Lindsey Graham: Obama's Lockheed Illegality Is a "Mini-Coup"

It is. More and more Obama simply disregards the law, or asserts his authority -- apparently as a tyrant, unchecked by a legislature -- to change the law via his sole decision it should be changed.

Graham is deeply concerned about the move, and about the lack of attention it is receiving — within and without Congress. The manouvre is “incredibly disturbing,” he told me. How disturbing? “It is exhibit A in the march toward an imperial presidency.” The “statute is clear,” Graham continued, “the WARN Act is the law of the land.” Here, “we have a White House saying, ‘we don’t care what the law we signed says.’” The OMB analysis — which holds that as the law might change, there is no need for businesses to comply with it — is “absurd on its face,” the senator told me, and the Department of Labor’s advisory opinion “a political move.” It is “patently illegal for the federal government to absorb the financial cost of a private company for not following the law. Never have we put the taxpayer on the hook for a private company failing to follow the law.”

Graham wondered aloud, “why are Democrats are not upset about the precedent? This has implications beyond this election cycle.” What implications?, I queried. “Imagine if a Republican president said that, because his proposed tax cuts were likely to become law, there was no need for the existing rates to be paid.” What we have here, I suggested, is the government instructing people to violate the law, and offering to mitigate the consequences. “Yes,” Graham agreed. “It’s crazy legal analysis. We are in danger of being no longer a rule of law nation. It’s a mini-coup.”

As you probably heard, Michelle Obama has never been more proud of her country than when her husband "worked around" Congress and the Constitution he swore to defend.

posted by Ace at 04:37 PM

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