Will a Craven Congress Allow More Lawlessness from Obama?
As part of President Obama's fundamental transformation of America, this lawless tyrant is intent upon completely overturning one of the most fundamental characteristics of our Republic, Separation of Powers. This is no accident; the checks and balances in the American system were instituted for the express purpose of combating the rise of a tyrannical and oppressive government.
Nonetheless, on December 31, 2011 Josh Earnest, White House deputy press secretary said, "the president will have a larger playing field. If that includes Congress, all the better." But, he added, "that's no longer a requirement." What precisely was meant all too soon has become clear. Obama did not waste any time in thumbing his nose at the rule of law. On Wednesday, the president announced his "recess appointment" for the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three new members to the much derided National Labor Relations Board. Already repeatedly blocked by filibusters in the Senate because of their extremist records, it is widely acknowledged that his appointees would NOT be confirmed by the Congress if brought forward for a vote.
So what is the problem with Obama's recess appointments? Congress is NOT IN RECESS. The president has made a complete end run of Congress and has violated the expressed limitations upon his authority under the Separation of Powers. But what is the big deal about Separation of Powers?
James Madison points out in Federalist 47 that "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."Our Founders spent a great deal of time discussing Separation of Powers and believed that such separation was essential to the protection of our liberty. The discussion of the time was not whether these branches SHOULD be separate, but to WHAT DEGREE they should be separate; the Founders knowing, as Madison points out, that a separation of the three branches of government was necessary to preserve Liberty. They all agreed that the accumulation of all powers by one person or a single group of people is the very definition of tyranny. "Where the accumulation of power is possible, no further argument is necessary" to support a division and separation of those powers. Madison declares: "…by so contriving the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places."
Our Founders also believed that a certain amount of "blending" of these departments was necessary to prevent one Branch from usurping power over the other. This blending is what we know as checks and balances. Madison understood that simply enumerating powers and identifying boundaries on paper would be an insufficient barrier "to the encroaching spirit of power." Liberty cannot be preserved unless you allow for departmental oversight. Madison made this point very clear:"But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government."
The abuses of this President definitely need to be controlled. The absolutely amazing thing about this entire scenario is that a President was IMPEACHED for the very thing that our current lawless Executive is doing. On March 3, 1867 Congress enacted the Tenure of Office Act over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The Tenure of Office Act was designed to prevent the President from removing any office holder appointed by a past president without the advice and consent of the Senate. Johnson did not acknowledge this limitation and publicly declared the 39th Congress was not a Congress at all. He then removed the presiding Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton from office and appointed Ulysses S. Grant in his place.
In response, on February 24, 1868 the House of Representatives brought 11 articles of impeachment against Johnson according to Article 2 of the Constitution. Ten of these articles were dedicated to Johnson's ignoring this Separation of Powers. Johnson was successfully impeached by the House, but was acquitted after trial.
Although several Governors had been impeached in the colonies, this was the first sitting U.S. president to be impeached. Most impeachments have occurred due to the Executive branch ignoring its limitations through Separation of Powers.In this case, unlike today, Congress fulfilled their responsibility in the "checks and balances" aspect of the Separation of Powers and impeached Johnson. Our Founders knew that these checks and balances MUST be utilized to prevent the natural course of ruthless ambition by men who wish to be tyrants. Madison explains:
"But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."
If such strong checks were and are necessary to resist the tyranny of men, then why are these checks not being employed today? History and experience prove not only that Obama's attempts to completely destroy Liberty must be stopped, but that Congress has the ability to stop him. What has happened to the integrity and resolve of the men and women we have elected to protect Liberty? I believe much of it has to do with a complete ignorance of history and a complete lack of understanding of the Constitution. The House of Representatives, through their shocking inaction, are allowing another dangerous precedent to eat away at America's Constitutional foundations. As usual, We the People are "defended" by Congress with nothing but empty words.
The president's unlawful appointments were made just a day after the Senate held a session – a move that breaks with at least three different precedents holding that the Senate must be in recess for a minimum of three days to "be in recess." Obama himself was part of two of those precedents, both during his own time in the Senate and again in 2010 when one of his administration's top constitutional lawyers made the three-day argument to the Supreme Court.
The most contentious appointment in question is that of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, named by Obama to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This agency was erected under the broad new Wall Street regulation bill Democrats pushed through Congress in 2010, just before losing their majority in the House.Congressional Republicans said the Senate considers itself still in session, and said Obama's move is a declaration of war against Congress. "Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican.
GOP House Speaker John A. Boehner called the move "an extraordinary and entirely unprecedented power grab by President Obama that defies centuries of practice and the legal advice of his own Justice Department… The precedent that would be set by this cavalier action would have a devastating effect on the checks and balances that are enshrined in our Constitution," according to the Ohio Republican.
Obama's response: "I refuse to take 'No' for an answer. I've said before that I will continue to look for every opportunity to work with Congress to move this country forward. But when Congress refuses to act in a way that hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them."Barack Obama has indeed declared open war on the U.S. Congress and angry words from our Congressional leaders are NOT enough. The House must begin the Impeachment process and end this unconstitutional usurpation by the Executive branch, TODAY. We cannot allow Obama's tyranny to continue. Congress must know if they will not stand for Liberty, WE WILL. Just a reminder, Congress, YOU WORK FOR US. Your job obligations and responsibilities are clearly identified in the law, in the Constitution and in the "operator's manual" written by those who wrote the Constitution. If you don't understand these, I am more than happy to come and teach you. But hear us, Congress… Do your job or be fired!
Keep Faith,
Lynne Roberts, President
Americans United for Freedom
Americans United for Freedom
KrisAnne Hall is a former prosecutor and Constitutional attorney who was fired from her job for teaching the Constitution to citizen groups. She is a disabled veteran of the US Army, a Russian linguist, a mother, a pastor's wife and a patriot. Her former employer, State Attorney for Florida's 3rd Judicial Circuit, gave her a choice – give up her First Amendment right to speak on her own time or be fired. KrisAnne said, "My First Amendment rights are worth more than a paycheck and I will not surrender them." She now travels the country and teaches the Constitution and the history that gave us our founding documents. We are proud to have KrisAnne as a contributor to Americans United for Freedom.To send a check, please complete and print a contribution page form
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