His do nothing Congress is not the House. The House has passed bill after bill after bill, only to have the Democratically controlled Senate either ignore the bills altogether or outright vote them down. It is NOT the House the is DO NOTHING. It is the Senate that is DO NOTHING. So, Obama can mock all he wants, but it is HIS side of the aisle that is to blame, not the right. President Barack Obama mocked what he described as a do-nothing Congress Tuesday, saying he wont apologize for taking executive actions on political issues without the legislative branch — and defiantly daring them: So sue me. As long as they insist on taking no action whatsoever that will help anybody, Im going to keep on taking actions on my own that can help the middle class, like the actions Ive already taken to speed up construction projects and attract new manufacturing jobs and lift workers wages and help students pay off their student loans, Obama told a Department of Transportation gathering on Washingtons Key Bridge. Story continues below video. ABC US News Middle-class families cant wait for Republicans in Congress to do stuff. So sue me. As long as theyre doing nothing, Im not going to apologize for trying to do something. The presidents taunt referred to the lawsuit threatened by Speaker John Boehner over Obamas go-it-alone administrative actions — a tactic he has called a stunt. Vote Now: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obamas Job Performance? On Tuesday, Obama took particular aim at House Republicans for inaction on the Highway Trust Fund, a fund paid for through a gas tax to help fix roads that will run out by the end of summer, ABC News reported. All told, nearly 700,000 jobs could be at risk next year, the president said. That would be like Congress threatening to lay off the entire population of Denver or Seattle or Boston, he said. Soon states may have to choose which projects to continue and which ones to put the brakes on because theyre running out of money. Obama said Congress inaction on the fund is obstruction that keeps the system rigged for those who are doing fine, at the very top. It prevents us from helping more middle-class families. We could do so much more if we just rallied around an economic patriotism, a sense that our job is to get things done as one nation and as one people, he said, according to ABC News. Economic patriotism would say that instead of protecting corporations that are shipping jobs overseas, lets make sure theyre paying their fair share of taxes. Lets reward American workers and businesses that hire them. Lets put people to work rebuilding America. Lets invest in manufacturing so the next generation of good manufacturing jobs are right here made in the USA. Its not crazy. Its not socialism. You know, it — its not, you know, the imperial presidency or, no laws are broken. … But so far, House Republicans have refused to act on this idea. I havent heard a good reason why they havent acted. Its not like theyve been busy with other stuff. No, seriously. I mean, theyre not doing anything. Why, why dont they do this? Later Tuesday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus accused the president of using executive actions as a power grab. The president wants to be president, he wants to be speaker of the House, he wants to be majority leader of the Senate, and he wants to be the court, Priebus said Tuesday on Fox News Channels On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. While other presidents have used executive powers, Obama takes the cake, Priebus said. He takes the blue ribbon. Hes been struck down over 13 times in the past two years by the Supreme Court saying that you are overextending your power, that you are not respecting Article 1 of the Constitution which grants the power to the House and to the Senate. Obama complained House GOP lawmakers have refused to act on extending unemployment insurance, raising the minimum wage, and a fair pay proposal, yet they criticize me for this. Boehner sued me for this, he said. And I told him Id rather do things with you; pass some laws; make sure the Highway Trust Fund is funded so we dont lay off hundreds of thousands of workers. Its not that hard. Earlier Tuesday, the president told members of his Cabinet to be creative in figuring out ways he can act on his own. When you tell your Cabinet members, I want you to find ways in order to circumvent the Constitution, the presidents forgetting about the fact that the entire basis of this Constitution that made this great country is that the power vests in We the People, Priebus charged, noting though the president once taught constitutional law, he now seems to have forgotten about the separation of powers doctrine. I think, actually, he intends to change the laws of this country on his own, Priebus said. I think hes going to be as cute and as clever as he possibly can to do it. Priebus said he backs Boehners threatened lawsuit over Obamas use of executive powers. There is no other option with this president, Priebus said. He doesnt want to work with Congress. He wants to write the laws with a pen and his telephone.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 20:41:52 +0000
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