Comments on: Allergic to vetoes?

By: John Fembup

John Fembup — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:51:05 +0000

Allan says “I don’t think there was a good choice here. there, almost literally, was nothing the president could do, other than to vow not to enforce the law.”

Of course there was a “good choice”. Obama could have signed the law and proceeded to see that it is enforced. Or, if he believes it is unconstitutional, he could have vetoed the law and forced Congress to override. In other words, you know, Obama could have chosen to act in accordance with the Constitution and his oath of office.

So I’d say instead that the president has once again violated his oath of office to faithfully execute the laws of the United States.

By: Imaginary

Imaginary — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:44:30 +0000

If he did veto it, and the veto was overridden it still would not make the law constitutional. That is a completely separate issue and should be decided by the courts, assuming they do not duck it as a political question. The current supreme court case Zivotofsky v. Kerry is an interesting dispute between POTUS and Congress with many similarities. And signing statements by various presidents are being used to support how far executive authority extends.

This signing statement is largely just posturing because the law only prohibits visas to UN ambassadors whereas POTUS has authority to receive ambassadors to the US and it appears the State Department denied the visa anyway.

By: Allan

Allan — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:19:05 +0000

I believe that he did not veto for political reasons. That is, the original vote for the law was by u unanimous consent, almost guaranteeing it had enough votes to override a veto. In other words, the bill was to become law one way or another.

So, either the president could sign the law, declaring it unconstitutional. Or he could veto it, it could get passed again, and he could choose not to enforce it.

I don’t think there was a good choice here. there, almost literally, was nothing the president could do, other than to vow not to enforce the law.

By: jdgalt

jdgalt — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 14:04:00 +0000

The only reason I can see for sign-and-ignore is that the president has made a deal that requires him to sign the bill. I wonder what he’s getting in return?

The courts are going to have to change the “standing” rules to give the people a way to overturn actions like this. Otherwise they might just as well crown him King and have done.

By: John Fembup

John Fembup — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:54:58 +0000

“veto it rather than sign-and-ignore”

But that would be out in the open rather than sneaky.

Most people have come to realize that this administration claims “It’s the law of the land” only when it chooses. Otherwise, it apparently considers a great many laws to be “advisory.”

Continued disrespect for the Constitution and our laws whether sneaky or open, and coming as it does from the White House itself, will not end well for anyone.

I think people need to stop treating this type of executive misbehavior as a joke or an object of irony; instead we need to be angry about it and start telling our state and local politicians just how fed up we are.