Our Lawless White House Occupier

Americans have always had spirited disagreements regarding national policy. We get that. And laws are written by Congress and either affirmed or vetoed by the President. We get that, too. That’s how our Constitution was written – separation of powers and co-equal branches were specifically designed as roadblocks to tyranny.

Unfortunately, our President and his agency minions don’t seem to get that, or more accurately, just don’t care. Further, as the election looms closer this President’s lawless behavior has accelerated.

Shortly after taking office, instead of opting to go the lawful orderly bankruptcy course,  Mr. Obama chose to essentially nationalize GM and Chrysler. Unions were rewarded with substantial ownership. Taxpayers became unwitting stockholders. Bondholders, the top of the food chain legally, were decimated.

We all know about the New Black Panthers polling place intimidation in the 2008 election. Hard to forget the uniforms and nightsticks. Despite clear video and audio evidence, Eric Holder’s “Justice Department” ignored this blatant violation of civil rights.

More recently, the Justice Department ignored taped calls by the head of the New Black Panther Party to go out and kill George Zimmerman. No investigation was begun and no charges were brought.

Following the BP Oil disaster, the Obama administration chose to falsify findings by a group of scientists and engineers, affixing their signatures and reputations to a statement regarding the drilling ban parameters. Later, both Justice and Energy ignored a Federal District Court order overturning the ban.

With Solyndra entering bankruptcy, the Department of Energy subordinated the taxpayers’ claims to those of two major investors, including George Kaiser (The Kaiser Foundation), a major Obama supporter and advocate for the Affordable Care Act. Obama chose to protect his billionaire campaign bundler instead of taxpayers. This subordination of financial claims was clearly in defiance of existing law and regulations, including the Energy Department’s own rules.

Speaking to La Raza (a radical, activist Hispanic organization) amidst calls for the DREAM Act, the President had this exchange (July 25, 2011):

President Barack Obama: “Now I know some people want me to bypass congress and change the laws on my own”

Obama: “Believe me, and…(smile) and, and, and believe me right now dealing with congress…the idea…”

Crowd erupts saying: “Yes You Can! Yes You Can!”

Obama laughs and smiles

Crowd gets even louder: “Yes You Can! Yes You Can!”

Obama: “But, but, but believe me…uh…believe me the idea of doing things on my own are very tempting”.

Crowd laughs

Obama: “I promise you, not just on immigration reform…”

Crowd laughs

Obama: “But that’s not how…that’s not how our system works…”

Lady in the crowd: “Change it!”

Obama: “…that’s not how our democracy functions.”

A year later, in keeping with his “We Can’t Wait” (for Congress to act) theme, Obama moved administratively to implement the DREAM act, under the cloak of limited resources to enforce existing immigration laws. Though Congress and the people said no to the DREAM Act, Obama unilaterally said yes. More Hispanic votes.

Then there is DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act. Duly enacted by Congress and an existing law of the land, Mr. Obama’s Justice Department simply chose not to defend the act in the courts, again in defiance of Congress, the law, and the people. More gay votes and contributions.

Cap and Trade failed to pass Congress. So the EPA chose to enact a reasonable facsimile administratively. More support from environmental groups.

No Child Left Behind was enacted during the Bush Administration and was the law of the land. The Obama administration didn’t like the law so it initiated waivers to the states to ignore the law.

Mr. Obama has even thwarted his own signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, issuing many hundreds of waivers, with a majority of the waivers going to unions.

And we all know what happened to Boeing when they worked toward opening a manufacturing facility in a Right To Work state. The NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) pulled out all the stops to block their efforts. More union support.

This administration has filed and pursued lawsuits against states that are supporting enforcement of U.S. Immigration laws, yet the Justice Department, Homeland Security and the INS totally ignore Sanctuary cities – cities openly defying U.S. immigration law.

The aforementioned are but a few of many examples of the lawlessness of this administration – actions more in keeping with an imperial presidency or a banana republic.

And now, just this past week, we have another example. Sequestration, the ‘kick the can further down the road’ agreement in Congress enacted last year calls for Defense Department cuts of some $500 billion beginning January 2013. Existing law requires employers (with more than 100 employees) to provide 60 days notice to employees prior to layoffs or firings. Known as the WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act), it was enacted by the Democratically controlled Congress in 1988. In 2007, then Senator Barack Obama, with Sherrod Brown and Hillary Clinton proposed the FOREWARN Act, designed to strengthen and expand the reach of the WARN Act and extending the notification period to 90 days. That measure failed.

Potential layoffs as a result of sequestration would likely number between 500,000 and 1,000,000 defense department contractor employees (OMB has estimated 1,090,000 job losses) beginning January 2, 2013. In accordance with the WARN act, layoff notices would have to, by law, be sent out on November 2 – just four days before the elections. Not a positive development for the Obama reelect group.

Enter, stage left, the Obama Labor Department issuing written guidance stating that companies, including defense contractors anticipating sequestration, ‘are not compelled to issue advanced notice of layoffs stipulated under the WARN Act’. Problem solved? Unfortunately for Obama, no. The WARN Act is enforced through the courts, not the Labor Department, so should these defense contractors act on Labor’s guidance to ignore the law, they would open themselves up to myriad lawsuits by any employees that are fired or laid off without receiving their lawful notice.

Two conclusions should be clear from the above-mentioned examples. One, this administration cares little for law or the Constitution when it stands in the way of implementing their agenda. And two, they seem to care even less when it could stand in the way of Mr. Obama winning a second term. And with three months to go before the 2012 vote casting, I feel sure we will witness more lawlessness and more usurpation of power emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Stay tuned.