M
M. Howard
Guest
by Cenk Uygur
"The President has the ability to exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way."
Tony Snow -- January 8, 2007
We've jumped the shark. If this idea doesn't outrage the American population, the media and the opposition party (and even his own party), then we've lost track of what America is all about. Do we have a constitution or don't we?
I can't imagine any other president saying he has the right to do what he pleases even if Congress makes it illegal. What does "if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way" mean? Wrong, according to whom? The fact that it is a law makes it right by definition, by our democracy, by our constitution.
The president can veto laws he thinks Congress voted the wrong way on. But if they override his veto, it is not within his authority to ignore that law. This is so fundamental that it's unbelievable that it has to be spelled out.
If you asked whether a president could do this in an eighth grade civics class and someone answered -- "Yes, a president can exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress voted the wrong way." -- you would unquestionably fail them. That is not the correct answer. At least not in our system of government.
If Reagan felt that Congress voted the wrong way in the Boland Amendment, then does that make his administration's actions in Iran-Contra legal? If Nixon felt Congress would have voted the wrong way on impeachment, could he just stay in office? Even he wasn't brazen enough to make this claim.
This is the stuff constitutional crises are made of. This president has been unabashedly breaking and reinterpreting the law to suit his needs for years now. He does out in the open. He does it with the flimsiest of explanations. And he rubs everyone's face in it.
Read the rest here: http://www.signs-of-the-times.org/articles/show/125409-The+White+House+Threatens+to+Ignore+Congress++
"The President has the ability to exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way."
Tony Snow -- January 8, 2007
We've jumped the shark. If this idea doesn't outrage the American population, the media and the opposition party (and even his own party), then we've lost track of what America is all about. Do we have a constitution or don't we?
I can't imagine any other president saying he has the right to do what he pleases even if Congress makes it illegal. What does "if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way" mean? Wrong, according to whom? The fact that it is a law makes it right by definition, by our democracy, by our constitution.
The president can veto laws he thinks Congress voted the wrong way on. But if they override his veto, it is not within his authority to ignore that law. This is so fundamental that it's unbelievable that it has to be spelled out.
If you asked whether a president could do this in an eighth grade civics class and someone answered -- "Yes, a president can exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress voted the wrong way." -- you would unquestionably fail them. That is not the correct answer. At least not in our system of government.
If Reagan felt that Congress voted the wrong way in the Boland Amendment, then does that make his administration's actions in Iran-Contra legal? If Nixon felt Congress would have voted the wrong way on impeachment, could he just stay in office? Even he wasn't brazen enough to make this claim.
This is the stuff constitutional crises are made of. This president has been unabashedly breaking and reinterpreting the law to suit his needs for years now. He does out in the open. He does it with the flimsiest of explanations. And he rubs everyone's face in it.
Read the rest here: http://www.signs-of-the-times.org/articles/show/125409-The+White+House+Threatens+to+Ignore+Congress++
