The Imperial Obama Presidency?
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Did the election re-structure the federal government and make the executive branch the supreme power over the other branches?
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Since the election, the attitude that Liberals in general, and President Obama in particular, have taken regarding how the federal government should operate has been perplexing if not downright ironic.
With matters like the “fiscal cliff” as well as the appointment of Susan Rice as secretary of state, the president, Liberals and their media echo chamber have chanted how Mr. Obama won the election and thus should be given everything he wants by the minority Senate Republicans as well as the House of Representatives that is controlled by Republicans.
No doubt, if deference and the balance of power were based upon the ability of Mr. Obama to place the electorate into a trance and make it accept 8% unemployment and an anemic 2% GDP growth rate as voters did this past election, the president should be given absolute power unhindered by the judicial and legislative branches.
Wizard Obama deserves credit for convincing voters to accept high unemployment and low growth but the election did not give him unfettered power to govern
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But this past election was about electing a President, House and Senators. No where did any ballot give the option to re-structure the federal government and give the President unchallenged power. And when last checked, Republicans won the House of Representatives with a solid majority which means that by virtue of that arguably archaic but still relevant U.S. Constitution, the House still has an integral role in the federal government. Like it or not, Mr. Obama must secure the House’s approval for any new law (fiscal or otherwise) to be enacted regardless of what mandate he dreams to have gotten in the election.
The president famously told Republican House member Eric Cantor in 2009 “elections have consequences, and Eric, I won.” Such was an easy position for him to hold as Democrats held congress and the White House with a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate back then. But now Mr. Obama and his Liberal cohorts must deal with last month’s inconvenient election consequnces: both he and the House Republicans won.
Unless Mr. Obama and Liberals are suggesting an imperial presidency which they have historically despised and accused Republican presidents of, they’re going to have to learn to get along with Republicans. Perhaps an infamous Obama re-set on their attitudes is in order.
-I.M. Windee
