Citing overreach, Republicans ponder new checks on executive powers

Congressional Republicans are considering various options to curb President Obama’s use of executive powers, which they say are excessive.

GOP officials have long claimed that the president has violated the law and the Constitution through administrative actions on issues ranging from immigration to nominations to the U.S. military involvement in Libya.

But the president’s recent move to change ObamaCare through an administrative fix has sparked a new round of discussions within the conservative base and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) last week said he was “highly skeptical” Obama could find a fix for the cancellation of health insurance plans that was both “legal and effective.”

“I just don’t see, within the law, their ability to do that,” said the Speaker.

An hour later, Obama was outlining such a change to reporters at the White House.

House Republicans passed a bill that would allow people to keep their health plan. Despite a veto threat, 39 Democrats backed the legislation written by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.).

“I know there’s a lot of discussion about the validity of the president just unilaterally changing the law. ... There are a lot of us that are very concerned about it,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said in an interview with The Hill.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, said, “We’re exploring options to try to somehow try to rein in this president’s total disregard for the Constitution.”

Via: Huffington Post

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[VIDEO] Speaker Boehner puts the Truth-O-Meter on Obama’s statements about Obamacare…

Pretty good video put out by Speaker Boehner’s office on Obama’s lies:

Via: The Right Scoop

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[VIDEO] OMB director: Er, no, I can’t gaurantee that HealthCare.gov will be running smoothly by mid-December

There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight to the Six Month Enrollment Period That Wasn’t, as the bottlenecked rate at which registrations to and applications through HealthCare.Gov turn into successfully insured enrollees continues to move at a crawl. The revelation of the March 31st-but-actually-February-14th cutoff date paired with the moving target that still is the “the online signup will be super easy and painless!” start date is every day shrinking the window in which people can either obtain health insurance or get stuck with the individual-mandate penalty, and as Speaker Boehner put it the other day, “how can we tax people for not buying a product from a website that doesn’t work?” If they can’t iron this thing out soon, even the political fiasco that would result from once again delaying the law might be more attractive than the from-all-sides criticisms with which their failure of a rollout will be rightfully saddled — and it certainly doesn’t sound like they’re sure they’ll have it under control any time soon, does it?

AL HUNT: But if people can’t sign up, they can’t get affordable care, and can you guarantee the public that by December 15, say, which is a little over 2 weeks before they can really join, that these problems will be largely rectified?

SYLVIA BURWELL: I think that the administration is working deeply on the problems that exist and I think it’s also important to recognize that there are other places and ways, in terms of whether those are the phone numbers, the navigators, and other tools and choices that people have to do that. I think also, from an OMB perspective, it’s also important to also recognize, in addition to the issue of health care for in the uninsured, the issue of people who have children up to 26 being covered, the issue of preexisting conditions, all of those are being worked on in a very successful way in terms of the substance and reducing costs.

HUNT: Cautiously optimistic you’ll have it rectified by December 15th?

BURWELL: I am optimistic that we’ll continue to make progress on the issue.

Via: Hot Air
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Prospect for quick end to 4-day shutdown appears remote

WASHINGTON (AP) — Prospects for a swift end to the 4-day-old partial government shutdown all but vanished Friday as lawmakers squabbled into the weekend and increasingly shifted their focus to a midmonth deadline for averting a threatened first-ever default.

“This isn’t some damn game,” said House Speaker John Boehner, as the White House and Democrats held to their position of agreeing to negotiate only after the government is reopened and the $16.7 trillion debt limit raised.

House Republicans appeared to be shifting their demands, de-emphasizing their previous insistence on defunding the health care overhaul in exchange for re-opening the government. Instead, they ramped up calls for cuts in federal benefit programs and future deficits, items that Boehner has said repeatedly will be part of any talks on debt limit legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also said the two issues were linked. “We not only have a shutdown, but we have the full faith and credit of our nation before us in a week or ten days,” he said.

Reid and other Democrats blocked numerous attempts by Sen. Ted Cruz to approve House-passed bills reopening portions of the government. The Texas Republican is a chief architect of the “Defund Obamacare” strategy and met earlier this week with allies in the House and an aide to Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., to confer on strategy.

Via: Chicago Sun-Times

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Boehner: Obama Has “Never Even Had A Real Job, For God’s Sake”…

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) lashed out at President Obama during an interview Tuesday, saying the president has "never even had a real job, for God's sake."

Boehner was discussing the presidential election, and accusing President Obama's campaign team of using "over-the-top" rhetoric to distract from his economic record.

Sometimes I have to catch my breath and slow down because the rhetoric in this campaign is just so over-the-top," Bohener said during an appearance on "Kilmeade and Friends." "And that's because the president's policies have failed. Listen — 93 percent of Americans believe they're a part of the middle class. That's why you hear the president talk about the middle class every day, because he's talking to 93 percent of the American people."

Via: The Hill

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A NOTE TO MAXINE WATERS

I am writing this note to you on behalf of the American people. In 1990 you were elected to serve your constituents and the citizens of the United States. You were given the “PRIVILEGE” of serving them, but you have done nothing but line your pockets off the backs of your constituents and nothing more. You have become rich while the people in your district are suffering even more than ever. You are an embarrassment to your office and do not deserve to hold theoffice that you have been elected to. Your continued hate speeches do nothing but enrage and divide. You continue to embarrass yourself and your party every day that you are inoffice. You have no ideas to bring forth so you vilify those that do. 

You have been named as one of the top ten corrupt politicians in congress time and time again yet you continue unabated and act like you are a victim. You are not a victim but you continue to victimize all of those around you. You have told the tea party to go to hell and you have called two esteemed leaders Speaker of the House Boehner and Congressman Cantor "DEMONS". This is disrespectful to them and the people they serve and “WE THE PEOPLE” and you should be admonished for this. These are not the words that should ever be coming from a member of Congress. 

It is an abomination and an insult to the America I love and the America you live in to continue to speak in a way that weakens all of us. It is a daunting task to run this country and you have done nothing to help and everything to undermine those you are supposed to serve. Until the day you are swept from office I will continue to expose you for who you are and nothing less. It's time for you to say goodbye and write your book of lies.