13 March 2014

Fighting (for) the Law

On March 12th, the House of Representatives passed the "Enforce the Law Act." This is a Republican response to what they believe is Obama's "imperialist" tendencies to go around the legislative branch when it gets in his way. It essentially gives the House (and, theoretically, the Senate) the power to bring the President up on charges if he fails to work through the proper channels when drafting laws.

The evidence for the side of the prosecution is convincing. The Affordable Care Act has been changed quite a few times since it was initiated - the administration has pushed the dates for open enrollment, or allowed old plans to be grandfathered in, or other small tweaks. And while some might say that these changes are for the betterment of the nation, the fact is, none of them went through the proper channels.

The Affordable Care Act isn't alone, either. If it was the only law subject to these kinds of tweaks, there might be some defense that this is his pet project. But it's a little bit of everything: the Dream Act, welfare, education reform, immigration - take your pick.

For Democrats, it's a little bit awesome. There's someone in power championing the things they care about most! But the other party is a little scared. As they should be.

I've mentioned before that I suspect that President Obama may be a real-life Evil Overlord. And I think I've figured out his game plan here.

The President is not, after all, a dumb man. So, where idiocy is not an option, one must assume that something is done with forethought.

The defense would thus like to present a list of quotes, thoughtfully provided by Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, of then-Senator Obama of 2003 - 2006:

"These last few years we've seen an unacceptable abuse of power having a president whose priority is expanding his own power."

"No law can give Congress a backbone if it refuses to stand up as a coequal branch the Constitution made it."

"I taught the Constitution for ten years; I believe in the Constitution."

These are all quotes from the Obama who saw President Bush steamroll legislation past the House and Senate that expanded the power of the executive branch. I imagine now that an idea began to form - maybe not consciously, maybe not even deliberately, but forming nontheless. The Democrats were the minority party, and the Republicans were championing Bush's every move. I can just picture then-Sentaor Obama thinking that, if the tables were turned, it would be the Republicans screaming for change.

But he wouldn't be able to do anything with the Senate the way it was. Democrats were heavily outnumbered in the legislative branch, with most signs pointing to a heavy Republican majority for years to come. But if he were elected President, and used those same expanded executive powers ...

Of course, he had to be careful. When he won the Presidency, he might have expected a few Representatives and Senators to ride his coattails to rebalance the legislature, but he had to wait until his own party was heavily outnumbered again. After all, as his prior experience showed, he couldn't depend on the people in his own party to object if he used his power to do things they personally approved of. He needed the objectiveness of subjective hate - that is, he needed his actions to be seen from the perspective of an enemy.

Maybe he helped things along a little bit. Maybe, if the first draft of the "Enforce the Law Act" were traced back, we might see President Obama's hand in it. Looking back at his work in the Senate, it does seem like the kind of thing he would write.

But we'll see. Perhaps I'm just a fervent supporter of the current President, and I'm seeing things that aren't actually there. But if he's absolutely brilliant - and I hope he is - then this Act will also pass the Senate. And then, to the surprise of everyone, the President will sign it into law as soon as it crosses his desk.

As a great thinker once said, it's great when a plan comes together.