How Can We Stop the Overreaching Presidency? H.R. 442
In his recent interview on Face the Nation, Senator Ted Cruz voiced his deep concern over the ‘abuse of power’ coming from the Obama administration.
Like Senator Ted Cruz, many Americans have become very troubled about the Obama administration’s use of government force to attack its opposition. First, we have the IRS targeting Conservative groups (including: wealthy Romney campaign donors, Reverend Billy Graham’s organization, Dr. Ben Carson, Conservative Hollywood groups and many other Tea Party organizations). Now, we discover that the feds are “coincidentally” prosecuting Dinesh D’souza, a Conservative filmmaker who made the documentary “2016” about Obama. And, of course, we must not forget the “scapegoat” filmmaker the administration threw in jail as part of the Benghazi cover-up.
These are just a few examples, but all scary stuff, nonetheless.
Yet, the most frightening ‘abuse of power’ may be how President Obama has threatened to take action with or without Congressional approval in 2014. Yes, the president has decided that he’s not answerable to YOU or to ME, the very people Congress actually represents.
Speaking to a group of Americans last week, Congressman Tom Rice said, “The House of Representatives is the people’s house. There’s a reason why we have to be elected every two years…because we are always answerable to YOU. That’s how YOU have YOUR power.”
Every time the president decides to skirt around Congress and write his executive orders, he’s completely ignoring the will of the American people.
After the State of the Union Tuesday night, Politico reported:
President Barack Obama outlined plans Tuesday to make 2014 his year of action — using his executive authorities wherever possible while encouraging Congress to go even further.
Obama took on a more pragmatic tone than in previous State of the Union addresses, acknowledging that getting his agenda past House Republicans was unlikely and therefore he would use his power to do what he can on his own.
Sunday, White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer also stated, “President Obama has a pen and he has a phone, and he will use them to take executive action…”
Is he trying to be a dictator?
Of course, the president blames those “evil” Republicans for having to take such drastic measures. Last year, he promised, “Where Republicans refuse to cooperate on things that I know are good for the American people, I will continue to look for ways to do it administratively and work around Congress.”
Politico has even noted President Obama’s BOLD executive actions:
Obama has delivered on his promise and worked around Congress with breathtaking audacity. In his signature legislative achievement alone, the Affordable Care Act, the president has unilaterally amended the law multiple times, including:
- delaying the employer mandate and caps on out-of-pocket expenses
- waiving the individual mandate for certain people,
- extending tax credits to individuals who purchase insurance through the federal health insurance exchange and
- ignoring a statutory requirement that Congress and their staff participate in the exchanges.
But the president’s audacity doesn’t stop with Obamacare. He has also suspended immigration law, refusing to deport certain young illegal aliens—a major reform that Congress has refused to enact.
Similarly, with the stroke of a magisterial pen, he has gutted large swaths of federal law that enjoy bipartisan support, including the Clinton-era welfare reform work requirement, the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law and the classification of marijuana as an illegal controlled substance.
So much for the separation of powers.
Separation of Powers is fundamental to our freedom. President Obama forgets that this is a nation of laws. Nobody, including the president, is above the law. Our Founding Fathers fought a bloody war against the most powerful military in the world to escape the chains of a monarch. They wanted total freedom. To protect this freedom, they designed a system of government that was: of the people, by the people, and for the people. They did so–by including the Separation of Powers.
Yet, the Separation of Powers hasn’t seemed to stop our ambitious president one bit. After all, he’s not going to let some silly little thing like our Constitution get in the way of his agenda.
As Obama recently declared, “I’m not going to wait for Congress to enact my agenda. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a telephone.”
Plain and simple–our freedom is under attack as long as this man is holding a pen in his hands.
Congressman Rice said, “Our forefathers recognized that somebody who can both enact the law and enforce the law– is not a president, they’re a king…. Our freedom is in peril, my friend. We can NOT stand by and let the president shred our Constitution.”
I know that many Americans think the president should be impeached for his (many) abuses of power. However, let’s be realistic–he won’t be impeached as long as Harry Reid is in power and Democrats have control of the Senate.
However…
Congressman Tom Rice has proposed a solution that can be passed in the House of Representatives, called House Resolution 442, or S.T.O.P. (Stop the Overreaching Presidency).
Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution entitled: “Presidential Responsibilities”, states that the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Clearly, President Obama has chosen to ignore some of the laws written by Congress.
The President has repeatedly ignored this Constitutionally-mandated duty, to include:
- His one-year extension of the “substandard” insurance policies.
- His one-year delay in Obamacare’s employer mandate.
- Granting deferred removal action to illegal immigrants.
His waiver of the welfare work requirement under TANF.
Congressman Tom Rice further stated that “H.Res. 442, the Stop This Overreaching Presidency Resolution, directs the House to institute legal action to require the President to comply with the law.”
The BEST part–The S.T.O.P. Resolution does not require a vote in the Senate.
Rice stated:
It’s got to spread out to the grassroots and across the country. Congressmen, every Republican and every Democrat need to be getting a hundred emails and a hundred faxes into their offices saying, ‘Please sign on to H.R. 442. The foundation of our government is under attack.”
This resolution will not get to the floor and will not get a vote unless we get a groundswell from the grassroots.
Think about this now. Think about what’s going to happen when this (S.T.O.P.) hits the (House) floor. Think about what the headlines are going to be:
“House of Representatives Takes a Stand to Stop Presidential Overreach”
“House of Representatives Takes a Stand to Enforce the Constitution”
Think about those headlines!
And when the Court takes it up, what a great teaching moment for the American public… What a great opportunity to let people know they need to have their eyes open and that they need to be paying attention–our Constitution is in peril!”
So far, Congressman Rice already has 64 co-sponsors for this resolution, but he explains that he needs 200 co-sponsors to really make it happen. Rice urges everyone to go to his website and look at the list of ways they can get this resolution across the finish line.
