With Obama's new confidence, he decided to stop waiting on the GOP to vote yes on his nominations and he appointed 15 nominees that were held up by the party of "NO".
Recess appointments are allowed to keep the government running. But over the past several years, they have been used as a way to circumvent the senate. When Bush did it, he tried to avoid the senate scrutinizing his nominees. When Obama does it, he's is basically tired of his nominees being in a holding pattern as the party of "NO" cries and whines in being out of power.
It is a good thing Obama is throwing his weight around. I would do it a lot more to see what he can and cannot accomplish. I would prefer he try as much as he can and fail at some things versus try to and pass only things he knows he can pass. Again, swing for the fences.
Showing posts with label recess appointments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recess appointments. Show all posts
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Obama Needs To Take A Page From Bush's Book
I hate to say it but Bush did have some efficient tactics. The problem was he abused the powers. The two powers that I think Obama needs to start reenacting are recess appointments and signing statements.
Recess appointments are appointments to posts done during a senate recess. Some positions in the government need to be vetted and voted on by the senate. If the senate is taking too long, and in order to keep government running, the president can appoint a person to a position if the senate is in recess. Like next weekend during presidents day weekend. Bush did this all the time circumventing the senate. Obama has not been doing this trying to respect the senate. The problem is that many government positions have yet to be filled. He needs to do this because the repubs are so vile in their obstructionism that one senator Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has put a blanket hold (preventing an appointee from being voted on) on ALL of Obama's appointees. Nothing is getting filled putting the U.S. more at risk
The other power needing to be reinstated is signing statements. Signing statements are done when a President signs a bill into law. They are statements that say that a president will ignore the law he's signing or they will enforce part of the law but ignore another part. The controversy during the Bush years was that he was hell bent on making a grotesquely powerful executive branch and anything that might have been construed as limiting Bush's power, Bush ignored it with a signing statement. Now, Obama appears to reversed course, limiting the power of the executive branch. Now, with our economy, job losses, and banking problems, we need some signing statements giving him more power to get the job done.
Obama needs to start bullying some people to get things done. While a lot has been done over the past year, the public doesn't see it. All the public sees is jobs being lost and houses be foreclosed on.
Recess appointments are appointments to posts done during a senate recess. Some positions in the government need to be vetted and voted on by the senate. If the senate is taking too long, and in order to keep government running, the president can appoint a person to a position if the senate is in recess. Like next weekend during presidents day weekend. Bush did this all the time circumventing the senate. Obama has not been doing this trying to respect the senate. The problem is that many government positions have yet to be filled. He needs to do this because the repubs are so vile in their obstructionism that one senator Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has put a blanket hold (preventing an appointee from being voted on) on ALL of Obama's appointees. Nothing is getting filled putting the U.S. more at risk
The other power needing to be reinstated is signing statements. Signing statements are done when a President signs a bill into law. They are statements that say that a president will ignore the law he's signing or they will enforce part of the law but ignore another part. The controversy during the Bush years was that he was hell bent on making a grotesquely powerful executive branch and anything that might have been construed as limiting Bush's power, Bush ignored it with a signing statement. Now, Obama appears to reversed course, limiting the power of the executive branch. Now, with our economy, job losses, and banking problems, we need some signing statements giving him more power to get the job done.
Obama needs to start bullying some people to get things done. While a lot has been done over the past year, the public doesn't see it. All the public sees is jobs being lost and houses be foreclosed on.
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