Friday, February 15, 2019

You might be a partisan hack....

....if you agree with one of these presidential statements but not the other.


"I am going to be working with Congress where I can to accomplish this, but I am also going to act on my own if Congress is deadlocked," he said at an education event at the White House on Thursday. "I've got a pen to take executive actions where Congress won't, and I've got a telephone to rally folks around the country on this mission."
President Barack Obama - January 2014
 
 
President Trump said on Friday that he "didn't need to" declare a national emergency but did it to speed up construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

"I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this, but I'd rather do it much faster," Trump said during a press conference at the Rose Garden in the White House.
President Trump - February 2019



To be fair, there are many more right-of-center elected officials and pundits decrying Trump's move than any leftist opposition to Obama's abuse of executive authority. This is why leftists' strange new respect for separation of powers this week should largely fall on deaf ears, especially when they're already compiling scenarios on how the next Democrat president will flippantly declare "national emergencies."

In the end I'm certain there will be a legal challenge to Trump's national emergency, likely resulting in it getting shot down by the courts. And for those of us who have a vehement belief that America is not a monarchy, such a decision should be a welcome one.

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7 comments:

jerrye92002 said...

Seems to me the Prez is absolutely right that this is a national emergency and it WILL be upheld, especially if it can be done in 5th District Court rather than 9th. What else would you call an army amassed at the border including murderers, sex traffickers, child molesters and other criminals?

Brad Carlson said...

It should *not* be upheld due to its violation of Article 1, Section 9 - "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." Sorry, but the Executive Branch does not make laws, so no money can be appropriated for a wall in this instance.

Also telling is how President Trump had been contemplating for *weeks* to declare this national emergency. If you have the liberty of taking *weeks* to decide on something, then by definition it's not an emergency.

Mr. D said...

It should *not* be upheld due to its violation of Article 1, Section 9 - "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." Sorry, but the Executive Branch does not make laws, so no money can be appropriated for a wall in this instance.

Article 1 has been a dead letter for a long time, dating back to about William McKinley. It's possible Trump will get shot down, but it won't be for this reason. He's gotta steer it through Scylla, Charybdis, and a small army of Hawaiian judges.

Brad Carlson said...

To be fair, Obama regularly had many of his executive decrees challenged in the courts. His abuses were regularly shot down.

Mr. D said...

To be fair, Obama regularly had many of his executive decrees challenged in the courts. His abuses were regularly shot down.

Right. And they should have been. But DACA lives on. And so do all manner of emergency declarations. I know, I know, two wrongs don't make a right. But in the front of the proper audience, they become "precedent." I don't enjoy being a cynic about this, but let's not pretend principle is involved in any of these machinations. It's all about raw political power. Trump understands that.

Brad Carlson said...

I don't enjoy being a cynic about this, but let's not pretend principle is involved in any of these machinations. It's all about raw political power. Trump understands that.

Not denying any of that. But I have no interest in validating its normalcy (even though what I believe has zero ramifications beyond my household). But Trump is so inept that the words he used in declaring this national emergency will help with its demise in the courts. He might understand raw political power but his execution of it leaves a lot to be desired.

jerrye92002 said...

The money Trump spends has all been properly appropriated by Congess, but without (for this purpose) sufficient strings. And that is the problem With the Congress that spends ridiculous amounts of money– $40 million per hour. And I still claim that a massive army pouring across our borders carrying deadly weapons Constitution a national emergency. in times of war, how long do we wait for the idiots in Congress to recognize it?