My Point of View by Peggy Bennet

Is America headed toward a constitutional crisis? It is very well possible that we’re moving in that direction. However, it may not be for the reason that has piqued the interest of so many of late.

A recent Supreme Court decision, which unanimously agreed that our president had overreached his authority in issuing recess appointments, has brought the topic of “executive overreach” to the forefront. Much has been made, and rightly so, of President Obama’s promise to bypass Congress and act unilaterally to accomplish his purpose. “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone,” were his words, threatening to bypass Congress through executive orders.

We should be concerned about the potential for executive overreach by any president. The importance of the separation of powers between the three branches of our government cannot be overstated. Our Founding Fathers knew too well the monarchy from which they had come. Because of this, and because they understood the human tendency to abuse and monopolize power, they put checks and balances into our system of government.

It’s not that other presidents haven’t exercised their executive powers. They have — all throughout history. President Obama’s approximately 168 executive orders since taking office in 2009 are actually fewer than any president in office during the past 100 years aside from George H. W. Bush.

However, simply adding up the numbers misses the point. All executive orders are not equal. It is one thing for a president to rightly refuse to enforce a law due to its unconstitutionality or to prioritize the enforcement of laws due to limited funds. That makes sense.

It’s another thing altogether to set up a consistent pattern of unilateral action in order to set up an agenda and advance it. There is a world of difference between these two scenarios. The first honors the Constitution. The latter moves into the murky depths of executive abuse and the blurring of the separation of powers.

The job of the president, according to the Constitution, is not to make law but to “faithfully execute” the laws that Congress makes. Historically, there seems to be wide discretion given to presidents in deciding how and even when to enforce laws, but our president seems to have taken this interpretation to a new level.

President Obama’s use of his “pen” has seen him refuse to enforce certain parts of laws simply because he disagrees with them — immigration laws, certain health care laws, and more.

Our president’s “pen” has also bypassed Congress to launch a federal attack on the coal industry by giving unprecedented power to the EPA, as well as through unelected czars. He has taken on undue authority to issue the “death by drone” penalty on certain U.S. citizens abroad. The list could go on…

If you stop here to cheer on these presidential actions, I humbly suggest that you take a step back and think twice. You may wholeheartedly agree with these strokes of President Obama’s pen, believing that the end justifies the means. However, what if the next president chooses to bypass Congress with a different personal agenda — say choosing not to enforce certain taxes or major parts of the Affordable Care Act?

I am not here to argue the good or bad of our president’s actions. I am here to say that this is a slippery slope we are entering and it’s the Constitution and our freedoms that will slide down and crash at the end if we are not careful.

As dangerous as I think some of our president’s actions are for our Constitution, I believe there is something even more ominous that is threatening the very fabric of our government. It’s not the president, nor Congress, nor even our judges. It’s us – We the People. It’s not that we are doing something so terribly wrong that threatens the Constitution. It’s what we are not doing.

Thomas Jefferson said, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” Our third president understood where the power of government resides — in the People. But we — the People — must make a deliberate and concerted effort to be engaged in our government.

We need to take the time to educate ourselves on the issues. We need to communicate with our representatives and hold them accountable for how they represent us. We need to make sure that our educational institutions are not being used to promote any political agenda, but to educate our young people on the history and process of our government and to show them the need be involved.

I am not speaking as a Democrat or a Republican, nor a Libertarian or Independent. I am speaking as one of We the People. We can do this — but we have to be involved in some way. I am speaking to myself as much as I am speaking to anybody. Take the time to educate yourself on issues, attend town hall meetings, financially support the representative of your choice, etc. Most critically, show your children how important it is to be involved in our government.

So, are we headed toward a Constitutional crisis? It’s up to us.

 

Albert Lea resident Peggy Bennett is a Republican candidate for the House District 27A seat.