“…through a Treasury Dept. blog post in July 2013, the Obama administration announced “it will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin.” That’s illegal on its face.”
By Wendy McElroy – The Dollar Vigilante –
What do you call a President who can choose which laws to enforce and how, a leader who can create new laws with the stroke of a pen? A dictator. Some would say a king.
Obama has denied both claims. In 2013, he told CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin, “I am not a dictator, I’m the president.” By this he meant he could not bypass Congress to unilaterally impose his will. In a 2013 interview with the Hispanic network Univision, Obama explained his immigration policy with the words, “I think it’s important to remind everybody that, what I’ve said previously, I am not a king.” A president who persistently denies being a dictator or a king is worrisome. It is like a stranger who tells you, “I am not a thief.” It makes you wonder why the question arises.
It arises because Obama has both ignored laws and created them despite Congressional protest. And, in last month’s State of the Union address, he declared an intention to speed up the process. Obama stated, “America does not stand still and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation…that’s what I’m going to do.” Translation: he will use a myriad of executive means to assume the legislative powers of Congress. It will be rule of the executive, by the executive, for the executive.
In the past, Obama has blithely ignored the Constitution, Congress and statute law in order to impose his own widesweeping policies. In June 2012, for example, he bypassed a rebellious Congress to impose an immigration policy that won him crucial support from Hispanics for his re-election bid. The New York Times (June 16, 2012) explained the impact that executive directive had on up to 800,000 illegals, “Under the change, the Department of Homeland Security” would no longer deport those who entered the US “before age 16” who met other specified criteria. Congress had pointedly refused to enact that immigration change.
More recently, Obama has unilaterally rewritten key aspects of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). He has done so even though Obamacare is existing law and duly approved by Congress. He has done so even though Congress must approve all changes. And his method of altering the law has sometimes been cavalier. For example, through a Treasury Dept. blog post in July 2013, the Obama administration announced “it will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin.” That’s illegal on its face.
The issue is not whether established laws deserve respect or compliance; most don’t. The issue is not whether the current political structure of America should be preserved; it shouldn’t. What’s happening is a dramatic shift in power between the three branches of American government so that one-man rule is becoming the reality. In his last term as President, Obama will try to cement the Presidency into a dictatorship under another name.
One formidable barrier against his power remains. The Constitution specifies that spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives. That’s why recent warfare between the House and the President, the Republicans and Democrats has revolved around budget issues. If Obama can bypass the Constitutional requirement, then nothing obstructs his path.
