John Yoo on Obama's most recent power grab:
This, in my view, is not up to the president, but the Senate. It is up to the Senate to decide when it is in session or not, and whether it feels like conducting any real business or just having senators sitting around on the floor reading the papers. The president cannot decide the legitimacy of the activities of the Senate any more than he could for the other branches, and vice versa.Read the rest.
Is the president going to have the authority to decide if the Supreme Court has deliberated too little on a case? Does Congress have the right to decide whether the president has really thought hard enough about granting a pardon? Under Obama’s approach, he could make a recess appointment anytime he is watching C-SPAN and feels that the senators are not working as hard as he did in the Senate (a fairly low bar).
See also:
Michelle Malkin: He’s baaaaack: Obama recess-appoints Dodd-Frank czar
Andrew McCarthy: Reid Backs Obama on Recess Appointment
David Freddoso: Is the Senate in recess? The Constitution says no
Conn Carroll: Obama Sets Constitution on Fire
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Funny about Reid and Pelosi - they'd prefer being the King's favored courtiers than being elected legislators.
ReplyDeleteI am very annoyed how the congress is just so willing to cede its power. That being said, one of Bush's former lawyers believes that Obama is correct on the law and his appointment is legal.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Perry's idea of a part time congress is a really, really, did I say really, bad idea.
ReplyDelete"That being said, one of Bush's former lawyers believes that Obama is correct on the law and his appointment is legal."
ReplyDeleteC'mon, Jacg, what's with the Dem spin lately? First "Big Government Santorum", now "Bush did it first! Or at least he would have if he thought he could have gotten away with it!"
Usually you're on the money, but lately you're off. What's up?
Walt, sometimes things we don't like are legal. I am not happy he did this, but there are people who believe that this is legal.
ReplyDeleteMy question is how do we find this out? Who can get SCOTUS to rule on the legality of it?
And I do believe believe Santorum to be a big government, compassionate conservative cut from the same cloth as Dubbya.
That doesn't mean I would prefer Obama to him, but I don't he will make change all that much. The money will just be doled out to causes you and I like more.
The strangest part is that Scott Brown was willing to vote for this guy, so I don't understand the need to do this. He would have been confirmed anyway.
ReplyDelete"Walt, sometimes things we don't like are legal. I am not happy he did this, but there are people who believe that this is legal."
ReplyDeleteThis specific appointment, of the three or four he made while the Senate was still technically in session, is doubly wrong because the Dodd/Frank law itself creates this position and calls for the Senate to approve him - no room for a recess appointment.
One lawyer arguing that anything is legal means exactly nothing, Jacg.
"And I do believe believe Santorum to be a big government, compassionate conservative cut from the same cloth as Dubbya." So do lots of MSM talking heads lately - you should get out more.
"The money will just be doled out to causes you and I like more." Causes like national security and law enforcement? Yeah, that'd be swell.
Walt, look at his voting record. It speaks for itself, so does his ties to K street.
ReplyDeleteFiscally he has not voted as a conservative. He also has a great many questions to answer about his residency status. He lived in VA while he was senator, so did his family. He admitted that he only spend about 30 days a year in PA. That will be an issue. I don't care about it all that much, but many will.
I'm glad he was in on the K Street Project, Jacg. Here's Rush from yesterday:
ReplyDelete"What Rick Santorum has always been about is disempowering the Democrats. Same thing with Tom DeLay. It is why the Democrats had to take DeLay out. It's why the Democrats came up with these phony prosecutions of DeLay and did everything they could to get him out of the Republican leadership: Because Tom DeLay was a successful enemy of the Democrats and their entrenched power in that town; and Santorum knows full well the entrenched power in that town and he is devoted to breaking it up, pure and simple. His K Street Project was simply, you know, nothing more than an attempt to lessen the Democrats' lobbying power."
Read the whole thing, or better yet, listen:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/01/04/mantra_santorum_is_a_big_government_conservative
Yeah, I take a lot of cues from Rush. Levin, too. Do you think you're helping Perry by using Dem agitprop to hit a rival conservative? I think Santorum could be a GREAT president.
And if you're still wondering about the legality of unrecess appointments, I adjure you to listen to the first ten minutes of Levin today, 1/5:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.marklevinshow.com/sectional.asp?id=32930
Mark Levin was Meese's chief of staff - he's a lawyer who can't be bought off.
And here's another lawyer on this matter:
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/01/05/the-white-house-is-wrong-the-senate-conducted-business-during-its-recess/
Sorry we disagree, Jacg, especially since I respect your opinions.
Walt, I am not really a Perry fan. I don't like any of them. I live in VA so I don't have to worry about who I am going to vote for. Because I have only two options, both of which stink, so I am not voting in the primary except for my senate candidate. This is a mute point to me as far as the primary goes.
ReplyDeleteLook, I want the constitution followed. I care more about that then I do about party. Rush is justifying the lobbyist ties and the strong arm tactics that Delay used. He was corrupt and he was a man that didn't allow the process to work the way it was intended to work. He was the republican version of Nancy Pelosi.
I don't care about party. I have gotten way past that. I want our government to work they way it was designed to work. It doesn't matter to me what letter comes after the name, if a person is usurping the powers that they have, I don't like them.
They're all flawed, it's true. Not only are they human, but politics attracts big egos. Bachmann's head didn't seem as swelled as the rest of the field's (still think those migraines would have been a feature, not a bug), and I'll miss her.
ReplyDeleteTry to be more optimistic! The Dems and their media lackeys are trying to depress you - don't let them. I'll bet they fix that VA ballot, and you will get to choose Newt & company!
Oh, how I wish Delay had Boehner's job now! That guy was a fighter, a real happy warrior. (He had as many foster kids as Bachmann, you know, and foster parenting isn't for show - like a few dollars to UN charities.) The Dems tossed everything at him - why, his wife was drawing a salary as part of his staff! (Snort, so did "Payroll Bess" Truman, and she wasn't helping a score of foster kids through college.)
Delay was not corrupt, and he was no military-jet Pelosi. (Why's that harpy too lazy to use her own wings?!) We're always complaining "How come our guys don't fight back?" Well, Delay did, and we allowed the Dems and their media bootlickers to define him. Shame on us!
Start caring about party, please - we need to take ours back. The GOP started by pulling on blue uniforms and marching south to free the slaves - free them from the Democrats. Stand up like Harriet Tubman did and get out the vote for the Republicans!