[From article]
The Affordable Care Act, for example, isn’t so much a piece of legislation as a letter of marque for the Health and Human Services.
[. . .]
This is just one example of how Congress routinely vests legislative power in the executive branch.
[. . .]
The Constitution says only Congress can levy taxes. The founders had this crazy idea called “no taxation without representation.” And yet, numerous agencies are self-funding, raising money without having to worry about Congress’ power of the purse.
[. . .]
These agencies are, furthermore, often unaccountable to the judicial branch. Bureaucrats have their own administrative courts, which routinely deny traditional due process to plaintiffs.
The executive branch was never supposed to be this powerful. Richard Neustadt famously wrote in “Presidential Power” that the presidency is an inherently weak office and therefore the president’s chief power is “persuasion.”
[. . .]
President Obama has certainly tried to do that. But it’s turned out that his powers of persuasion have been greatly exaggerated, particularly in this age of polarization.
Unable to coax the country in his direction, Obama has relied on his beloved “pen and phone” strategy — that is, signing executive orders — often to the cheers of congressional Democrats apparently eager to celebrate their institutional gelding.
[. . .]
Clawing back the legislative function can’t be done overnight and requires a cultural transformation of Congress itself.
http://nypost.com/2016/01/20/can-paul-ryan-rescue-congress-from-irrelevance/
Can Paul Ryan rescue Congress from irrelevance?
By Jonah Goldberg
New York Post
January 20, 2016 | 1:01pm
No comments:
Post a Comment