Posted on 11/18/2010 10:10:08 AM PST by My Favorite Headache
The liberal Center for American Progress doesn’t believe significant GOP gains in the House and Senate should stop the President from implementing more of his polices. The group released a report Tuesday suggesting ways Obama can bypass Congress to accomplish a progressive agenda, and it cites the president’s power as commander-in-chief to make its point.
“I think most of the conversation since the election has been about how President Obama adjusts to the new situation on Capitol Hill,” Center for American Progress head and former Bill Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta told the Daily Caller. “While that’s an important conversation, it simply ignores the president’s ability to use all levels of his power and authority to move the country forward.”
How does one “move the country forward”? In the center’s report, Podesta explains that Obama can use executive orders, rulemaking, and even the armed forces “to accomplish important change” and that such means “should not be underestimated.”
What exactly does Podesta think the president should use such powers to “accomplish”? Among others, the report suggests “job creation,“ ”quality affordable health care,“ ”sustainable security,“ and ”a clean energy future.”
The report cites specific goals such as mitigating the effects of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, supporting a Palestinian state, and reducing greenhouse gasses by 17 percent by 2020.
“The U.S. Constitution and the laws of our nation grant the president significant authority to make and implement policy,” Podesta writes. ”Congressional gridlock does not mean the federal government stands still.”
Statement from John D. Podesta November 15, 2010
In the aftermath of this month’s midterm congressional elections, pundits and politicians across the ideological spectrum are focusing on how difficult it will be for President Barack Obama to advance his policy priorities through Congress. Predictions of stalemate abound. And some debate whether the administration should tack to the left or to the center and compromise with or confront the new House leadership.
As a former White House chief of staff, I believe those to be the wrong preoccupations. President Obama’s ability to govern the country as chief executive presents an opportunity to demonstrate strength, resolve, and a capacity to get things done on a host of pressing challenges of importance to the public and our economy. Progress, not positioning, is what the public wants and deserves.
The U.S. Constitution and the laws of our nation grant the president significant authority to make and implement policy. These authorities can be used to ensure positive progress on many of the key issues facing the country through:
* Executive orders * Rulemaking * Agency management * Convening and creating public-private partnerships * Commanding the armed forces * Diplomacy
The ability of President Obama to accomplish important change through these powers should not be underestimated. President Bush, for example, faced a divided Congress throughout most of his term in office, yet few can doubt his ability to craft a unique and deeply conservative agenda using every aspect of the policymaking apparatus at his disposal. And, after his party lost control of Congress in 1994, President Clinton used executive authority and convening power to make significant progressive change. For instance, he protected more great spaces in the lower 48 states than any president since Theodore Roosevelt, established for the first time significant protections for Americans’ medical privacy, and urged the creation of the Welfare-to-Work Partnership that enlisted the help of 20,000 businesses in moving more than 1 million welfare recipients into the workforce.
The upshot: Congressional gridlock does not mean the federal government stands still. This administration has a similar opportunity to use available executive authorities while also working with Congress where possible. At the Center for American Progress, we look forward to our nation continuing to make progress.
Read the full report (pdf)
Download the executive summary (pdf)
Download the report to e-readers and mobile devices from Scribd
To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:
Print: Megan Smith (health care, education, economic policy) 202.741.6346 or msmith@americanprogress.org
Print: Anna Soellner (foreign policy and security, energy) asoellner@americanprogress.org
Print: Raúl Arce-Contreras (ethnic media, immigration) 202.478.5318 or rarcecontreras@americanprogress.org
Radio: Laura Pereyra 202.741.6258 or lpereyra@americanprogress.org
TV: Andrea Purse 202.741.6250 or apurse@americanprogress.org
Web: Erin Lindsay 202.741.6397 or elindsay@americanprogress.org http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/11/executive_orders.html/#statement
Sorry to say, but most will "follow orders".
Okay, Podesta, then we will not “underestimate” anything you say. And don’t ever underestimate the will of the American people.
Yeah, Clinton presided over a massive Federal land grab. Podesta obviously believes that's a good thing, because his vision of Government is as a despotic, arbitrary power that rules a People, not an organization that humbly enacts the commands of the People.
Firing on our own citizens was stated to be considered an illegal order.
Then there are also laws against such actions...
Obama can use executive orders, rulemaking, and even the armed forces “to accomplish important change” and that such means “should not be underestimated.”Buy an eclectic car or we will gun you down?
Buy health care or we will put you in front of the firing squad?
Dirty Harry Voice: Swell
I believe that the Army cannot discharge soldiers simply because they are HIV+. They cannot deploy them, either.
I am opposing openly gay in the military.
Did you add that acronym onto the title?
I SAY BRING IT ON, PODESTA!
FORCE YOUR PUPPET PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DO YOU WISHES!
WE KNOW THAT IT’S NOT REALLY A FREUDIAN SLIP WHEN OBAMA TOLD HIS SUPPORTERS TO “PUNISH YOUR [US] ENEMY”!
“PAGING HENRY BOWMAN!”
Surely this is an unintended consequence of my post! :)
Okers.
The wording of the second half of your post didn’t sound like it.
*shrugs*
Been a long day on my end.
Lets hope about as long as it would take tanks and gunships to surround the white house, and hang that scumbag..
Ubanga better make damn sure where the military’s loyalties are before he tries to sic armed forces on Americans.
Will this be the refurbished Armed Forces...after the (Dream) Nightmare Act, that allows ILLEGALS into our military?
“Can anyone recall someone who has worked directly with the President on a day to day basis advising the use of military on its own people? What other time in history has this counsel been given?”
Just take a look at the US government’s response to unions and strikes in the 19th Century. Not to mention their response to the Bonus Army in the early 20th. It has been done. Repeatedly.
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You have, indeed, fellow patriot and so have I and others who understand the menace of communism, Stalinism and the other oppressive isms. These people must be exposed and stopped...
I think The Blaze is overstating things. Never hurts to be prepared, but based on being in and around the military since 1970, I cannot imagine our uniformed heroes / heroines ‘turning against us.’ Let not your heart be troubled.
Go for it you A-Hole, Podesta. If you want a real war you are about to get just that!
Now we know where Clinton got his support and “understanding” of the laws/rules when he pushed through so much crap. Thanks, Podesata, you creep.
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