Free Republic

As you may recall, we tend to reserve the "pure gold" descriptor for uniquely egregious instances of Obama hypocrisy. This one surely qualifies. American Commitment clips a stump speech snippet from 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama, scrupulous defender of our constitutional structure, and righteous critic of executive power grabs. Behold:

Submitted by Ron Paul of the Ron Paul Institute, President Obama’s state of the union pledge to “act with or without Congress” marks a milestone in presidential usurpation of Congressional authority. Most modern presidents have used executive orders to change and even create laws without Congressional approval. However President Obama is unusually brazen, in that most Presidents do not brag about their plans to rule by executive order in state of the union speeches. Sadly, his pledge to use his pen to implement laws and polices without the consent of Congress not only received thunderous applause from representatives of the...

The ugly rash of financial services executive suicides appears to have spread once again. Following the jumping deaths of 2 London bankers and a former-Fed economist in the US, The Denver Post reports Richard Talley, founder and CEO of American Title, was found dead in his home from self-inflicted wounds - from a nail-gun. Talley's company was under investigation from insurance regulators. Via The Denver Post, Richard Talley, 57, and the company he founded in 2001 were under investigation by state insurance regulators at the time of his death late Tuesday, an agency spokesman confirmed Thursday. It was unclear how...

President Obama on Friday said that he believed immigration reform could pass in 2014, but cautioned that he would consider executive actions if House Republicans fail to act. “There are still some differences, and obviously, the devil is in the details. But it is my firm belief that we can get immigration reform done this year,” said Obama in a Google+ Hangout in which he took questions from the public. “Obviously, if at some point we see that it's not getting done, I'm going to look at options to make sure that we have a rational, smart system of immigration,”...

Nothing less than the boundaries of executive power are at stake Monday as the Supreme Court considers whether President Obama violated the Constitution during his first term. Oral arguments slated for Monday will center on a trio of recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that were deemed unconstitutional by lower courts. If they uphold the decision, experts say the justices could endanger hundreds of NLRB decisions. Even more significant are the ramifications for future presidents, with the court poised either to bolster or blunt the chief executive’s appointment powers. “Rulings like this have implications that last for...

'...illegal under federal constitutional and statutory law.' Looks like those of us who've been scratching our heads re. how Obama magically and with zero debate somehow suddenly obtained Stalinesque dictatorial powers to alter congressional legislation, issue diktats, and otherwise tell us plebes what we need to do to avoid His wrath were right all along...  Obama's attempts to patch-up the ACA with 'executive actions' are illegal/unconstitutional, and the TEA Party was the only one who ever even gave a damn- everybody else just let him run hog wild. These days you can expect the Dems to sit there like lambs...

Specializes in bypassing Congress to enact 'progressive change' A senior progressive strategist and former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton who specializes in the use of executive authority to bypass Congress is reportedly joining the White House. The New York Times is reporting John Podesta, founder of the Center for American Progress, has agreed to serve as counselor to President Obama for a year. Podesta last month announced the establishment of a new group, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, that will work within his Center for American Progress. The new center bills itself as a research and grant-making...

Two-thirds of Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a referendum to cap executive pay at 12 times the wage of a firm's lowest earner ... Switzerland, which has long boasted a business-friendly climate coupled with one of the highest average salaries in the world, has largely avoided the economic crisis dogging the European Union, of which it is a staunch non-member. The referendum campaign was spearheaded by the Socialist Party, plus the Greens and trade unions.

Slavery is once more legal in the United States. In this episode of The Truth Is Viral, host Bob Powell reveals language buried deep inside Executive Order 13603, which Barack Obama signed into law on March 16th 2012 that gives the Federal government the legal authority to force any person into de facto slavery. According to this Executive Order the President, or those he designates, can conscript "persons of outstanding experience and ability without compensation," in "peacetime and times of national emergency." In a nutshell, that means that Barack Obama, and those he designates, can seize any resource, property, or...

The president used his weekly address to the American people to demand that Congress meet its two responsibilities: “pass a budget on time and pay our bills on time.” Despite Republican attempts to defund his signature healthcare reform law, the president promised that the next phase of the law will kick in on October 1 “no matter what.” “I will work with anyone who wants to have a serious conversation about our economic future,” Obama said. “But I will not negotiate over Congress’ responsibility to pay the bills it has already racked up. I don’t know how to be more...

The White House announced on Thursday that it intends to “ban almost all re-imports of military surplus firearms to private entities” through executive order, which would effectively shut down the 110-year-old Civilian Marksmanship Program. In a Fact Sheet published on Whitehouse.gov today referencing the upcoming executive order the ban on importing military weapons is designed to “keep military-grade firearms off our streets.” Exceptions for import may be allowed for museums. The CMP tightly controls the importation of obsolete military weapons. The program was created by the U.S. Congress as part of the 1903 War Department Appropriations Act with the purpose...

In his dazzling revolutionary polemic, Common Sense, Thomas Paine explained in no uncertain terms that in America, the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other. John Adams put this a little more pithily a few years later, distilling into the new constitution of Massachusetts an ancient English value: This state, Adams wrote, would be “a government of laws and not of men.” Adams’s axiom has become American scripture; an impulsively recalled maxim of liberty to which all men...

<p>As a reaction to the crack epidemic of the 1980s, many federal drug laws carry strict mandatory sentences. This has stirred unease in Congress and sparked a bipartisan effort to revise and relax some of the more draconian laws.</p> <p>Traditionally — meaning before Barack Obama — that’s how laws were changed: We have a problem, we hold hearings, we find some new arrangement, which is ratified by Congress and signed by the president.</p>

Obama Suggests Only Lawyers Understand the Constitution July 29, 2013 - 2:28 PM By Elizabeth Harrington (CNSNews.com) --President Obama suggested in an interview with the New York Times that was published on Saturday that you need to be a lawyer to understand the U.S. Constitution. The president made the suggestion when talking about members of Congress who have argued he does not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally suspend enforcement of parts of the Obamacare law. The Times asked Obama if he “consulted” with his lawyer when making the decision to suspend the employer mandate, which would require businesses with...

We've seen examples of the Executive behaving badly in the past, and the checks and balances have held. But never have we seen the extent of bad behavior that this administration has demonstrated. It's refused to enforce laws duly passed by Congress (Immigration, DOMA) It's discriminated in enforcing civil rights laws. (black panthers) It's ignored court orders. It's performed illegal gun running operations. It's used executive order to create law outside of the legislative including laws that were specifically rejected by the legislative branch. It's lied to Congress on multiple occasions. It's engaged in War without Congressional approval and even...

A federal judge gave a skeptical reception Wednesday to the Obama administration’s arguments that the courts should stay out of the dispute over the Justice Department’s refusal to turn over some Operation Fast and Furious-related documents to a House committee. Last June, the fight led President Barack Obama to assert executive privilege over the records of the controversial gun trafficking investigation, and to House votes finding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson spent most of an hour-and-a-half hearing Wednesday

Over the course of the last month, while Americans were distracted with the threat of nuclear war on the Korean peninsula and the devastation wrought by the Boston bombings, President Obama was quietly working behind the scenes to craft laws and regulations that will further erode the Second Amendment. Congress, and thus We the People, may have unequivocally rejected federal legislation in March which aimed to outlaw most semi-automatic rifles, restrict magazine capacity, and force national registration, but that didn’t stop the President from ceding regulatory control over firearms importation to the United Nations just two weeks later. What the...

Joe Biden says the president of the United States is preparing to take "executive actions" to deal with guns. BuzzFeed reports: Vice President Biden told White House allies in the gun control fight Thursday that President Obama will be announcing new executive actions on gun violence in the days after the Senate voted down a gun violence bill. On a conference call with "stakeholders," Biden told gun control advocates that the fight is not over and that eventual action on gun control will come. Press were not invited to the conference call; a participant provided BuzzFeed with access. "Look I...

President Obama is considering a series of new executive actions aimed at working around a recalcitrant Congress, including policies that could allow struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages, provide new protections for gays and lesbians, make buildings more energy-efficient and toughen regulations for coal-fired power plants, according to people outside the White House involved in discussions on the issues. **SNIP** The administration declined to provide details on timing of the possible actions; one White House official said the moves to boost housing, retrofit buildings, offer same-sex protections or issue new environmental rules were not imminent. Obama may touch on some...

An “Open letter to all Federal Firearms Licensees” released Wednesday by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Firearms and Explosives Industry Division Chief Chad J. Yoder fulfills one of the 23 executive actions President Barack Obama announced at Wednesday’s signing, but does so by pressuring dealers who are dependent on ATF approval for their economic survival to “volunteer,” while increasing their liability and exposure for infractions. “Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers” Obama said, not making clear he was going to be making a...