We are, once again faced with a serious Constitutional Crisis precipitated by the Presidents refusal to follow the highest law in the land, a law which he swore to uphold and to defend. I have previously written about this administration ignoring the law and specifically asking the President to resign. Since those comments were written, his behavior has not changed, but has only gotten worse, so against my wishes, I am pulling myself out of the palliative of the holidays and the football bowl season to think about much more serious issues.

I must admit, I have had serious fears about this administration since at least November of 2008, some fears of which I will refrain from sharing lest I appear paranoid, but the Presidents actions this week only reinforce my fears. What do I refer to – why to his recess appointments of course? I am sure you have heard all about how unprecedented and unconstitutional and therefore illegal these appointments were from your normal sources of news. What is that you say, you did not hear that? Shocking – sadly this one of the most serious constitutional crises in our nations history, but we are anesthetized by life and unaware that we are rapidly moving from a free republic to a centralized and unaccountable government.

Maybe that is hyperbole, you be the judge. Earlier this week President Barack Obama decided that he would consider the Senate in recess so that he could appoint individuals to unaccountable positions in the Executive branch of government. These positions require Senate confirmation, but if the Senate is in recess the President has the “Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate …..which [appointments] shall expire at the End of their [the Senate’s] next Session”. Article 2, Section 2, Clause 3 –U.S. Constitution. Italics mine.

The problem in this case is that it is very debatable whether or not the Senate is actually in recess. In order to be in recess, both the Congress and the Senate must agree to recess, but the Congress has not agreed to a Senate recess – ergo, the declaration by the President of a Senate recess is at best questionable. In addition, the vacancies that have been filled did not occur during the recess, they have been vacancies for quite some time but the Senate refused, for good reasons and in keeping with their constitutional responsibilities, to approve the appointments.

There have been other Presidents over time, albeit rarely, who have used a recess to appoint individuals who have been blocked, but they have done so when there was in fact an actual recess in place. An excellent piece by Phil Kerpenis vice president for policy at Americans for Prosperity outlines some of these concerns much better than I could.

This is another step in a long list of steps taking us down the road toward a centralized government and loss of freedom. This is not the only transgression of this President or it might not raise so many concerns, but it is the latest in a long list of questionable constitutional moves. A constitution, I will remind you again, he swore to uphold and to defend.  

A partial discussion of unconstitutional acts can be found in detail at Maggie Thornton’s blog, but let me share some of them here along with some of my own concerns: 

1)      Bailouts – The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to spend the taxpayer’s money. Without the consent of Congress, the President cannot legally spend taxpayer money. He believes the Constitution should allow for the redistribution of taxpayer wealth.

2)   Supreme Court – Believes it should redress omissions of the founding fathers. “…the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted, and the Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf.”

3}  The Czars – The appointment of the many “czars” by the Obama administration are unconstitutional – They are being appointed without the Advise and Consent of Congress.

4)   Government ownership in private business. The seizure of ownership of private business is unconstitutional.

5)   Health Care – Obama’s health care plan is unconstitutional as numerous courts have already determined and most likely will be affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court later this year.

6)   Fast and Furious.

7)   Instructing his Justice Department not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.

8)   Ignoring a Court order to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill.

9)   Refusing to enforce a judgment against the Philadelphia Black Panthers in a voting rights case.

10) He believes the constitution is flawed.

These are dangerous signs that we have a President that does not respect the rule of law and a Republic can only survive if the office holders have the utmost respect for the positions they steward and are willing to obey the law of the Constitution, which they as well as each of us are subject to. A Republic will not survive without virtue in its leaders and in its people and that has been said in different ways by many, including Abraham Lincoln and James Madison, but that truth is taught to us in Proverbs “It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, for a throne is established on righteousness.” Proverbs 16:12.

It is hard to watch a once great nation fall into decay and as frustrating and angry as you can get watching it, let’s remember these things as an inspiration to pray for our President and all of his appointments, legal or not, that they may rule in righteousness, for if they do not, we will be the ones who suffer. I Timothy 2:1-3 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,”

In addition to our prayers, there are two other things we should do. The first thing is that we should share with our friends what we know and ask them to pray with us for our county. The second thing we can and must do is to watch closely the actions of our President, and if he does not repent and turn and honor righteousness and justice, we need to exercise our responsibility as believers and vote for his removal from office in November. These are our rights as citizens and our duties and privileges as those who are called to be salt and light in a dark world.