Guest Blogger – George Harvey- Suing The President?

Republicans Once Again Bear Their Bitterness
By George Harvey. Guest Blogger

In a 225-201 vote, the House of Representatives has given Speaker John Boehner the right to file suit against President Obama over his apparent lack of adequate enforcement of the new health care law. The suit addresses the White House’s decision to allow employers to postpone for a year the enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that they offer health coverage of employees or pay a penalty. Mr. Boehner offers his own vague justifications, saying: “This isn’t about Republicans and Democrats. It’s about defending the Constitution we swore an oath to uphold.” A more levelheaded approach by one more qualified to speak on matters concerning constitutional authority is offered by Constitutional Accountability Center Senior Counsel Simon Lazarus. In an article in the Atlantic, Lazarus wrote that the delay is “a sensible adjustment to phase-in enforcement, not a refusal to enforce” and “well within the Executive Branch’s lawful discretion.”

All painfully obvious ironies aside, statements such as these prove to be nothing more than empty rally cries that beg for attention more so than bring imperative issues to light. Mr. Boehner and the House Republicans view Mr. Obama’s decisions as blatant overreach of the executive branch; however, one would think that such an accusation would warrant more than merely pulling out of a hat the broadest and most subjectively interpretive argument of the Constitution and its limits. The ironies of the Republican Party wishing to reprimand the President over acting slow to carry out a law it so fiercely opposed are laughable and it puts the Party in no other position than to be ridiculed. 

Some, including myself, say that the fuss Republicans are making is no more than a quiet step towards impeachment. The newly elected House Majority Whip won’t rule out House Republicans moving ahead with impeachment proceedings against President Barack Obama. 65% of Republicans are just fine with it, no doubt the same 65% author Patrick Andendall demonstrates in considerable detail in his book, who lack critical thinking skills

The “impeach Obama” movement has no longer proven to be of much help for the Republicans; thus, by suing the President over such trivial matters without calling it impeachment, the Republicans may satisfy their base while safely avoiding estrangement of the general public. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stated during a Capitol press briefing, “This isn’t about this lawsuit. You don’t sue somebody unless you want to prove that they are wrong. This is about the road to impeachment. And if it is not, the Speaker has to say one simple sentence: ‘Impeachment is off the table.’”

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) claims: “If there were a Republican president doing the same thing, I would feel just as strongly. This is about the Constitution.” I highly doubt this. It is a common point of argument to claim that one would react the same to a situation even had one’s own camp been at fault. The old “it’s about the principle” argument fails to convince me in this situation; in no way would the original composers of the Constitution support such blatantly irresponsible and disrespectful treatment of the Constitution, as evidenced in this transparently reckless partisan lawsuit. It is not card trick to impress friends at a dinner party with, and its use by the Republican Party proves to be only a cheap and easy excuse for what is really nothing more than basic hatred and resentment of our country’s President.

The attention caused by the lawsuit is exactly what is intended by Mr. Boehner and the Republican Party, though perhaps not in the way intended. The lawsuit does nothing more than add texture to an already finely detailed painting of a party fully steeped in stupidity, arrogance, and a disregard of their duties to serve the people of our nation. Whereas our lawmakers’ time should be spent on issues much more relevant and imperative to the running of our country, we now are forced to deal with an idiotic accusation and treat it as though it was in some way important to the future of the nation. The Republican Party has slowly devolved itself from the elephant it once was to nothing more than a fly that refuses to quit its buzzing.

It is sad that I can safely say that this hullabaloo has done nothing more than cause drama better suited for the middle school cafeteria than our government.