Category Archives: Congress
Messin’ with Obama
Last week, in Minnesota, President Obama complained that Republicans were “messin”” with him and “calling him names“. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a president say that before. Well, maybe one time. Here‘s President Obama last year.
The constitutional lawyer-in-chief added on Monday that the failure of Congress to get on board with his agenda would be justification for him to further go it alone.
Messin’ with Obama
This came after a week of of being rebuked by the Supreme Court for executive overreach.
Supine Senate
The Supreme Court came to the rescue of the Supine Senate with a 9-0 ruling against President Obama. Unable to get confirmation for three appointees to the NLRB, King Barack simply declared the Senate in recess. He then made recess appointments which don’t require senate approval.
Justice Breyer stated the obvious in the majority opinion. Namely, Congress, as an equal branch of government, “is in session when it says it is”. Constitutional Scholar Jonathan Turley called the ruling a shot across the bow for the president’s go it alone strategy.
Supine Senate
Kimberly Strassel says it came to this because “Congressional Democrats watch supinely as the president treads on their powers.”
West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd —onetime Senate majority leader and fierce defender of congressional power—would have laid down on train tracks to protest Mr. Obama’s recess appointments when the Senate was not in recess.
“Having been supine for years in the face of these encroachments, Congress is stirring”, says Dr. Krauthammer in a column titled Government by Fiat.
The Republican House is preparing a novel approach to acquiring legal standing before the courts to challenge these gross executive usurpations. Nancy Pelosi, reflecting the narrowness of both her partisanship and her vision, dismisses this as a “subterfuge.”
She won’t be saying that on the day Democrats lose the White House. Then, cheered on by a suddenly inflamed media, the Democrats will no doubt express horror at such constitutional overreach.
Lerner Wanted Grassley
The emails Lois Lerner didn’t lose show that she seemed to think she could sic IRS examiners on Senator Charles Grassley.
Apparently she and Grassley received invitations to speak at the same event but, this being the IRS, Lerner somehow got Grassley’s invitation.
Lerner Wanted Grassley
According to Politico Lerner emailed tax law specialist Matthew Giuliano saying, “Looked like they were inappropriately offering to pay for his wife. Perhaps we should refer to Exam?”
Giuliano turned her down.
Smart Money on Cantor
Eric Canter’s role as House Majority Leader is dead and buried. The smart money assumed Cantor was a sure thing. But he lost his seat in a primary challenge by David Brat, a college economics professor.
As Majority Leader Cantor couldn’t avoid the insider ways of Washington. That didn’t sit well with voters in his Richmond, Va district. He also moved toward comprehensive immigration reform which Ann Coulter insists only sits well with Washington Insiders.
Smart Money
Speaking of smart money, Brat only spent $122,793 on his campaign. Cantor spent that much on steak houses!
In the general election the conservative economics prof will face a sociology prof, Jack Trammell… from the same faculty lounge at Randolph-Macon college.
Elizabeth Warren
Some people consider Elizabeth Warren to be the un-Hillary candidate for the 2016 Democratic nomination. Bob Schieffer had her on Face the Nation for an interview. The question on everyone’s mind – well, at least on Bob s mind – was, “are you a socialist?” So he asked her. She expressed dismay and wondered where people get their ideas about her.
During the campaign for her Massachusetts Senate seat it came to light that the blue eyed blonde had checked the NativeAmerican box as a law professor at Harvard.