Anyone who listened to President Obama’s State of the Union address understands his intention to circumvent Congress whenever necessary in order to get his agenda enacted. On radio this morning, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) joined Glenn to discuss his work to shed light on federal overreach through his work on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. This morning, Sen. Cruz released his third report on the Obama Administration’s attempts to expand federal power, specifically as it relates to federal encroachment upon the state of Texas.
“I serve as the ranking member, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. In that capacity, we have issued a series of reports. This is the third in a series of reports laying out the President's overbroad assertions of federal power,” Sen. Cruz said. “This report just focuses on the litigation with the State of Texas and it outlines… ten separate cases where the Obama Administration has advocated consistently for overbroad federal power… The courts keep rejecting what the Obama Administration is doing, and it doesn't seem to stop the Obama Administration at all. They just keep asserting power that exceeds the Constitution, exceeds federal statute, exceeds the law.”
Sen. Cruz described the pattern of “lawlessness” in the Obama Administration as “breathtaking.” President Obama has proven he has no problem skirting and refusing to enforce any federal law he disagrees with, and that should concern anyone who supports the balance of power outlined in Constitution.
“He simply disregards the law, and that ought to concern everybody – not just Republicans but Democrats, independents, libertarians. Unchecked power in the presidency, an emperor presidency, is fundamentally inconsistent with individual liberty,” Sen. Cruz said. “And what is striking is this keeps going on and on. Where are the Democrats? Where is the media? Where is anybody actually standing up for rule of law and the Constitution?”
One of the most chilling moments of last week’s State of the Union was watching the Democratic members of Congress gleefully cheer as President Obama declared he was stripping the legislative body of its power. Sen. Cruz believes that bizarre demonstration was further proof of an ‘ends justify the means’ mentality.
“It was breathtaking… You go back to the Federalist Papers and the ideas that power is divided because factions will battle with each other, and that tension will protect the liberty of the people. You've got Congressional Democrats who are willingly ceding Congress's authority to the president,” Sen. Cruz said. “The only explanation I can give is the end justify the means and it is all political to them. They agree with what he is doing, so there's no responsible answer.”
Democrats will one day have to answer for this brazen overreach when a Republican takes office and is able to use similar powers, but, politics aside, a president who is able to operate above the law is really not a president at all.
“Do you think they are just for the fundamental transformation of the system because they're playing with no foresight at all,” Glenn said of Democrats in Congress. “If the next person that gets in is Chris Christie, they aren't going to like all that power. Neither am I. I will stand against Chris Christie as well, but they aren't going to like all that power.”
“It is a terrific question. I don't have a good answer to it,” Sen. Cruz said. “If a president can pick and choose which laws to follow, he's no longer a president. That's dangerous.”
Sen. Cruz went on to further outline some of the Obama Administration’s most brazen overreaches:
You can read Sen. Cruz’s entire report HERE. You can also visit MakeDClisten.org to learn more about how to make your voice heard.