#Obama nixes #SeparationofPowers and the #SupremeCourt

There are many things President Obama does and does not do with which I disagree. On certain issues, his goals are good but his polarizing, hyper-political partisanship makes  his approach hard to understand. His lack of leadership on matters like the Federal deficit, government spending, tax policy among others has been disappointing to say the least. However, the latest attack on the Supreme Court is very troubling, reflective of a misunderstanding of the separation of powers and arrogance which is dangerous.

Last week the Supreme Court held three days of review on the Affordable Health Care Act. The health care revisions enacted by extraordinary and mangling legislative procedures has been very controversial and the polls show quite unpopular. I know the nation’s health care system is uneven and expensive. The portions run by the government are incredibly wrought with fraud. There are millions of uninsured. The cost of a medical procedure can wipe out a family even if they are insured. The demographics for future costs are terrible.

Liberals have been trying to get universal health coverage for decades. Their overall goal is have the central government be the arbitrator of health care delivery and decisions. What better way to build a reliance on government? The law enacted in 2010 was an enormous step in that direction. I do not know what the best solution on health care; although my bias is that anything the government does is inherently inefficient and suspect. I leave it to others to make the right choices but there is no real agreement on what is best, only a point of view, it seems, as shown by the great divide.

The law was challenged in the Federal Courts almost from its inception. A Constitutional challenge was inevitable. After the oral arguments, many believe the Court may overturn the law or important portions of it. I frankly do not know and even though the Judges have probably have already decided, no outsider knows either.

However, this is a political battle for the President as he sees it. He not only wants to lay the foundation for government fiat but also to see his signature policy achievement survive. However, here is the troubling part, the alarming part. He stated it “would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step” for the court to overturn “a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.”  And that an “unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law.”

 For a guy who was suppose to know something about the law, Mr. Obama must have skipped the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison in school and the notion that the size of the Congressional majority makes a difference when it has no constitutional significance. The Court makes a determination as to whether a law passes Constitutional muster or it does not. The power to do so is the foundation of separation of powers. It separates a real republic from that of a tinhorn dictator making decisions at a whim.

The President is the leader of the entire country. He should act like one and respect the roles of each branch of government. To act so otherwise is to demean the Office and undermine the trust we place in government. His type of political rhetoric divides the country further. It is unbecoming. Whatever the decision by the Court, Mr. Obama should respect it. He can disagree with it but respect it and the process that led to it.  If the law is overturned, and if he is reelected he will have a chance to convince the voters and the Congress of a plan that will pass judicial review. 

 

 

 

Comments

[Beekeeper]

Very good point, Obama is scary and this is an example