Free Republic

The Dan Bongino Show. The lockdowns are coming

President Joe Biden responded with a statement after Thursday's night's bombshell development that West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin wanted to wait next month's inflation figures before agreeing to a deal with his party's leadership on Biden's key agenda items. With Biden on a trip to Saudi Arabia, the White House issued a statement on a day when several leading Senate Democrats denounced Manchin's move, which appeared to signal the end of many key progressive priorities on climate and other issues. 'Action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever. So let me be clear: if the...

In a national panic, Americans permitted executives to take power—to declare states of emergency and to implement lockdowns—and now those executives won’t give that power back. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia often noted that the primary safeguard of our constitutional liberties is the structure of our government. Every banana republic has a bill of rights, he once said, but the strength of the American system is the separation of powers. At the federal level, there are three separate, co-equal branches of government that must operate together for our representative republic to function properly, and this balance of power is mirrored...

[Truncated title: EXCLUSIVE! Trump Activates U.S. Marine Reserves For ‘Emergency Within The United States’ To Stop Illegal Coup] BREAKING NEWS UPDATE concerning a directive involving the United States Marine Corps reserve units via MARADMINS number 550/19, signed on Oct. 3, 2019, authorized by Brigadier General Daniel L. Shipley, Director, Manpower Plans and Policy. Notably, Brigadier General Daniel L. Shipley was nominated by President Trump for the rank of major general, according to a Jan. 16, 2019 Defense.gov press announcement. Before serving in his current role, Shipley served as the deputy director, Program Analysis and Evaluation, Department of Programs and Resources...

Democrats Don’t Oppose Executive Abuse, They Oppose Donald Trump Constitutional norms for thee but not for me. By David Harsanyi Pointing out hypocrisy can be more than a political gotcha. In the case of Donald Trump’s emergency declaration on the southern border, it’s a useful way to highlight the fact that Democrats who are attempting to regain power have not only refused to live by the rules they’ve set for the opposition, they’re also threatening to break those rules in even more expansive ways in the future.As soon as Trump declared a national emergency to fund the building of a...

Appeals Court affirms lower court decision: The Opinion/Dissent runs 285 pages so linked only (with apologies for any incorrect posting info) http://coop.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/Published/172231.pdf

Obama shrouds his dictatorship with assurances, claims it is for the common good, or that to dare to disagree with him is "racist," the ravings of "anti-government radicals" The spending bill the Republicans just passed is filled with 1.1 trillion broken promises. The Republicans seem to be willing to complain out of one side of their mouth, while gleefully approving of Obama’s goosestep towards full executive control, and destruction of the foundations of Americanism, out of the other side of their mouth. A week ago I found myself in a heated debate with a fellow conservative over presidential powers. In...

In an interesting recent article, and a post at Prawfsblawg, legal scholar Mark Kende argues that Justice Clarence Thomas approves of Korematsu v. United States, the notorious 1944 Supreme Court decision that upheld the internment of over 100,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II. Here is the article abstract: The U.S. Supreme Court’s infamous decision in Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) has been in the news recently as some scholars and advocates, such as Peter Irons, have asked the Court to formally repudiate the decision. This essay breaks new ground by demonstrating that Justice Clarence Thomas’s jurisprudence on...

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is considering expanding health coverage for the poor without the approval of the state legislature, a move that would muscle his top priority past Republican opponents but also throw his young administration into a partisan firestorm and uncertain legal territory. McAuliffe and his top advisers have consulted lawyers, health-care experts and legislators on how to bypass the GOP-dominated House of Delegates, according to three people familiar with the discussions. A fourth, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal private strategy, said the office of...

During testimony before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday, liberal constitutional professor Jonathan Turley said that the growth of executive power is “accelerating” and that the growth of such power has brought us to a “constitutional tipping point”. “I believe we are now at a constitutional tipping point in our system,” Turley, who teaches law at George Washington University, said. “It’s a dangerous point for our system to be in, and I believe that your response has to begin before this president leaves office. No one in our system goes it alone.”...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. "We know we have to do more — and we will do more," Obama said Wednesday in Berlin. Obama's senior energy and climate adviser, Heather Zichal, said the plan would boost energy efficiency of appliances and buildings, expand renewable energy and use the Environmental Protection Agency's authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants. Zichal,...

Is it good for President Obama to use executive powers after Congress ignored his jobs bill? About time, given Republican obstructionists on Capitol Hill 234 (53.8%) Even Democrats objected, so president should work harder with Congress 142 (32.6%) By picking targets for aid, Obama can help the most people, the soonest 16 (3.7%) Hoping for a broader fix for the economy, not rifle-shot approach 43 (9.9%) Total votes = 435

Scholars criticize 'imperial' presidency Saturday, September 13, 2003By Steven HarmonThe Grand Rapids Press ALLENDALE -- Thanks to a pliant Congress and an apathetic public, President George W. Bush has expanded the imperial presidency, perhaps placing the United States in a more vulnerable position than before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. That was the general view of panelists at a conference on the presidency Friday, hosted by Grand Valley State University's Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. By running roughshod over world opinion in the runup to the Iraq war, Bush now faces world isolation as the occupation has gotten messy,...

<p>RAMALLAH, West Bank — Yasser Arafat told the Palestinian parliament Monday that he condemns "every act of terror against Israeli civilians" and that he is willing to give up executive powers if asked.</p> <p>It was not immediately clear whether he was seriously proposing stepping down or merely mocking his critics.</p>