Obama’s Use of Executive Orders is Necessary

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In an era where bipartisanship is nonexistent, the 113th United States Congress has claimed the title of Least Productive Congress in the history of our existence. This gridlocked Congress with a Republican House of Representatives, and a Democratic Senate have not been able to coexist and efficiently pass bills. The Huffington Post presents an interesting fact that from the inception of our current congress, to September 8th 2013, 15 bills were put into effect. President Obama can’t be blamed for this congress as he had only vetoed two of the bills at that point.  Last year, Thomas Mann of the liberal leaning Brookings Institute, and Norm Ornsted of the Conservative American Enterprise Institute published an opinion piece in the Washington Post. They claim that our Congress is in disarray, and the majority of the problem is on the Republican side.’

“We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional,” they wrote. “In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party,” they said.

The prominent Republicans of Congress seem to make a habit out of blocking everything that President Obama put before them. Politifact presents an interesting statistic that claims that Congress has blocked 82 of Obama’s judicial nominees. The number of rejected nominees for all other presidents is 86, only four more than all of Obama’s. Our president is faced with a Congress that purposely blocks his every act, and seems to be done with cooperation and bipartisanship. In his annual State of the Union address, Obama asked congress to cooperate and come to a compromise with him. Ideally, the President wants to work with Congress to create a better America, but if Congress does not want to cooperate, Obama threatened to use executive orders to get what he wants.

Senator Ted Cruz, one of the Republican Tea Party leaders is opposed to Obama’s use of the executive orders. In an Opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Cruz talks about Obama’s “persistent pattern of lawlessness” and why Obama’s circumvention of Congress should scare Americans.

Senator Cruz, and most of the Republican opposition party disagree with Obama’s signature platform, The Affordable Care Act.

“There is no example of lawlessness more egregious than the enforcement—or nonenforcement—of the president’s signature policy, the Affordable Care Act,” Cruz said.

What Senator Cruz, and others of the Tea Party seem to conveniently forget is that The Supreme Court passed Obamacare as legal, and not a breach of the Constitution. The implementation of Obamacare was such a terrible idea, that the Republican Party decided to shut down the government to deny the incorporation of this policy.

“The typical way to voice that policy disagreement, for the preceding 43 presidents, has been to work with Congress to change the law. If the president cannot persuade Congress, then the next step is to take the case to the American people. As President Reagan put it: “If you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat of electoral accountability,” Cruz said.

I guess this policy didn’t apply to the incorporation of Obamacare.

What Cruz should see is that the people are trying to make Congress feel the heat. A Gallup poll shows that Congressional approval ratings are currently at 13%, very close to the all-time low of 9% and steadily decreasing. People do not agree with the way that Congress is going about things, and they approve of Obama at a much higher 42%.

Our President is faced with a polarized atmosphere that does not allow him to do his job. Congress is a mess and cannot be trusted to consistently pass bills and act in a way that is beneficial to Americans. We as a nation should understand that the greater good of America is far more important than the party wars that occur on Capitol Hill. We should recognize that President Obama is working to benefit all Americans, and is simply frustrated by the lack of productivity in Congress. The usage of Executive Orders is not pretty, but is necessary in the functioning of this nation. The President gave Congress the option of cooperation. We shall see if they chose to work together.