They missed the most important point.
The office of the President of the United States was created with a limited set of duties and responsibilities. But over time, egotistical presidents have cumulatively usurped far more power than was ever intended for them to have. In short, they want to always be in charge, the bride at every wedding, and the corpse at every funeral. Likewise, they and their office are continually in the limelight, *at their behest*.
This needs to end. It will end with a POTUS who realizes even before he is elected that his office is too powerful and too aggressive. He will have to work with a cooperative congress, and yet many congressmen and senators lust for that office *and* all of its powers as they are. So to reduce these powers will not be easy.
Before he is even nominated, he must be asked the question: “Do you think the office of the president is too powerful, and if you do, how should it be limited?”
If his response is either that the powers of the office are acceptable, or that they need to be enlarged, then he is not fit for office. Most likely, he is so self confident that he honestly believes that he can “control the power and use it wisely.”
No, he can’t. Nobody can. The office MUST be reduced in power.
To worry that it might become an “imperial presidency” is not irrelevant, because it *has* become that. And to thrive, this imperial presidency must end.
I couldn't agree more.
The executive has accumulated despotic powers. Whether they are in the hands of a benevolent or evil man is irrelevant, for their existence equals the de facto end of our republic.
Obama regarded the 2012 election as vindication of his lawlessness, and like any despot he regards his will as law. Despite reliance on elections, he fancies he is not made for the people, but the people for him.
So, what is to be done to restore the constitutional office of the President of the United States?