Why Obama doesn’t need Congress

With Obama’s recent “compromise” on not raising taxes for anyone, much has been said about the possibility that Obama, like Clinton before him, is moving to the center. He isn’t, he doesn’t have to, and he doesn’t need Congress to accomplish his agenda.

As Jim talked about this morning, (and posted on earlier), yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission by rule passed “net neutrality”.  This was done in spite of the fact that Congress by an overwhelming majority, has already determined that it would not give the FCC power over the Internet.  And, in spite of the fact that a Federal District Court in April of this year ruled that the FCC did not have the power to regulate the Internet, Obama, through the FCC, “made it so.”

Given that the House is now controlled by Republicans, this is just the beginning.  Congress refused to pass Cap and Trade, so, Lisa Jackson, Obama’s appointee to head the EPA has decided that she will implement pieces of that failed legislation on her own.

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA’s national office chooses priorities, but state regulators run the relevant programs and issue the necessary permits.  When orders from HQ change, as with carbon over the last year, states [by law] get three years to revise their ‘implementation plans’.  But in August, Ms. Jackson decided that the law posed too long a climate wait and decreed that if the plans aren’t updated by an arbitrary January 2011 deadline, her office will override the states and run the carbon permitting process itself.  [emphasis supplied]

Of course, the EPA doesn’t have the trained personnel to do so, and, thus, all permitting of new refineries, and

any kind of carbon-heavy utility, industrial production, manufacturing plant or even large office buildings

will cease.  The state of Texas is now suing the EPA as it estimates 167 current projects “would have to be junked in 2011”.

And on to the National Labor Relations Board.  Two things are of note here.  In March, Obama, in a recess appointment, named Craig Becker to the NLRB.  A recess appointment was necessary as Democrats in the Senate refused to confirm him.  The refusal was based, among other things, on the fact that Mr. Becker believed that the NLRB had the power to edict card check even if Congress refused to pass legislation approving card check.

So, in August, the NLRB decided to rehear a 2007 decision in Dana Corp.  If the NLRB, under Mr. Becker’s “leadership”, decides to reverse that decision, voila, the unions will have card check.

As the next two years wear on, I suspect that we will see more and more administrative “edicts” that will accomplish what the hard core Obama supporters want.  Is it legal?  Of course not, but why waste your time with Congress when one of your agencies can simply “legislate” your agenda?  By the time the courts declare these actions illegal, the damage will be done.

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

6 Comments

  1. GdavidH on December 22, 2010 at 1:35 pm

    Perhaps we should really start evaluating exactly how far behind Hugo Chavez Obama is. It seems to me that Chavez is on the fast pace to dictatorship and Obama is nipping at his heels.

     When it comes up for a vote in the house or Senate to grant the president the authority to rule by edict for 12 or 18 months, maybe we should resist.



  2. GdavidH on December 22, 2010 at 1:40 pm

    Oh, By the way, the maybe thing was sarcasm for all of you who might think this abuse of the executive branch is a good thing.



  3. JollyRoger on December 22, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    "Let me say it as simply as I can, transparency in the rule of law will be the touchstone of this presidency." :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJNOHnFZnWQ&NR

    I can't imagine why the bureaucrats want to regulate the internet???
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5t8GdxFYBU



  4. sweepersue on December 22, 2010 at 2:18 pm

    I believe that, after watching Obama's "press conference," he is likely to get almost everything he wants, either through "compromise" with rear-end kissing Republicans, or czar rules. He has pushed through almost everything- the lame duck has not been lame at all- and I believe he will now be re-elected. He has lots to brag about, and the Republicans, once again, helped him get there. Krauthammer is right.



  5. Gary J on December 23, 2010 at 2:53 am

    Well it's time to get out the old WW11 nazi films,study them so we can all act out and join this process?



  6. Lynn on December 29, 2010 at 2:00 am

    I put off reading this, too busy. But now, I find this abominable. We have been laughing about the Emperor with no clothes, it's not funny anymore. Maybe because I am reading 1421 and the parallels are a little to close for comfort. " Chinese emperors believed they ruled with the mandate of heaven", Sound familiar?



Obama annoyed

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