Obama's arrogance must come to end

If the President doesn’t like a proposed law he can veto the bill or craft a new one. The Supreme Court struck down line-item veto power, for then President Clinton, in 1998 where Justice Stevens penned “There is no provision in the Constitution that authorizes the President to enact, to amend, or to repeal statutes”. In short, the President cannot legally pick and choose which laws to enforce, ignore, or in Obama’s case recently, amend one to temporarily remedy a failing, costly, and highly unpopular law. Clearly Obama ‘amending’ the ACA to stall the employer mandate until after the 2014 elections is illegal and politically motivated. He knew the ACA was big trouble for the party, as business had no choice but to cut workers or put them on part time to cope with skyrocketing health costs stemming from his signature legislation.

This isn’t the first time our President has used illegal maneuvers to punish opposition or promote agendas that had failed to pass in Congress. His manipulating of Homeland Security enforcement to not deport nearly a million illegals after his Dream Act failed to pass is well known. He illegally replaced Congressional requirements governing state compliance of the ‘leave no child behind act’ with those crafted by his administration. His ignorance of the IRS policy targeting conservative groups prior to the last election is dubious at best. The Justice Department and NSA’s invasion of the press’ privacy let alone ours is unprecedented.

We have a president who suspends the law to what suits him, does that scare anyone? As the Supreme Court said long ago (Kendall v. United States, 1838), allowing the president to refuse to enforce statutes passed by Congress “would be clothing the president with a power to control the legislation of Congress, and paralyze the administration of justice.” I have had enough arrogance.

R. BRUCE JOHNSON

Sandpoint