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Subtle rule by fiat? Executive orders vs. legislation.
Definition of fiat:
–noun
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fiat
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011
By Susan Jones
(CNSNews.com) - Hailing America’s free-market system as “the greatest force for prosperity the world has ever known,” President Barack Obama announced that he has ordered a review of regulations that place “unreasonable burdens on business.”
The move comes a few weeks before the president is scheduled to address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has expressed alarm about America’s regulatory “tsunami.”
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Tuesday, President Obama stressed the importance of finding the “proper balance” between freedom of commerce and “common sense rules” that protect the public.
“Over the past two years, the goal of my administration has been to strike the right balance. And today, I am signing an executive order that makes clear that this is the operating principle of our government,”he wrote. [Emphasis added]
Obama said his executive order directs federal agencies to make sure that “regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth.” The order also requires a “government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive.”
Obama said the review will eliminate overlapping rules — but he also admitted that the review may spawn new regulations, such as new safety rules for infant formula, infection-control in hospitals,and penalties for chronic violators of workplace safety laws.
“But we are also making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or that are just plain dumb,” he added.
The president said the new rules will be written with input from experts, businesses and ordinary citizens. “We’re also getting rid of absurd and unnecessary paperwork requirements that waste time and money,” the president promised.
Obama said his administration’s efforts to modernize rules and regulations have led to smarter, and sometimes tougher, rules. [Emphasis added]
The op-ed comes about three weeks before President Obama is scheduled to address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“We look forward to this discussion about jobs and the economy,” the Chamber says on its Web site.
In an October 7, 2010 speech to the Des Moines Rotary Club, Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue discussed the “tsunami of government regulations” that is overwhelming the American free enterprise system.
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From the George Soros funded Center for American Progress (Progressive Left think tank)
The Power of the President
Recommendations to Advance Progressive Change
November 16, 2010
The opportunity
Concentrating on executive powers presents a real opportunity for the Obama administration to turn its focus away from a divided Congress and the unappetizing process of making legislative sausage. Instead, the administration can focus on the president’s ability to deliver results for the American people on the things that matter most to them:
- Job creation and economic competitiveness
- Educational excellence
- A clean energy future and energy independence
- Quality affordable health care
- Consumer protection
- The home foreclosure crisis
- Accountable government delivering results at lower cost
- Sustainable security for the nation
In addition, the key legislative accomplishments of President Obama’s first two years in office, most notably health care and financial reform, now need to be implemented effectively. Both the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act require hundreds of separate rule- makings and other agency actions to implement the legislative framework.
[snip]
There is much more the president can do. The list below of ideas from the Center for American Progress’s policy experts offers just some of the many possible actions the administration can take using existing authority to move the country forward.
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Statement from John D. Podesta
November 15, 2010
In the aftermath of this month’s midterm congressional elections, pundits and politicians across the ideological spectrum are focusing on how difficult it will be for President Barack Obama to advance his policy priorities through Congress. Predictions of stalemate abound. And some debate whether the administration should tack to the left or to the center and compromise with or confront the new House leadership.
As a former White House chief of staff, I believe those to be the wrong preoccupations. President Obama’s ability to govern the country as chief executive presents an opportunity to demonstrate strength, resolve, and a capacity to get things done on a host of pressing challenges of importance to the public and our economy. Progress, not positioning, is what the public wants and deserves.
The U.S. Constitution and the laws of our nation grant the president significant authority to make and implement policy. These authorities can be used to ensure positive progress on many of the key issues facing the country through:
- Executive orders
- Rulemaking
- Agency management
- Convening and creating public-private partnerships
- Commanding the armed forces
- Diplomacy
The ability of President Obama to accomplish important change through these powers should not be underestimated. President Bush, for example, faced a divided Congress throughout most of his term in office, yet few can doubt his ability to craft a unique and deeply conservative agenda using every aspect of the policymaking apparatus at his disposal. And, after his party lost control of Congress in 1994, President Clinton used executive authority and convening power to make significant progressive change. For instance, he protected more great spaces in the lower 48 states than any president since Theodore Roosevelt, established for the first time significant protections for Americans’ medical privacy, and urged the creation of the Welfare-to-Work Partnership that enlisted the help of 20,000 businesses in moving more than 1 million welfare recipients into the workforce.
The upshot: Congressional gridlock does not mean the federal government stands still. This administration has a similar opportunity to use available executive authorities while also working with Congress where possible. At the Center for American Progress, we look forward to our nation continuing to make progress.
Link
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Ruling by fiat?
Circumventing legislation/Congress?
http://americansforprosperity.org/obamachart.php
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So the question here is: WHO is actually running this country? Soros, Podesta or Obama?
QUESTION with BOLDNESS; SPEAK without fear.
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