President Barack Obama and his advisers are signaling that he plans to use his executive powers more than ever this year, bypassing congressional Republicans who oppose his agenda. In some ways, he feels liberated by having the last election behind him, Democratic pollster Geoff Garin tells me. This means he can do much of what he wants without the fear of an immediate electoral backlash, Garin says. Barack Obama is an executive-power president, free from the straightjacket of a midterm election, ready to make the most out of his last two years in office, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told CBS News. Obama says he wants to cooperate with Congress to pass legislation on the budget, trade, education, and rebuilding roads, bridges and other parts of the nations infrastructure. But he warns that he wont back down from taking additional unilateral actions, such as his recent moves to impose more sanctions on North Korea for allegedly hacking into Sonys computer systems; his decision to stop deporting millions of people who entered the United States illegally; his plans to start normalizing relations with Cuba, and his administrations moves to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Hes starting to learn that he can be like FDR [Franklin D. Roosevelt] and Theodore Roosevelt – dont worry about Congress, just lay down these executive orders, Brinkley said. Obamas unilateral actions will also include issuing federal rules and regulations at an accelerated pace. A survey by Politico, released Monday, finds that, The Obama administration is preparing another active year of executive action in 2015, pumping out new rules and enforcing others for the first time – setting tougher standards on everything from air pollution to overtime pay to net neutrality, food safety, commercial drones, a college ratings plan and a crackdown on for-profit colleges that dont prepare their students for well-paying jobs. Theres even going to be the first draft of a rule for organic pet food. Obama also plans to veto more bills if the newly resurgent GOP majorities in the House and Senate go too far, Obama advisers say. More use of the veto would be a departure for Obama, who has vetoed only two bills up to now during his six years in office, fewer than any other recent president. If Republicans seek to take health care away from people who just got it, Obama told reporters recently, they will meet stiff resistance from me. If they try to water down consumer protections that we put in place in the aftermath of the financial crisis I will say, no.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 08:11:17 +0000
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