Current Events vs. Founding Documents
This column presents facts regarding the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Wisconsin State Constitution, and various other documents in reference to modern topics. Mark hopes to encourage interest in those works so that others can consider whether our government is practicing within its constitutional limits. In the last category, he may indicate his opinion. Mark is a resident of New Berlin. Readers are encouraged to visit the following sites for more information on the United States Constitution and Thomas Jefferson's views on politics and government.
Doing Fine - By Comparison ?
Entry 145
Current Event
According to CBS News October 3, 2011:
Obama works around Congress while waiting for action on jobs bill
President Obama on Monday said he's insisting that Congress act on his $447 billion jobs bill this month. But in the meantime, he said, he's ordering his administration to find ways to create jobs without Congress.
Mr. Obama assembled his cabinet Monday "to talk about the one topic that's on everybody's minds, and that is how do we put America back to work," he said ahead of their meeting.
Every federal secretary and agency chief has been assigned to examine what the administration can do to accelerate job growth over the next several months without the help of Congress, Mr. Obama said. Possible options, he said, include accelerating payments to small businesses so they have greater cash flow, or working with the housing market to provide relief to homeowners.
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According to FoxNews.com October 15,2011
Rep. Jesse Jackson Calls on Government to Hire All Unemployed Americans for $40,000 Each | Fox News
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has offered his own $804 billion jobs plan that calls on the federal government to hire the nation’s 15 million unemployed Americans for jobs paying roughly $40,000 each, and bail out all the states and cities facing budget crises.
In an interview with the Daily Caller on Wednesday, the Illinois Democrat applauded President Obama for directing his staff to greenlight job-creating initiatives without congressional approval after his $447 billion jobs bill was defeated in the Senate this week.
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“We put people to work cleaning up communities. We put people to work through a civilian conservation corps, through a Works Progress Administration because the hour demands it,” he said.
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But not everyone is convinced that Jackson's plan would work. Even a fellow Democrat has criticized it.
“In Rep. Jackson’s entire congressional career, he has never introduced a single jobs bill,” Debbie Halvorson, who is challenging Jackson in the Democratic primary, said in a written statement. “Now, he’s calling on the president to suspend the Constitution? As a representative of the people, you don’t give up when you hit a roadblock and throw the Constitution out the window – you keep working to get something done."
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According to the Washington Times; Friday, June 8, 2012
GOP slams Obama’s rosy remarks on economy
President Obama's comments Friday that the "private sector's doing fine" attracted sharp and immediate counterfire from GOP nominee Mitt Romney and fellow Republicans, who said the remarks showed the president was badly out of touch on the plight of the economy.…
"The truth of the matter is, we've created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months — over 800,000 just this year alone," Mr. Obama said. "The private sector's doing fine. Where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with the state and local governments."
He suggested GOP lawmakers are resisting his job-creation proposals because they're motivated by election-year concerns.
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According to FoxNews.com; June 10, 2012
Obama campaign plan for private sector? Hire more teachers, firefighters
President Obama's top campaign strategist said Sunday that the country needs to "accelerate" job creation in the private sector -- by hiring more teachers, police and firefighters.
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The political adviser appeared on two Sunday shows in large part to answer questions about the president's comments Friday, when Obama had to publicly backpedal after initially diagnosing the private sector as "fine."
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VS
President Obama vs. The Constitution
Founding Document
US Constitution; Article 1, Section 2
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
We the People:
I believe President Obama intended to say that the private economy was “doing fine’ by comparison to the government economy. This point was lost in the reaction. However, creating more teachers, police and firefighters positions would be consistent with his quest to boost the size of government; and those people would feel obliged to vote for him. Likewise, imagine the voting block of government workers if President Obama followed Representative Jackson’s suggestion. That conflict of interest is among the reasons that the president’s constitutional powers do not include creating make-work jobs.
It is also interesting that he is attempting to bypass Congress to create government jobs.
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