Otherwise known as fascism On Monday, April 23, 2012, Tommy News <[email protected]> wrote: > Shift on Executive Power Lets Obama Bypass Rivals > By CHARLIE SAVAGE > > WASHINGTON — One Saturday last fall, President Obama interrupted a > White House strategy meeting to raise an issue not on the agenda. He > declared, aides recalled, that the administration needed to more > aggressively use executive power to govern in the face of > Congressional obstructionism. > > Enlarge This Image > > Doug Mills/The New York Times > > President Obama speaking in Cleveland in January. Increasingly in > recent months, the Obama administration has been seeking ways to > bypass Congress. > > “We had been attempting to highlight the inability of Congress to do > anything,” recalled William M. Daley, who was the White House chief of > staff at the time. “The president expressed frustration, saying we > have got to scour everything and push the envelope in finding things > we can do on our own.” > > For Mr. Obama, that meeting was a turning point. As a senator and > presidential candidate, he had criticized George W. Bush for flouting > the role of Congress. And during his first two years in the White > House, when Democrats controlled Congress, Mr. Obama largely worked > through the legislative process to achieve his domestic policy goals. > > But increasingly in recent months, the administration has been seeking > ways to act without Congress. Branding its unilateral efforts “We > Can’t Wait,” a slogan that aides said Mr. Obama coined at that > strategy meeting, the White House has rolled out dozens of new > policies — on creating jobs for veterans, preventing drug shortages, > raising fuel economy standards, curbing domestic violence and more. > > Each time, Mr. Obama has emphasized the fact that he is bypassing > lawmakers. When he announced a cut in refinancing fees for federally > insured mortgages last month, for example, he said: “If Congress > refuses to act, I’ve said that I’ll continue to do everything in my > power to act without them.” > > Aides say many more such moves are coming. Not just a short-term shift > in governing style and a re-election strategy, Mr. Obama’s > increasingly assertive use of executive action could foreshadow > pitched battles over the separation of powers in his second term, > should he win and Republicans consolidate their power in Congress. > > Many conservatives have denounced Mr. Obama’s new approach. But > William G. Howell, a University of Chicago political science professor > and author of “Power Without Persuasion: The Politics of Direct > Presidential Action,” said Mr. Obama’s use of executive power to > advance domestic policies that could not pass Congress was not new > historically. Still, he said, because of Mr. Obama’s past as a critic > of executive unilateralism, his transformation is remarkable. > > “What is surprising is that he is coming around to responding to the > incentives that are built into the institution of the presidency,” Mr. > Howell said. “Even someone who has studied the Constitution and holds > it in high regard — he, too, is going to exercise these unilateral > powers because his long-term legacy and his standing in the polls > crucially depend upon action.” > > Mr. Obama has issued signing statements claiming a right to bypass a > handful of constraints — rejecting as unconstitutional Congress’s > attempt to prevent him from having White House “czars” on certain > issues, for example. But for the most part, Mr. Obama’s increased > unilateralism in domestic policy has relied on a different form of > executive power than the sort that had led to heated debates during > his predecessor’s administration: Mr. Bush’s frequent assertion of a > right to override statutes on matters like surveillance and torture. > > “Obama’s not saying he has the right to defy a Congressional statute,” > said Richard H. Pildes, a New York University law professor. “But if > the legislative path is blocked and he otherwise has the legal > authority to issue an executive order on an issue, they are clearly > much more willing to do that now than two years ago.” > > The Obama administration started down this path soon after Republicans > took over the House of Representatives last year. In February 2011, > Mr. Obama directed the Justice Department to stop defending the > Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex > marriages, against constitutional challenges. Previously, the > administration had urged lawmakers to repeal it, but had defended > their right to enact it. > > In the following months, the administration increased efforts to curb > greenhouse gas emissions through environmental regulations, gave > states waivers from federal mandates if they agreed to education > overhauls, and refocused deportation policy in a way that in effect > granted relief to some illegal immigrants brought to the country as > children. Each step substituted for a faltered legislative proposal. > > But those moves were isolated and cut against the administration’s > broader political messaging strategy at the time: that Mr. Obama was > trying to reach across the aisle to get things done. It was only after > the summer, when negotiations over a deficit reduction deal broke down > and House Republicans nearly failed to raise the nation’s borrowing > limit, that Mr. Obama fully shifted course. > > First, he proposed a jobs package and gave speeches urging lawmakers > to “pass this bill” — knowing they would not. A few weeks later, at > the policy and campaign strategy meeting in the White House’s > Roosevelt Room, the president told aides that highlighting > Congressional gridlock was not enough. > > A Measure of Change > Asserting the Agenda > > Articles in this series assess President Obama’s record. > > Previous Article in the Series » > Multimedia Graphic > Unilateralist StrategyRelated > Obama’s Deficit Dilemma (February 27, 2012) > Related in Opinion > The Loyal Opposition: Government By Executive Order (April 23, 2012) > The Election 2012 App > A one-stop destination for the latest political news — from The Times > and other top sources. Plus opinion, polls, campaign data and video. > > Download for iPhone > Download for Android > Readers’ Comments > Share your thoughts. > Post a Comment » > Read All Comments (629) » > “He wanted to continue down the path of being bold with Congress and > flexing our muscle a little bit, and showing a contrast to the > American people of a Congress that was completely stuck,” said > Nancy-Ann DeParle, a deputy chief of staff assigned to lead the effort > to come up with ideas. > > Ms. DeParle met twice a week with members of the domestic policy > council to brainstorm. She met with cabinet secretaries in the fall, > and again in February with their chiefs of staff. No one opposed doing > more; the challenge was coming up with workable ideas, aides said. > > The focus, said Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, > was “what we could do on our own to help the economy in areas Congress > was failing to act,” so the list was not necessarily the highest > priority actions, but instead steps that did not require legislation. > > Republican lawmakers watched warily. One of Mr. Obama’s first “We > Can’t Wait” announcements was the moving up of plans to ease terms on > student loans. After Republican complaints that the executive branch > had no authority to change the timing, it appeared to back off. > > The sharpest legal criticism, however, came in January after Mr. Obama > bypassed the Senate confirmation process to install four officials > using his recess appointment powers, even though House Republicans had > been forcing the Senate to hold “pro forma” sessions through its > winter break to block such appointments. > > Mr. Obama declared the sessions a sham, saying the Senate was really > in the midst of a lengthy recess. His appointments are facing a legal > challenge, and some liberals and many conservatives have warned that > he set a dangerous precedent. > > Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate Democratic leader, who > essentially invented the pro forma session tactic late in Mr. Bush’s > presidency, has not objected, however. Senate aides said Mr. Reid had > told the White House that he would not oppose such appointments based > on a memorandum from his counsel, Serena Hoy. She concluded that the > longer the tactic went unchallenged, the harder it would be for any > president to make recess appointments — a significant shift in the > historic balance of power between the branches. > > The White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, said the Obama > administration’s legal team had begun examining the issue in early > 2011 — including an internal Bush administration memo criticizing the > notion that such sessions could block a president’s recess powers — > and “seriously considered” making some appointments during Congress’s > August break. But Mr. Obama decided to move ahead in January 2012, > including installing Richard Cordray to head the new consumer > financial protection bureau, after Senate Republicans blocked a > confirmation vote. > > “I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer,” Mr. Obama declared, beneath a > “We Can’t Wait” banner. “When Congress refuses to act and — as a > result — hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an > obligation as president to do what I can without them.” > > The unilateralist strategy carries political risks. Mr. Obama cannot > blame the Republicans when he adopts policies that liberals oppose, > like when he overruled the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal > to strengthen antismog rules or decided not to sign an order banning > discrimination by federal contractors based on sexual orientation. > > The approach also exposes Mr. Obama to accusations that he is > concentrating too much power in the White House. Earlier this year, > Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, delivered a series of > floor speeches accusing Mr. Obama of acting “more and more like a king > that the Constitution was designed to replace” and imploring > colleagues of both parties to push back against his “power grabs.” > > But Democratic lawmakers have been largely quiet; many of them accuse > Republicans of engaging in an unprecedented level of obstructionism > and say that Mr. Obama has to do what he can to make the government > work. The pattern adds to a bipartisan history in which lawmakers from > presidents’ own parties have tended not to object to invocations of > executive power. > > For their part, Republicans appear to have largely acquiesced. Mr. > Grassley said in an interview that his colleagues were reluctant to > block even more bills and nominations in response to Mr. Obama’s > “chutzpah,” lest they play into his effort to portray them as making > Congress dysfunctional. > > “Some of the most conservative people in our caucus would adamantly > disagree with what Obama did on recess appointments, but they said > it’s not a winner for us,” he said. > > Mr. Obama’s new approach puts him in the company of his recent > predecessors. Mr. Bush, for example, failed to persuade Congress to > pass a bill allowing religiously affiliated groups to receive taxpayer > grants — and then issued an executive order making the change. > > President Bill Clinton increased White House involvement in agency > rule making, using regulations and executive orders to show that he > was getting things done despite opposition from a Republican Congress > on matters like land conservation, gun control, tobacco advertising > and treaties. (He was assisted by a White House lawyer, Elena Kagan, > who later won tenure at Harvard based on scholarship analyzing such > efforts and who is now on the Supreme Court.) > > And both the Reagan and George Bush administrations increased their > control over executive agencies to advance a deregulatory agenda, > despite opposition from Democratic lawmakers, while also developing > legal theories and tactics to increase executive power, like issuing > signing statements more frequently. > > The bipartisan history of executive aggrandizement in recent decades > complicates Republican criticism. In February, two conservative > advocacy groups — Crossroads GPS and the American Action Network — > sponsored a symposium to discuss what they called “the unprecedented > expansion of executive power during the past three years.” It reached > an awkward moment during a talk with a former attorney general, Edwin > Meese III, and a former White House counsel, C. Boyden Gray. > > “It’s kind of ironic you have Boyden and me here because when we were > with the executive branch, we were probably the principal proponents > of executive power under President Reagan and then President George H. > W. Bush,” Mr. Meese said, quickly adding that the presidential > prerogatives they sought to protect, unlike Mr. Obama’s, were valid. > > But Jack L. Goldsmith, a Harvard law professor who led the Justice > Department’s Office of Legal Counsel during the George W. Bush > administration, said the Obama administration’s pattern reflects how > presidents usually behave, especially during divided government, and > appears aggressive only in comparison to Mr. Obama’s having been > “really skittish for the first two years” about executive power. > > “This is what presidents do,” Mr. Goldsmith said. “It’s taken Obama > two years to get there, but this has happened throughout history. You > can’t be in that office with all its enormous responsibilities — when > things don’t happen, you get blamed for it — and not exercise all the > powers that have accrued to it over time.” > > More: > http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/us/politics/shift-on-executive-powers-let-obama-bypass-congress.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120423 > > -- > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time. > Have a great day, > Tommy > > > > -- > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time. > Have a great day, > Tommy > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. >
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