Obama Using Executive Power to Get Around Obstructionist GOP
The New York Times has an article today on something that’s been incredibly obvious ever since President Obama’s election: the Republican Party is bound and determined to see him fail as a president, and they’re obstructing absolutely everything he does. And now, Obama is finding ways to get things done despite these right wing tactics: Shift on Executive Powers Let Obama Bypass Congress.
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.
The right wing blogosphere is shrieking about this in apocalyptic terms, naturally, calling it “power grabs” and “tyranny,” and apparently completely unaware of how ridiculous they look.