I did not post yesterday on that delusional Obama state of the union address, as I did not watch the spectacle. I certainly had no intention of ruining what had been a wonderful Key West day, which ended with fresh pan-seared local Rose fish and Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. OK then, when was this fellow crowned? His proclamations were, at the very least, disturbing.
So, he is going to bypass Congress with executive orders and take things into his own hands? Truly striking when a majority of Americans already distrust President Barack Obama. All that executive order hubris is in reality little more than executive cape waving. Sure Obama will be able to poke into some dark corners with his pointed stick and muddle around the periphery of the economy, making mini gestures. But any real meat-and-potatoes action requires funding from the House (hostile towards His Royal Majesty or HRM) per the Constitution (Article. I. Section.7.). The Constitution is clear: all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.
If Obama had any hope of getting significant funding from the House before, the window of opportunity has now slammed shut. Article. II. Section 2. of the Constitution makes it clear that the office of the chief executive was to be largely one of shaking hands and kissing babies. The Constitution devotes but 400 words (approx) to the duties of the president. There is crystal-clear wording on being Removed from Office on impeachment, but no wording to support egregious domestic initiatives, never mind a job-killing, economic-growth-retarding monster like O’Care.
In sum, our Founders intended the presidency to be a weak, largely ceremonial office. In advance of proclamation Tuesday, I read over the original Articles of Confederation several more times. The Articles present a concise picture of the mindset of our Founders. Among this historic document’s signers were John Hancock, Samuel Adams and John Dickinson. Dickinson was known as ‘Penman of the Revolution.” He wrote the Declaration of Rights in 1765 and the Articles of Confederation in 1776.
Here is what the signers of the Articles of Confederation intended for a president:
The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress… for managing the general affairs of the United States under their direction-to appoint one of their members to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of three years.
And there you have it—a single mention, and as a short-term presider at that. I think it is fair to say Hancock, Adams and Dickinson would have taken more than a little umbrage were they around today to listen to President Barack Obama’s proclamation message. A majority of Americans must to be astonished and greatly offended by what they heard at the State of the Union. One missing fact that Americans did not hear from HRM Obama is that American employment—in terms of duration of unemployment and goods-producing industries employment—is at a six-decade low!
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