Posted on 07/09/2014 1:13:13 PM PDT by PoloSec
Republicans in the House of Representatives have conveyed the message that they would support Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) lawsuit against President Barack Obama for allegedly abusing his powers of executive privilege, even though critics on the right dismiss the move as no more than a political stunt.
Several Republican legislators on Tuesday said the president leaves them with no choice but to sue him, citing executive actions to bypass the gridlocked Congress on issues that include health care, immigration, foreign policy and energy.
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said he believes the lawsuit is “a very reasonable step to take. We believe the president has been violating the law and going around the law.”
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said he’s “reluctantly” endorsing the lawsuit, although it’s “unfortunate” Republicans have been pushed to this extreme. “At some point, the president has to listen to the legislative branch and this may be a way to make that happen,” Kinzinger elaborated. “I don’t celebrate this. Any time that we have to go into the courts to settle a dispute shows that the system isn’t quite working as it should at this moment, which is sad to see.”
Boehner has been facing criticism from both the left and the right for planning legislation, which is likely to be brought for a vote this month, that would authorize the House general counsel to sue the Obama administration and “compel” the president to enforce existing laws.
The White House and Democrats have dismissed the lawsuit threat as a political maneuver designed to strengthen Republican support ahead of November’s midterm election. Surprisingly, they have been joined by some conservative commentators, including Erick Erickson, the RedState.com editor who wrote a scathing critique of the lawsuit plan on Monday, arguing that Boehner should “man up” instead. “I realize John Boehner and the House Republicans may lack the fortitude to fight President Obama, but I would kindly ask that he save the taxpayers further money on a political stunt solely designed to incite Republican voters who might otherwise stay home given the establishment’s abandonment of their constitutionally derived powers,” Erickson wrote. “John Boehner’s lawsuit is a Republican waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Sarah Palin also belittled the lawsuit on Tuesday, stating that it was time for Republicans to impeach the president instead. “You don’t bring a lawsuit to a gunfight, and there’s no room for lawyers on our front lines,” the former Republican vice-presidential nominee said. But most rank-and-file Republicans disagreed with her, noting that impeachment was not politically viable, or even appropriate. “This is much more responsible,” said King in regard to the lawsuit, adding that he would “absolutely not” support impeachment. “And no true conservative should, because that destabilizes the government.”
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) pointed to the example of former President Bill Clinton, who was impeached by a Republican-controlled House in 1998 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but subsequently acquitted by the Senate. “If we couldn’t get a verdict on the impeachment of Bill Clinton, why would we think we could get one in the United States Senate with Harry Reid as majority leader,” Steve King said. “So that’s off the table.”
For his part, Boehner dismissed the idea when asked last month if his lawsuit was a prelude to impeachment proceedings in the House. “This is not about impeachment,” the House Speaker said. “This is about faithfully executing the laws of our country.” Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) spoke in a similar manner, asserting that the lawsuit is a result of “an overreach on the part of the executive branch.” Impeachment, Bishop said, had a number of problems. “First of all, the last time the House impeached somebody, it made the president more popular,” Bishop stated, referring to the dramatic rise in Clinton’s approval rating following his impeachment. “That should not be the goal — [the president] becomes empathetic and a martyr. Second problem is if the Senate’s not going to pass it, why waste your time? The third one is Joe Biden would be president — that’s no big improvement.”
The House already has full Constitutional recourse.
There is no need for the legislative branch
to appeal to the judicial branch
to protest abuses of the executive branch.
The House has the power of the purse,
but they fear the scorn of the media.
Wussies
Words fail me. Printable words, that is.
It is a stunt.
Nothing more than a PR Symbolic gesture with no teeth.
Smoke and Mirrors.
IMPEACH Boehner. He’s a tan drunk sissy.
Excellent way for them to be completely ineffective. Who was holding their breath on this one?
Impeachment is a fool’s errand, I’m sorry but it is.
We must NOT NOT NOT make this nincompoop a martyr. That is the one and only thing we could do that would make things worse.
Let History judge him a failure, which she will, but let us not make him a martyr or do anything else that will interfere with that judgment sure to come.
Damnable cowards shirking their sworn duty and trying to foist if off on others. I detest them.
It is rare to see so many run so fast from their duty. The republican “leaders” who we elected once again fold like a cheap deck of cards, their chubby faces stuffed with our money. Hang the lot of ‘em for gross dereliction of duty, extreme cowardice and negligent treason.
Well said.
......................and................how long will this lawsuit take to even make it to court?
Fellow freepers are right.........It will take as long as it takes to elect more democrats after Obama leaves office...if he leaves.
I understand that once they Obamas) move into your neighborhood they don’t ever leave.
We have the exact situation the Central Oligarchy Party prefers....
Take a look around pal (King), do you not see or even sense that forces are currently hard at work with an agenda that effectively destabilizes the government?
It appears the only thing stopping the current marxist, islamic anti-American who believes our Constitution is fundamentally flawed together with his embedded socialist cohorts, is a 5/4 USSC.
Thank you, kind sir.
Do we really want to follow the same path again?
My opinion is that impeachment will probably happen but not now. We need a few more scandals (and they will happen) and much greater public support for impeachment. I think Boehner is biding his time.
Don’t be stupid, do both.
With the senate held by the democrat party, a thousand pinpricks will have more disruptive effect than doing only one thing at a time or nothing at all.
There are thousands of legitimate reasons to sue and you could submit one valid article of impeachment a day on the kenyan and never run out of fresh articles.
Pounding them with charges is better than what the GOP house is doing now; sucking their thumbs and pouting that “it won’t work anyway so why bother”.
Obama has committed high crimes against the constitution.
Dingy Harry would laugh his dementia-self silly if the House presented articles of impeachment.
There is no contradiction between the two.
So, I would better admire any rep who publicly stated that Obama committed high crimes, yet admitted there isn't the political will in congress to do anything about it.
Go Boehner. Go sue the guy. It will make the GOPe safe-seat holders feel better. Hopefully, all of you splendid old fellows will get back to business as usual after the election. That is, you'll get back to dividing up the swag with wonderful Republican Reaches Across The Aisle to the people who control the government.
O yeah, The Death of The Republic? Yes, we must, must I say. take a look at that. Oprime número dos por español. Good-bye now. ¡Adiós!
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