Thursday, February 6, 2014

Impeach the President? Sounded Like Stupid-O-Babble at First, But now….

I frequently receive mailings that encourage me to help impeach the President. I have always thought these things were completely impractical, because there is no political momentum for such an action. Now…I am beginning to wonder. The President seems to be far on the overreach with the exercise of his power. The basis of impeachment of a President must be based on the Constitution’s stipulations, which read, “The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” (Article II, Section 4) A “misdemeanor” is defined as “An instance of misbehavior or misdeed, less serious than a felony.”

The president’s overreach may be his legacy to the American people. He has done the following list of things that make one wonder if he thinks he is the executive, the congress, and the judiciary all packed into one office:

1)      Unilaterally raised the minimum wage for new federal contracts.
2)      Unilaterally refused to enforce ObamaCare’s employer mandate, its mandated caps on out-of pocket costs, aspects of its coverage mandates, and its individual mandate as it pertains to those with canceled plans.
3)      Funneling subsidies through federally run exchanges, in defiance of ObamaCare’s plain language (which allows such subsidies to flow only through state-based exchanges).
4)      Refusal to enforce federal marijuana laws.
5)      Refusal to deport illegal immigrants under the age of 30.
6)      Refusal to enforce key aspects of the mid-1990’s welfare-reform law.
7)      Refusal—in the wake of the revelation that his economic “stimulus” was costing taxpayers $275,000/job—to release timely reports as mandated by the text of his own “stimulus” legislation.
8)      Issued “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board while the Senate was in     session.
9)      Illicitly used the power of the IRS to target and cripple his political opponents.
10)  Failed to provide security from terrorists to overseas embassies.
11)  Nationalized health care, General Motors and Chrysler, the student loan program, and much of our banking system.
12)  Threatened to scuttle our gun rights under the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.
13)  Has been very secretive and utterly contemptuous of the American people’s right to know in withholding requests under the Freedom of Information Act by such watchdog groups as Judicial Watch.
14)  His Justice Department has unjustifiably sued the state of Arizona over its law empowering local law enforcement personnel to obey the federal immigration laws his administration has refused to enforce.
15)  Has openly opposed the passage of voter ID laws.
16)  Has invited the politically-driven ACORN organization to “partner” with the Census Bureau in administering the 2010 Census, even though ACORN was under investigation for voter registration fraud in the 2008 election cycle.
17)  Failed to support the embassy at Benghazi.
18)  Threatened to take “executive action” on clearly legislative prerogatives if Congress does not act in what he deems a “timely manner.”

It may well be argued that several of the items listed above are beneficial; but one thing that cannot be argued is that all of them are illegal according to the Constitution. They are certainly misdemeanors. The President’s job is to enforce the laws made by Congress and the Senate—he is not to MAKE the laws.  

In Federalist 51, James Madison pointed out that the separation of powers provides half of the “double security” to our rights (the other half is provided by federalism—the separation of powers between the states and the federal government). It seems to me that the President is pushing far into the powers of the Congress and the Senate for much of the above governmental activity; and he has long ago eroded into the power of the states, thus neutralizing the powers crafted for the American people in our system of federalism.

I believe this President should be replaced. If you agree, contact Judicial Watch, 425 Third Street SW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20024; Phone 202-646-5172; email: info@judicialwatch.org

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