Obama bucks Reps by making unprcdntd recess appt

[Teatownclown]

Where's your outrage?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/4/obama-unprecedented-recess-appointment/


hehehehe  just wait. You ain't seen nothing yet! 

[Conan71]

Okay, I'll play, let's pull one from the Bush era:

"He's wiping his donkey with the Constitution!"

Next appointment? George Kaiser to Energy Secretary?

[Gaspar]

Meh. . .It's the only card he could play.  His own majority won't work with him for fear of tainting their re-election.

He's gota do what he's gota do.

[nathanm]

Someone doesn't know the meaning of "unconstitutional."

[Teatownclown]

Okay, I'll play, let's pull one from the Bush era:

"He's wiping his donkey with the Constitution!"

Next appointment? George Kaiser to Energy Secretary?

GK has better things to do than lower himself to that level.

Nate, what be unconstitutional?...wiping the document like Bush did?

[Gaspar]

The position is actually the unconstitutional part.  It has no congressional oversight fir funding under Dodd Frank, and according to the bill it actually has no power unless it is granted a congressional approval, so basically this was no more than a very strange political stunt.

[Vashta Nerada]

GK has better things to do than lower himself to that level.

Nate, what be unconstitutional?...wiping the document like Bush did?

http://reason.com/blog/2012/01/04/obama-promises-not-to-use-military-deten

[heironymouspasparagus]

Meh. . .It's the only card he could play.  His own majority won't work with him for fear of tainting their re-election.

He's gota do what he's gota do.

You do realize it was the Republicans who blocked it?  With the filibuster thingy...

[nathanm]

The position is actually the unconstitutional part.  It has no congressional oversight fir funding under Dodd Frank, and according to the bill it actually has no power unless it is granted a congressional approval

No, yes, and no. The position is not unconstitutional, unless your claim is that all non-cabinet-level agencies are unconstitutional. Its budget is not subject to the normal congressional appropriations process, which, by the way, is perfectly constitutional. Congress can and has on many prior occasions created agencies with automatic funding. And under Dodd-Frank, the CFPA becomes operational when a director takes office.

You may not like recess appointments, but they are completely constitutional. It's long settled law, so quit whining like a petulant child.

[Gaspar]

You do realize it was the Republicans who blocked it?  With the filibuster thingy...

Actually it was a procedural thingy called a "pro forma session."  Same thing Harry Reid successfully used to block Bush nominations.

The word is that the evil capitalists at US Chamber of Commerce are going to mount a legal challenge.  

This was a political stunt for the campaign.  This little stunt will cost the tax payers millions of course, but who's counting?

[Gaspar]

No, yes, and no. The position is not unconstitutional, unless your claim is that all non-cabinet-level agencies are unconstitutional. Its budget is not subject to the normal congressional appropriations process, which, by the way, is perfectly constitutional. Congress can and has on many prior occasions created agencies with automatic funding. And under Dodd-Frank, the CFPA becomes operational when a director takes office.

You may not like recess appointments, but they are completely constitutional. It's long settled law, so quit whining like a petulant child.

There is a difference here. The budget of this agency is niter established in the Dodd Frank bill, or subject to congressional approval, so it becomes the discretion of the director.  That is not constitutional.  That is an agency with a blank check.

[nathanm]

That is not constitutional.  That is an agency with a blank check.

Actually, it is, and was the entire point. The agency is specifically designed to not have to hew to the demands of bank lobbyists. Congress is free to change how the agency is funded at any time, but it was deliberately designed to be difficult. I can't believe you're actually claiming that having regulators beholden to lobbyists is a good idea.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Actually it was a procedural thingy called a "pro forma session."  Same thing Harry Reid successfully used to block Bush nominations.

The word is that the evil capitalists at US Chamber of Commerce are going to mount a legal challenge.  

This was a political stunt for the campaign.  This little stunt will cost the tax payers millions of course, but who's counting?

Yep.  All of the above.

[nathanm]

The word is that the evil capitalists at US Chamber of Commerce are going to mount a legal challenge.  

I know you were trying to lend credibility to your argument, but invoking the name of a lobbying organization that has never seen a regulation they could live with isn't much help.

[Gaspar]

Actually, it is, and was the entire point. The agency is specifically designed to not have to hew to the demands of bank lobbyists citizens. Congress is free to change how the agency is funded at any time, but it was deliberately designed to be difficult. I can't believe you're actually claiming that having regulators beholden to lobbyists the people is a good idea.

FIFY

No matter how you dance, unchecked budgets lead to unchecked power.  Dodd and Frank realized that the only way to insure that an agency could not be influenced by lobby efforts was to make that agency immune from any form of public funding control.  Unfortunately that cannot be interpreted as constitutional.  The president knows that.

Additionally, the appointment cannot stand, because congress was in pro forma session.  You may remember when Bush intended to ram through recess appointments and Harry Reid kept congress in pro forma.  Bush backed down because it would have been a violation of the constitution.  President Obama knows that too.  Also be aware that any recess appointments expire at the end of the Senate's next session.  So the act, and the following legal challenges from both private and public sector forces is a political ballet for the sheep that need to see president obama making decisive leader-like movements.