Obama: ‘By Hook Or Crook,’ I’ll Expand Government
President Barack Obama says he’s going to push the limits on presidential power as far as he can go during the last 2 years of his tenure.
“Where [elected Republicans in Congress] are not willing to work with us, we will do it administratively or we will convene the private sector,” he said in a friendly interview with The Huffington Post.
“By hook or by crook,” he added.
Obama said his big-government push would “make sure that when I leave this office, that the country is more prosperous, more people have opportunity, kids have a better education, we’re more competitive, climate change is being taken more seriously than it was, and we are actually trying to do something about it.”
In practice, Obama’s agenda includes more progressive control over peoples’ salaries, education practices and the energy companies. Each expansion means that state and local governments plus large and small companies will cooperate with regulators to push progressives’ goals, instead of trying to please Americans voters, taxpayers and free-market consumers.
Despite the huge victory delivered by GOP voters and swing voters in November, it is not clear if the GOP leaders can — are will even try — to block Obama’s plan.
The Constitution says the White House can only execute Congress’ laws, not rewrite them.
Obama’s supported by 46 senators, most of the established media, plus a progressive and ethnic coalition that comprises roughly 40 percent of the electorate.
On the other side, the GOP is split, and the mainstream media is relatively small.
Half the party consists of a small-government core that wants to curb progressives’ government-magnified power over Americans’ economic and social lives.
But the GOP leadership, plus a large chunk of legislators, most lobbyists and campaign donors,, are reluctant to rally voters against Obama’s big-government agenda. Instead, they prefer to make deals that provide short-term economic benefits to business groups and to wealthy donors.
Since November, the divided GOP has failed to reduce Obama’s progressive power grabs in the health sector, the energy sector, the education sector, the Internet and the immigration system.
In many cases, judges and GOP governors are more effective in blocking Obama’s agenda.
