we name.
To be successful, however, he needs a compliant press and A LACK OF OPPOSITION (RINO) IN THE LEGISLATURE.
Got that too, evidently.
Somebody wake up Boner—PLEASE???
Washington republicans BETTER make a BIG deal of this - and I’ll be contacted all whom I can to urge them on.
I recognize that zer0 WANTS to raise the temperature of DC rancor even more than it is, wants to run against Congress, and wants to excite his base.
That said, from the R angle, if this fight needs to be had, then R’s should be shouting from rooftops to make the American people, R’s and U’s and hopefully many D’s, aware of this NOT ISOLATED flagrant constitutional violation.
If it is unconstitutional, why don’t the Republicans take this to the Supreme Court? To do so would not only stop the appointment but also embarrass Obama as well as respond to his anti-Republican rhetoric.
This is frustrating. The Republicans let themselves get walked over and do nothing about it.
How many FReepers took the time to write a letter of protest to your senators?
2012 is an election year and all the incumbents need to be voted out! Even first term “Tea Party” backed members of Congress and the Senate. These people are not doing their jobs and need to be fired. The alternative is a multi-million person march on Washington to demand the removal of the President.
Terrifying thought. Imagaine what he'd do in a nothing-to-lose second term?
But then, what good would bureaucracy be if it could not be politically manipulated?
Well then maybe we need to take matters into our own hands. I have called my Dem congressman twice about this . We ALL need to bust chops and get this message out . This is treason in my book
I sent letters to both of my senators yesterday, Portman and Brown of Ohio, asking them to take legal action against this usurpation of power.
The recess appointment authority given to the President was not given to provide the president a way around the Senate's power of advice and consent. It was granted because in the late 1700's travel and communication were extremely slow and a recess meant as much as a month of travel time for Senators.
This is also unconstitutional because the language of the Constitution clearly says that the vacancy must take place DURING a recess of the Senate. That clearly is not the case.
This is also unconstitutional because the Senate had ALREADY begun consideration of this nomination prior to any recess and, had it been an emergency, they would have moved on it. It was STILL being considered, so there was absolutely no justification for the president's illegal act.
Finally, this is LAWLESSNESS and DICTATORSHIP, not because I don't like the decision, but because in the future there is now no impediment to any president appointing anyone to power with zero oversight whatsoever. All it takes is the dictator making a decision on the person he wants.
This really is a usurpation of power and is an exact parallel with those usurpations that led to the rebellion and the Declaration of Independence.
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