What Should Republicans Do to Stop This Aggressively Unconstitutional President?

It’s hard to overstate how irresponsible President Obama would be to go forward, as he almost surely will, with his sweeping executive order on amnesty. Ross Douthat of the New York Times has written a fine column on why doing so would be, in his words, a “disgrace.” What the president is on the verge of doing would do tremendous, long-term damage to our political culture and our constitutional order. It would set a dangerous precedent. And it would be an act of extraordinary selfishness.

By now none of this should surprise us. Yet on some level it’s hard to believe an American president would do something that is, as a friend of mine puts it, “constitutionally unconscionable”–and so at odds with what Obama himself has said repeatedly. Yet we are where we are, and Republicans need to prepare to respond to the president’s provocations.

Some of the same people who embraced the stratagem that led to the government shutdown in 2013–they thought it would be a marvelous, can’t-miss, the-nation-will-rally-to-our-side idea–are eager to do the same thing again. The problem, of course, is that the government shutdown was a failure, for reasons I sketched out here. It didn’t achieve its purpose (repealing the Affordable Care Act), the public hated the shutdown, and by an overwhelming number Americans blamed Republicans for it. We know as an empirical fact that the GOP badly hurt its reputation with the public, and it took time to repair it. It doesn’t help that the same people who were so sure of the Ted Cruz-led gambit now refuse to admit it turned out much different, and much worse, they they said it would. In fact, some of them are even claiming it worked, which is simply silly.

That said, I’m not in principle opposed to creating a series of showdowns over funding the government to try to force the president to back down on his expected plan to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants (just as I wasn’t opposed to it as a means to defund the Affordable Care Act). The issue for me is one of efficacy and prudence. Will it work–or will it backfire? Will it help strengthen the conservative cause or set it back? Will Mr. Obama be forced to back down, or will he emerge stronger and Republicans weaker?

The issue has nothing to do with how much one opposes ObamaCare or is troubled by the president’s unconstitutional actions related to illegal immigrants. The most vocal advocates for government shutdowns often frame this as if they’re strongly opposed to the president’s agenda whereas those who are wary of the shutdown are not. That’s simply not the case. The difference has to do with tactics, not with the end goals. (Representative Paul Ryan thought the steps Republicans took that eventually led to the shutdown were unwise, and he’s done far more than almost anyone you can name to undo ObamaCare and advance a conservative governing agenda.) The mistake is to assume that simply because you support a particular approach the rest of America will, too; that because you think the nation should see things just as you do means it will.

Because I believe that what the president is about to do is egregious–constitutionally and institutionally, as an aggressive attack on the role of Congress and the separation of powers–I’m open to all sorts of recourses. Certainly Republicans in Congress need to respond in some manner. Those advocating a government shutdown aren’t being moronic or irresponsible; they want to protect our constitutional form of government. But neither are those who are warning against a shutdown being weak, impotent, or cowardly. It’s a matter on which intelligent people can disagree.

If you believe as I do that a government shutdown would in the end hurt more than help the conservative cause–that it simply won’t achieve its aim and it will cause collateral damage in the process–the obvious thing to do is to shift the fight onto terrain that is more favorable to the GOP. Republicans should therefore amass all the actions at their disposal to inflict maximum damage on Mr. Obama while not walking into his government shutdown trap. I wonder, for example, whether Republicans might simply refuse to act on the president’s judicial and Cabinet nominees unless and until he undoes his (forthcoming) executive action. Can similar steps be taken on a range of other issues? Can Republicans basically hit the “off” switch when it comes to the normal procedures and cooperation that takes place between a president and Congress, regardless of which party is in control?

It does strike me that we are facing an exceptional situation; that the president is inviting this needless confrontation and that he needs to pay quite a high price for it. It won’t be as high as many of us wish, but we have to adjust around that fact. The challenge for conservatives is to act in ways that are wise and realistic; that are guided not by fury but by clear thinking; and that ultimately persuade people to our point of view. We need calm, sober, intelligent, and enlightened individuals who can advance the arguments for constitutionalism and the rule of law. Because right now we have a president who is subverting both.

.. the government shutdown in 2013 .. the government shutdown was a failure .. and by an overwhelming number Americans blamed Republicans for it.

Perhaps the author's only now been released from Øbola quarantine and has yet to hear the midterm election results ?

Alternatively, he could simply be another hand-wringing 'concern' troll, preferring some flavor of appeasement to the combat required to save what's left of our Republic.

“In most countries where an elected president tries to take this much political power for himself, the Army removes him. Honduras is a recent example. “

* * *

That’s what makes our country better. We have never had to rely on a coup by the army to restore order. If we ever fall so low, our Republic will no longer be a republic. Please do NOT advocate this solution. It’s not a solution; it’s the end of your country as you know it.

I think that you mean the end of my country as I KNEW it. The country that I used to know has been fundamentally destroyed for a long time now. I think that a large number of older citizens probably feel the same as I do. I’m not so sure of the younger generation, that has experienced a total liberal indoctrination in our public schools (for the most part).

And our “better” system of checks and balances has really worked wonders for us so far, hasn’t it?

And what was Washington’s Revolution, if not a military coup against the government represented by King George?

If the hearings and investigations were produced like soap operas they would hit #1 in the ratings.

Teaching the Constitution could be a series, too, if done in drama form.

Illegal immigration from the point of view of those here legally would be great, but also, the importing of muslims and the impact on the local community could be a History channel series. Especially if the following is taught (from a post on the subject here at FR link at bottom):

“I have heard something similar to this about a year ago. I was told that Muslims were buying large tracts of land in the upper states near the Canadian border that were in the middle of nowhere and building whole Muslim communities with housing developments, mosques, schools and grocery stores.
Land would be cheap there but where are they getting the money for all the building? Unless they are educated, they can’t get good enough paying jobs for all the kids they have.”
[reply]
They don’t practice usury which means cash purchases for big ticket items.
There are no jobs in the wilderness unless they make their own but they need money from outside for sustainability.
I can fill in that blank for you. They have a large network of professional business men that have many shell companies set up all over the U.S. Some provide money laundering services to them and even form their own banks to facilitate it. Others specialize in procuring government loans through the Small Business Administration (or other government agencies) then not repaying the loans. Usually the businessmen (conmen) pretend to be working on large scale land development projects where the loans will be in the multi-millions. They have skilled professionals that can prepare blueprints, project managers that can produce cost estimates on professional looking letterhead, setup marketing material complete with business cards, brochures, and websites; they make the illusion look real.
Many of theses “businessmen” also happen to be associated with Muslim / middle eastern community organizations, religious organizations, and chambers of commerce. You will find most in large cities across the U.S. I have worked on more than just a few.
In short, they get a lot of their money from YOU and I through our own government. I’m sure other associates from the Middle Eastern countries kick in quite a bit too.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3228137/posts?page=59#33

OBAMA’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL AMNESTY TO MIGRANTS THAT ARE LIVING ILLEGALLY IN THE U.S.A.

After destroying the best health care system in the world, Obama is determined to grant wide amnesty to foreigners living illegally in U.S. If Obama wants to make the U.S. into another banana republic, it seems he is well underway to reaching his goal.

The Republicans must make it perfectly clear that Obama has declared a merciless war against the American workers and the middle class of America. There are 92 million of able Americans out of the work force because they cannot find employment and Obama wants to legalize and give work permits to over 11 million illegal aliens allowing them to bring here the rest of their families. In other words, another 25 or 30 million that either will compete with Americans and legal immigrants searching for scarce jobs or are going to be added to welfare, bankrupting Medicaid and the food stamp system as well as ruining even more the quality of the public schools with the massive infuse of hundreds of thousands of children without speaking English to already overburdened schools systems.

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