The examples are plenty.
H/T: Gaia
Refusing to enforce laws that he doesn’t like. Article II, Section 3 states that the president “shall take care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Mr. Obama directed Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to ignore the Defense of Marriage Act and even work against it in the federal courts. Mr. Holder also suspended newly enacted photo ID voter laws in Texas and South Carolina.
KNIGHT: Trashing the Constitution
Obama has compiled a lengthy list of violations
Constitution Day is Monday, Sept. 17, so I compiled a non-exhaustive list of the ways Barack Obama has violated the Constitution.
First, let’s dispense with a persistent media trope, which is that President Obama was a constitutional law professor in Chicago. Former University of Chicago Law School Dean Richard Epstein blew a hole through that recently with his recollection that New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor’s claim that Mr. Obama was offered tenure is false. Mr. Obama was never even a law professor, just a part-time lecturer.
“[U]nder no circumstances would an offer to Obama be tenured,” Mr. Epstein told the Daily Caller. “The thought that the law school could have made a tenure offer to a person with no academic writing was out of the question.”
Now for some examples of Mr. Obama’s violations:
Launching an illegal war in Libya. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to declare war. Under the congressionally enacted War Powers Act, Mr. Obama had 60 days to get congressional approval after U.S. bombs started dropping in Tripoli, but he didn’t bother. Putting the Muslim Brotherhood in charge of yet another Arab nation appeared to be a higher priority than following the law.
Undermining the nation’s armed forces. Article II, Section 2, names the president commander in chief. Instead of asserting American power, Mr. Obama projects weakness, emboldening our enemies. The murder of our ambassador and three other staff members in Benghazi, Libya, and the attacks on our embassies in Egypt and Yemen are bitter fruit of that reality. In addition, Mr. Obama rammed through Congress a bill homosexualizing the military despite failing to make the case that this won’t hurt readiness, morale, retention or recruitment. He is unfit to be commander in chief.
Violating religious freedom. Mr. Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services ignored the First Amendment by issuing a Soviet-style order to Catholic and other faith-based institutions to violate their beliefs and provide insurance covering abortifacients, contraceptives and sterilizations.
Appointing agency “czars” without Senate approval. Article II, Section 2, gives the president the power to appoint ambassadors, judges and top agency officials, but only with the “advice and consent of the Senate.” Mr. Obama has appointed, without Senate approval, more than two dozen czars in federal agencies.
Making illegal recess appointments. Article II, Section 2 allows the president to “fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate.” While the Senate was in session, Mr. Obama made recess appointments of Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three members of the National Labor Relations Board.
Forcing Americans to buy health insurance. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to regulate commerce and levy taxes. It does not give Congress the power to force Americans to engage in commerce. During policy debates in 2009, the White House denied that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was a “tax.” But in court, the administration argued that it was a tax after all. In a shocking ruling, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. bought the logic, upholding this unconstitutional monstrosity.
