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Democracy Denied: Barack Obama's Executive Power Grab
Townhall.com ^ | January 15, 2012 | Erik Telford

Posted on 01/15/2012 1:09:06 PM PST by Kaslin

In 2008, Barack Obama was swept into the White House in large part due to public opposition to President Bush’s heavy-handed use of executive power and accusations that he had circumvented Congress - a constant criticism employed by candidate Obama on the stump.

Consider this quote: “We can no longer wait for Congress to do its job. . . . So where Congress won’t act, I will.”

It sounds like the kind of executive arrogance for which Bush was regularly pilloried by the media and his Democratic opponents. Yet these were not words uttered by President Bush; they were spoken by President Obama on October 29th, 2011 during his weekly radio address.

Since taking office two years ago, the Obama administration has engaged in a pattern of executive power abuse that would make even Richard Nixon blush. In fact, the administration has made a deliberate strategic decision that the only way they can advance their radical leftwing agenda is to circumvent the Congress and openly defy the will of the people. As Julie Pace wrote last week in the Associated Press, “Leaving behind a year of bruising legislative battles, President Barack Obama enters his fourth year in office having calculated that he no longer needs Congress to promote his agenda.”

White House deputy press secretary, Josh Earnest, has even gone so far as to state as a matter of public record that the administration now considers the role of Congress to be optional, saying of legislative action: “that’s no longer a requirement.”

This is a very troubling – not to mention blatantly unconstitutional – approach to governing, one that every American must be made aware of in this critical election year that will decide so much about our country’s future.

Phil Kerpen has been a seminal leader in the critical efforts to inform the public about this administration’s egregious actions that threaten the very foundation of our republic. His recently released book “Democracy Denied: How Obama is Ignoring You and Bypassing Congress to Radically Transform America - and How to Stop Him” is a must-read for every citizen who cares about restoring this country to constitutional principles and setting America back on a path to prosperity.

Kerpen provides the most comprehensive chronicle of the extent to which the administration has resorted to executive power abuse after failing to succeed though the proper legislative action in Congress. Cap-and-trade energy regulations, a government takeover of the internet – so called “Net Neutrality,” and a forced unionization measure known as Card Check, were all efforts that failed to pass through Congress, yet the administration has managed to enact almost wholesale through executive agency action.

In 2010, the American electorate delivered a stunning rebuke to the Obama agenda in a historic wave election that shifted control of Congress firmly into Republican hands. Yet, rather than heed this overwhelming public reproach, the administration has – as Kerpen says – attempted to “turn sidestepping Congress into a political virtue,” and redoubled their efforts through such actions as blocking access to domestic energy, abusive implementation of Obamacare, an all-out assault on property rights, and the list goes on and on…

This type of dictatorial action, in defiance of our constitution and every democratic principle upon which this country was founded, must be ended once and for all. Kerpen sets forth a clear path to a solution that will end executive tyranny – regardless of the political party occupying the White House.

The centerpiece of that solution is the REINS Act. The legislation, sponsored by Senator Rand Paul in the Senate and Congressman Geoff Davis in the House, would reassert the role of Congress, requiring all rules, regulations, and mandates that have a significant economic impact to be approved by the legislative branch before they can become effective. The House passed the bill, H.R. 10, a few weeks ago. The Senate should do the same.

Phil Kerpen has sounded the alarm, now it is up to all of us to stand and take action. It begins with reading “Democracy Denied,” and continues with us spreading the word to our friends, families, and fellow citizens and pressing members of Congress and candidates for Congress to commit to standing up to abuses of power from the executive branch, regardless of party.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: federalpowergrab; obamapowergrab

1 posted on 01/15/2012 1:09:12 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: All


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2 posted on 01/15/2012 1:14:32 PM PST by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: Kaslin
White House deputy press secretary, Josh Earnest, has even gone so far as to state as a matter of public record that the administration now considers the role of Congress to be optional, saying of legislative action: “that’s no longer a requirement.”

And "crickets" are heard over the MSM (pravda west) when this is stated.

3 posted on 01/15/2012 1:17:19 PM PST by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
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To: Kaslin
The almost-too-late realization that Barack Obama intends to be a dictator and cares nothing about our constitution or the separation of powers, much less, executive restraint, is what drives some to throw up their hands and say "fine, we'll take Mitt Romney. He has to be better than Obama."

That's quite true, since Obama is a dedicated Marxist that fully intends to bring this country to it's knees economically and by doing so, reduce it's power and influence as well as provide 'income equality' (translation: communism). However, electing anybody-but-Obama and expecting things to drastically improve is foolish. Sure, Romney might help the economy by opening up our oil resources and other common sense acts but he is no conservative and will seek all sorts of ways to accommodate Harry Reid's hypocritical calls for 'compromise' and , the Democrat's favorite: 'bi-partisanship' (translation: Democrats get 95% of what they want and throw the Republicans a few crumbs).

I much prefer a conservative president but I'm sure any Republican can defeat Obama. I just fear that his last two months in office will be a very dangerous time for this country.

4 posted on 01/15/2012 1:29:51 PM PST by Jim Scott
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To: Kaslin
In 2010, the American electorate delivered a stunning rebuke to the Obama agenda in a historic wave election that shifted control of Congress firmly into Republican hands.

While it's a generally good article, this statement is blatantly NOT TRUE. Only the House of Representatives moved into Republican control.

5 posted on 01/15/2012 2:08:25 PM PST by Wolfstar (“The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.” Theodore Roosevelt)
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To: Kaslin

Each day brings more validation that the Food Stamp President will not relinquish power if defeated and if re-elected will do away with Congress and the Supreme Court. A civil war is coming.


6 posted on 01/15/2012 3:52:05 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (There's a pill for just about everything ... except stupid!)
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To: Jim Scott

>>> I just fear that his last two months in office will be a very dangerous time for this country.<<<

You and me both. I keep thinking that we’re going to see an event roughly equivalent to the burning of the Reichstag. I don’t know what it will look like, but I’ll bet it’ll be fairly obvious once it occurs.

God help us.


7 posted on 01/15/2012 4:14:58 PM PST by redpoll
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To: redpoll; Jim Scott

Count me in. Of course I hope nobama goes down in defeat. But if he does, I greatly fear for this country. Consider the shenanigans in 2010. Mere child’s play compared to what he will try and pull in Nov and Dec this year.

All of this presumes we will have an election this year. With this POS, who knows?


8 posted on 01/15/2012 5:41:34 PM PST by upchuck (Let's have the Revolution NOW before we get dumbed down to the point that we can't.)
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