Colman: TOO MUCH EXECUTIVE POWER

This is an article about Executive Power.  In fact, government at all levels has too much power.  When challenged for his abuse of Executive Power, Obama said these famous words, “so sue me!”.  He knew it would be expensive and many years before his totalitarian, anti-constitutional orders were overturned.  In the meantime, we would get used to the lose of freedom and rights.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, American presidents sent advisors and troops to Vietnam.  Congress did not approve a declaration of war.  Federal legislation called the Tonkin Gulf Resolution (enacted in 1964), gave the president authority to retaliate against threats from North Vietnam.  

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was called the equivalent of a declaration of war.

In the 1960’s, Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson said –- in regard to Vietnam –- that American soldiers will not be used to fight wars that Asian (Vietnamese) soldiers should fight.

In 1963, there were 17,000 so-called American advisers in Vietnam.

By 1968, over 500,000 American troops were bogged down in a Vietnam war.

When the Vietnam war ended in 1973, about 60,000 American deaths –- mostly military — had occurred.

Where was Congress to tell an American president that he needed Congressional approval to have the American military fight in Vietnam?”

While Congress never declared a war, it did finance it.  All they had to do is say NO to money for the military to fight the war.  Both Congress and the Executive Branch need to cut back it abuse of powers.

TOO MUCH EXECUTIVE POWER

By Richard Colman, Exclusive to the California Political News and Views,  10/25/24  www.capoliticalnewsandviews.com

The American presidency has too much power.

Presidential decisions on tariffs, immigration, taxes, crime, and the deployment of American military forces must have Congressional approval.

The U.S. Supreme Court erred drastically in 2024 when it gave presidents immunity on executive-branch decisions.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, American presidents sent advisors and troops to Vietnam.  Congress did not approve a declaration of war.  Federal legislation called the Tonkin Gulf Resolution (enacted in 1964), gave the president authority to retaliate against threats from North Vietnam.  

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was called the equivalent of a declaration of war.

In the 1960’s, Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson said –- in regard to Vietnam –- that American soldiers will not be used to fight wars that Asian (Vietnamese) soldiers should fight.

In 1963, there were 17,000 so-called American advisers in Vietnam.

By 1968, over 500,000 American troops were bogged down in a Vietnam war.

When the Vietnam war ended in 1973, about 60,000 American deaths –- mostly military — had occurred.

Where was Congress to tell an American president that he needed Congressional approval to have the American military fight in Vietnam?

If a president wants to impose tariffs, he or she must have Congressional approval.

If a president unilaterally imposes tariffs, the consequences can and will be severe.

Protectionists like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris support tariffs on imports.  Products like Japanese cars, Korean washing machines, French wine, Danish cheese, and many other imports will cost more.

Tariffs are, in effect, inflationary.

Tariffs also protect inefficient domestic (American) producers.  If a domestic producer is given an economic advantage, that producer will raise prices and turn out inferior products.

American agriculture is very efficient.  American-grown soybeans are a huge export to foreign countries.  According to the internet website, Wikipedia, “In 2021, the value of U.S. soybean exports to the world reached a new record at $27.4 billion, up 7 percent from the prior year’s record.”

If America imposes tariffs on imports, foreign nations will retaliate.  Under such retaliation, American exporters (like workers involved in the soybean industry) will lose their jobs.

Presidents like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were advocates of free-trade.

Trump and Harris are protectionists.

Presidential power has grown under such presidents and Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump.  Congress is needed to restrict presidential power.

The time has come for a more assertive Congress.

2 thoughts on “Colman: TOO MUCH EXECUTIVE POWER

  1. Unfortunately too true
    We have 500 elected politicians in DC to run our country.
    So, why do we let one person dictate what they think the government should do?
    The misused Executive Order should require a vote of the Senate and House before it can be law.
    Every damn thing biden did for 4 years was to undo everything Trump did.
    Why? Because he hated Trump more than he cared about our country.
    No way to run a country.

  2. Since 1945, Congress has been asleep in matters of war, allowing thousands of American deaths on foreign soil. Congress has been equally asleep for decades as The Executive churns out Orders. Nobody to blame but Congress.

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