Executive Orders do not match up

Executive Orders do not match up

By: Dr. Jeff Fuller

 

Traveling home the other day from Birmingham, I was listening to Christian radio and the owner of the station was doing an editorial on the recent issuance of twenty three executive orders signed by the President.  His position was one of grave danger, cautioning listeners to be leery of this practice by our present President, as it might have far reaching ramifications.

With that in mind, once I arrived back in our little town, I went to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia and did a little research on Executive Orders.  The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:   

“[The] United States President may issue executive orders to help officers and agencies of the executive branch manage the operations within the federal government itself.  Executive orders have the full force of the law, since issuances are typically made in pursuance of certain Acts of Congress, some of which specially delegate to the President some degree of discretionary power (delegated legislation), or are believed to take authority from a power granted directly to the Executive by the Constitution.  However, these perceived justifications cited by Presidents when authoring Executive Orders have come under criticism for exceeding executive authority; at various times throughout United States history, challenges to the legal validity or justification for an order have resulted in legal proceedings.”

Reading over the twenty three executive orders, issued by the President in January of this year, on the surface there is nothing in them that pushed for or limited the freedom we hold as American’s.  Nor, was there any sign that these were an infringement on the rights of the people.  Honestly, they look more like a list of task that needed to be accomplished; goals to meet.  Additionally, I thought that his time may have been well spent, since he was not playing golf and actually working on something.  But do not get too excited yet…

There is something we all need to be reminded of; something which makes us wonder what is going on in the mind of our President.  This practice of the President in making and/or executing executive orders is not something granted, but implied by the Constitution.  Wikipedia had something to say about that as well:

“Although there is no constitutional [provision] or statute that explicitly permits executive orders, there is a vague grant of “executive power” given in Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 of the Constitution, and furthered by the declaration “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” made in Article II, Section 3, Clause 5.  Most executive orders use these Constitutional reasoning’s as the authorization allowing for their issuance to be justified as part of the President’s sworn duties, the intent being to help direct officers of the United States Executive Branch to carry out their delegated duties as well as the normal operations of the federal government; the consequences of failing to comply [could] possibly [be] the removal from office.”

As stated above, the President is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”  His job is to see that the Constitution is preserved and that citizens of the State are treated fairly and with the dignity they deserve.  In January, the present President stood before the huge crowd of dignitaries and onlookers and took his Oath of Office, in which he said he is to and he will “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”  This is his job!

He cannot make laws; that is the job of Congress.  Every year they pass something along which needs to be published, put into effect and adhered to.  This is when the President goes to bat, travels the country, and speaks in favor of the new legislation.  Most of the time, he is the one that has pushed it through, handing out favors, and patting people on the back to get what he wants (an example would be OBAMACARE).   

There are times, I feel sure, that the President will write up one of these executive orders to support or remind the Executive staff and the Cabinet members of the newest tome passed down from Congress.  While we may never know, these at times might be terse and pointed, they fall within that area of enacted laws which must be “preserved, protects, and defended.”

Yet, while I have attempted to reveal the history, and point to the present, making it light hearted there is a problem.  Presently, the administration has either never read or fully understood the gravity of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution; or they have decided that they will throw it out and make laws and enact rules which are pleasing to them.

The Washington Post took exception to the executive orders, particularly in context of the gun control agenda which the President is pushing.  They cited that the executive orders could cause him to loss face with both sides of the aisle, being perceived as a dictator instead of a President. 

As truth would hold, that is what is wrong with his signing twenty three executive orders on one day.  Nineteen of these have something regarding gun control or an examination of gun sales practice within them, in some form or fashion.  While the President has said on more than one occasion he is not going to take away guns from the American people, he has on more than one occasion implied that he wanted a tighter reign on the gun sales and that he wants a federal registration of guns, which several of these executive orders speaks to in some form.

Also, in Congress there are those who are siding with him in pushing for tighter controls, more rules and regulations, more struggles and more problems for the American people.  Aside from the gun issue, we have pressing issues in economic affairs, business failures, and the national debt.  Taxation and the new health care rules are causing more headaches than we can manage. 

What the President needs to be doing is balancing the budget.  Do you realize that we are in the fifth year-5 YEARS-without a budget for this country?  How in the world are we going to live through one of the most difficult times in American history without a budget?  I will concur that a budget is nothing more than a guideline to go by, but we do not even have that on the national level.  We are spending money we do have in hopes of having money to spend which we do not have, nor will have in the future.  We are in debt up to our eyeballs and it seems that this President has no vision for bringing it under control.

Adding to that the massive and far reaching health care imitative which is now in effect, which is causing no small stir among the American people.  Another example of the “Big Brother” concept, which mandates that the government pay for health care and the people be tied to the strings of someone always watching and making your decisions for you.  Hidden deep within the bill is the concept that when you need surgery, immediately, there is a group of people deciding if you really need the surgery and if the government will cover that procedure.  What has come under attack is the issue of contraception, and this has caused legal rumbles among the religious non-profit organizations and the Christian owned for-profit businesses.

Our Presidents time would be better spent in daily operations of making government work, than in writing out useless or harmful missives which will do nothing but cause heartache.  We are a nation which is struggling to stay afloat and the captain of the ship is asleep at the wheel.