The Presidents answer to a Dysfunctional Congress

Before I start today’s ranting I think I should make it clear that while I support the office of the President, the current holder of that office does not enjoy my confidence (a fact I am sure keeps him awake at night). I would like to see him replaced in the next election. It’s too early to say by whom, but anyone with an IQ over 90, who can walk and chew gum at the same time and does not go around apologizing to a world that should be grateful for an America so willing to sacrifice for them, should be a welcome improvement. That said, I think I’d like to say a few words about the Presidents announced intention to use “Executive Orders” to circumvent our dysfunctional Congress.

The nation is faced with a crisis fueled by deficit, debt, recession and out of control spending. The Congress and the Senate are comprised of nearly 600 people elected by us to fix these problems and keep us solvent and functioning. They have failed, deadlocked in political partisanship and ideological difference. They have been unable to agree on a course of action to help us climb out of a hole many of them helped dig in the first place. And, until the next election over a year from now, I do not hold much optimism they will get much done.

Unfortunately, we can’t wait that long. People need jobs so they can feed their families now, not next November. Homes are being lost; people on fixed incomes have to choose between life saving medicine and enough food to keep alive. Winter is coming and some people will not be able to afford the electricity or coal to keep them from freezing. Businesses are going bankrupt now, today. We just can not wait and hope that the next President and the next Congress will be any better.

President Obama has decided to act by circumventing the Senate and the Congress by enacting programs and policies using “Executive Orders”. This takes him into dangerous constitutional ground. It is yet to be seen if this use of that authority is even legal when applied this way.

But, to be fair and give credit where credit is due, it is a bold move which may even help to get something done. I would, of course, be much happier if I thought I was going to like the things he is going to do with these orders (and the way he is going to get them done) –but at least he is going to try to get some people employed and save some peoples homes.

He could have done this sooner. Congress, after all, has been deadlocked like this for years. He chose now, not because of his frustration with Congress, but as a way of taking advantage of the situation and scoring points for his re-election campaign. The timing is too obvious to ignore the simple fact that he has even chosen to announce his “Executive Orders” a few at a time -spread through his “campaign stops”.

It is a tidy move on his part. Even if his orders are challenged on legal grounds and he is forced to recall them, or if Congress acts to block him, he can still say “Well, I tried.” “It’s not my fault the economy is not improving. It’s Congresses fault”. It may even be that he knows his programs will either fail completely or fail to have much effect and he is counting on being stopped before that happens. The President, for all his faults, is no dummy.

Live Long and Prosper...