If Hillary Clinton is elected president she will eagerly bypass Congress if they don't pass legislation she wants and enact them via executive orders.
Hey! Who is making such a horrible slam against Hillary as power hungry to the extent of ignoring Congress? Is this just another wild charge from Donald Trump? Nope! The source of this power abuse charge is none other than the leftwing Vox which recently featured a Hillary love fest disguised as an interview conducted by their editor-in-chief, Ezra Klein. The premature revelation of Hillary truths were made by Dara Lind who might soon find herself explaining that she didn't really mean what she wrote. And her Hillary executive power revelations come in an article appropriately subtitled, Clinton would be the first president to embrace the executive powers her predecessors built.
Obama’s would-be successor, Hillary Clinton, has moved beyond uneasiness about executive action. The Clinton America has heard about all week at the Democratic National Convention is single-minded in the pursuit of her goals — and doesn’t appear to be as invested in whether the work gets done legislatively, through bipartisan negotiation, or through the executive branch.
A lot of people are freaking out — justifiably — over Donald Trump’s eagerness to weaken or abandon democratic norms. But if Clinton is elected, she won’t just represent the absence of Trumpian disruption, nor a continuation of Obama’s rule. A Clinton administration, at least as we’ve seen it this week, would cement the expansive power of the 21st-century presidency — simply by accepting it as a legitimate alternative to bipartisanship.
Bipartisanship? Eh, who needs Congress? I shall rule via "expansive power" as a King (Queen, you sexist!).
In 2016, it very much seems that the only ways to get things done in Washington are through legislative supermajorities that can push through one party’s key priorities (like the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank financial regulation in 2010), or executive action that bypasses Congress entirely, like the immigration actions and others that Obama’s taken in the last two years of his presidency.
"Bypasses Congress entirely." Oh and bypasses democracy entirely but hey, Lind, seems not to care. Her Hillary sure doesn't.
Can't get a free college tuition bill through Congress? Hey, no problem. Just wave the Executive Order Magic Wand® (take note Mr. Novak) and poof! Legislation accomplished!
Her college-affordability plan includes a proposal for legislation that would make public university tuition free for many Americans, but it also includes a suggestion to impose a moratorium on college debt that the president could accomplish executively.
In fact just about everything can be accomplished by that executive order magic. A dictatorial favorite. And with Hillary, apparently no silly worries about overstepping constitutional bounds:
At very least, Clinton would, if elected, will likely start her presidency with the same level of comfort that Obama ended his. That will make it more appealing for advocates and interest groups to push for executive action instead of (or in addition to) their legislative agendas.
Oh, and guess who Lind accuses of possible future abuse of power? No, not Hillary even though Lind obviously relishes her future abuse of executive power. Should her culprit really be any surprise?
If Clinton accepts the use of broad executive power, Trump clearly relishes it. He often seems blissfully unaware of constitutional or legal constraints on the presidency and the executive branch, but many of his most appalling suggestions could easily be done using existing legal authority.
In case you still don't get it, Lind spells it out for you. Trump executive orders...BAD! Hillary executive orders...GOOD!
Compared to a Trump administration, a Clinton administration would simply continue the trend that’s spanned two presidencies. But if she’s elected in January, the way her opponent would, counterfactually, have governed won’t be relevant to the way she governs. And whatever political and policy realignment happens as a result of the 2016 election, it will also represent the end of a chapter: the expanded 21st-century executive will be set in place.
My favorite part of this article came at the very end with this question: "Was this article helpful?"
Yes, it was very helpful. In fact, much too inadvertently helpful for Ezra Klein's comfort.
