State of the Union Address

[KimberlyD]

Anyone sit through this? Obama promised to take executive actions without congress' approval this year on issues he feels should get done..... I have some very STRONG thoughts on that.

Article 1 Section 7
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.


Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

It clearly states in our great Constitution of the United States of America that in the end, the decisions of our country lay in the hands of Congress, Senate, and the House of Representatives.... NOT the President. The President has the right to veto things, but if Congress, Senate, and the House of Representatives say YES... then whether the President likes it or not, it goes through. However, there is no indication within this article that the President has the legal right to make a decision or enforce any ideas, laws, or actions on behalf of the citizens of the US by himself. So by making the statement he made in his State Of the Union Address he is admitting that he intends to commit a Constitutionally Illegal action against the people and government of the US.

This part of the Constitution was designed to ensure that we would not end up with an Imperial President (a U.S. presidency that is characterized by greater power than the Constitution allows) Obama is doing more then violating the laws set down by this sacred document, he is opening the door for a future President to follow. Just as many Presidents before him who committed illegal acts and got away with it did... he is setting a very dangerous example which may in the future open the way for an Imperial President.

Don't get me wrong, Obama is not the first to do this. Other famous, well loved Presidents in the past (Lincoln for example) have done this and that is the example that Obama is following. Now he is making it even worse with his blatant disregard of the Constitutional Laws and the offices that make up our government which were designed to have greater power then the President.

 

[littlexchelsea]

I do understand where you're coming from, but if Abraham Lincoln didn't do what he did the slavery would still exist! I believe that the president is doing these things for the better of our nation. I really hope that he doesn't take advantage of anything though.

 

[KimberlyD]

I understand your feelings on Lincoln, however there is always another way. Lincoln's action caused a civil war which tore our country apart first. If he went another route... it would have taken longer, yes, but slavery still would have been abolished without it resulting in the civil war.

I am not against the attempts of anyone to better our nation. Obama has done some good, but the laws set down in our Constitution were created for a reason. They were created to ensure that we would move forward as a nation and not fall back into imperialism. WE THE PEOPLE... are the government not the President. If we allow for the President to take action against our consent then we are moving backwards into a imperial nation, open the way for our government to become run by a tyrant. I am not saying that this will occur only that there is a strong possibility of it occurring. The people are the power of our government and nation... but we are slowly losing that power through actions such as Obama is taking. How long until that power is completely removed from our hands and we begin to answer to an Imperial President rather then the President answering to us? How many constitutional laws will we allow to be broken before our constitution becomes meaningless? I want things to go better in our country then it has been and there are some good happening now, but at what price?