President Obama erased any remaining doubt about his intention to emulate President Harry Truman’s 1948 ‘Do Nothing Congress’ reelection campaign yesterday, when he appointed Richard Cordray, without the Senate’s consent, as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But Truman’s reelection campaign may not be the historical reference that best fits Obama’s move. Obama’s growing brazen disregard for the Constitution will ultimately send him to the Supreme Court, where, in 1952, the Justices ruled that President Truman had no power to seize the nation’s steel mills without congressional approval.
Make no mistake, Obama wanted this showdown. If getting the CFPB up and running were his main concern, he could have appointed Cordray on January 1st, when there was a brief window at the end of the year when the U.S. Senate was technically out of session. But Obama passed that up, and the Senate later gaveled back in to pro-forma session soon after. Since then, according to Senate rules, the Senate has been in session.
Obama now claims that as president, he gets to decide when the Senate is, and is not, in session. And since it conveniences him to do so now, he is deeming the Senate out of session, thus enabling him to make recess appointments. This is in direct contradiction to: 1) what he argued when he was in the Senate; 2) what Obama’s DOJ argued before the Supreme Court; and 3) what Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., argued when Bush was president. And Obama didn’t stop with Cordray’s appointment. He went on to appoint three new members to the National Labor Relations Board as well.
Any action taken by the CFPB and NLRB going forward is guaranteed to end up in court. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already announced its intention to sue. But these abuses of the appointments clause were not the conclusion of Obama’s end run around the Constitution yesterday. Obama then announced that, despite the fact that Congress has not passed his American Jobs Act, he was going to implement his Summer Jobs+ program for teens anyway.
All of this lawlessness fits perfectly into Obama’s pattern of behavior so far. Whether it is going to war in Libya without congressional approval, or rewriting No Child Left Behind without any legislative authority, Obama has proved he could care less how the Constitution limits his executive power. Can you spell “Banana Republic?”
Campaign 2012
Romney: Sen. John McCain, R-Ari., endorsed Mitt Romney for president in Manchester, New Hampshire, yesterday. McCain called Romney “an honest, straight-talking person of experience.”
Santorum: Rick Santorum tells The Washington Examiner‘s Susan Ferrechio to expect “a huge bump” out of Iowa that could result in “Mitt Romney’s numbers going down.” And Politico reports Santorum has raised $1 million since his Iowa caucus second place finish.
Gingrich: National Journal’s Major Garrett says Newt Gingrich committed “political malpractice” but letting his “hubris, disorganization and disdain for his opponents” prevent him from responding to attack ads against him in Iowa.
Virginia: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell criticized Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s suit in federal court against his state, saying, “No question we’re among the strictest of the states, but if you want to be president of the United States, you ought to be able to collect 10,000 signatures in Virginia.”
Around the Bigs
The Wall Street Journal, Europeans Plan Oil Embargo on Iran: The European Union agreed to enact an embargo on all purchases of Iranian oil, significantly increasing the West’s financial war on Tehran despite its threats to close the Strait of Hormuz.
The Washington Post, Iran intensifies efforts to influence policy in AfghanistanIran is mounting an aggressive campaign to fuel anti-American sentiment in Afghanistan designed to convince Afghan leaders not to cooperate with Washington.
The New York Times, Oil Price Would Skyrocket if Iran Closed the Strait of Hormuz: Energy analysts say the price of oil would soar 50 percent or more within days, if Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz.
The Washington Post, Obama to unveil austere Pentagon strategy: President Obama will travel to the Pentagon today to unveil the largest cuts to the defense budget since the end of the Cold War.
The New York Times, Boeing to Shut Wichita Plant, Citing Cuts at Pentagon: Boeing announced Wednesday that defense budget cuts are forcing the company to close its military airplane plant in Wichita, Kansas. 2,160 workers will lose their jobs.
Indianapolis Star, Dems risk fines if they persist in boycott over labor union bill: Indiana Democrats shutdown the first day of the 2012 legislative session fearing the Republican majority would pass a bill giving Hoosiers the right to work without joining a union.
Righty Playbook
Rush Limbaugh made the case that Rick Santorum is not a ‘big government conservative” and predicted the race is far from over.
The Washington Examiner‘s Tim Carney says that Rick Santorum’s economic populism “is unacceptably proletarian to many conservatives and Republicans.”
The Corner‘s Jonah Goldberg checks in to see how Keith Olbermann is doing at his fourth TV network (not well).
Lefty Playbook
Mother Jones‘ Kevin Drum advises Obama to “forget about the flip-flopping and simply do everything he can to force Romney into the wingnut conservative camp. That’ll be his big weakness when Labor Day rolls around.”
Firedoglake‘s David Dayen looks at the case of (Lorene) Turner, who was mistakenly deported to Colombia after she ran away from home, was arrested for petty theft, and gave a fake name to police.
The Washington Post‘s Glenn Kessler gives Mitt Romney only ‘One Pinocchio’ for his claim that “we created more jobs in Massachusetts than this president’s created in the entire country.”
