Examples of lawlessness on part of the Obama Administration

To the editor,

I have been accused of using invectives and exaggeration in describing the current administration, which now has four more years to dismantle our Constitution. How dare I call the EPA a rogue organization? It's director, Lisa Jackson decided to enforce a mandate that oil refiners blend cellulosic ethanol into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. There is one little problem though. It does not yet exist commercially. That is apparently of little concern to Lisa. The EPA fined refiners $6.8 million for not following their edict. They appealed her decision. She thanked them for their concern, but said the decision will stand, pay up! Yes, it was George Bush who signed the Energy Independence and Security Act in 2007, which set this mandate in motion. Somehow, I don't think President Bush would be copacetic with this mugging and theft of the energy sector. American oil refiners have been forced to spend money to sue the federal government for being forced to comply with an impossible edict, rather than focusing on creating jobs.

How dare I call this administration lawless? Here are just a few of the power grabs that began as a trickle and have turned into an executive flood of circumvention, perhaps to become a full blown tidal wave by 2016: (1) Circumventing Congress's refusal to pass the DREAM ACT by directing federal officers to no longer deport large groups of younger, illegal immigrants; (2) stripping away a "central component" of the 1996 bipartisan Welfare Reform Act — that being the "work requirement" — by substituting "education programs" for those citizens to engage in while they enjoy their welfare benefits. This sends the wrong message and encourages growth of our "entitlement society"; (3) can't pass Cap and Trade, just have the EPA enforce something similar through unilateral regulations; (4) when Congress was reluctant to take up Internet regulations through something called "net neutrality", our president's FCC took it on anyway; (5) the Affordable Care Act, which has been cited as being a "mammoth legislative concession to executive branch lawmaking" — 2700 pages of incomprehensible directives and mandates, giving the HHS secretary unbelievable power in implementing the policy, including the religious mandate. Platoons of IRS agents will be summoned to go after those who are fined for non-compliance.

There are many, many more examples of lawlessness, but this is enough for one letter. Suffice to say, these actions and others have already caused hundreds of employers to lay off employees, cut back on full-time workers and put growth and entrepreneurship on the back burner for who knows how long? How is it that so many people voted to keep Barack Obama on for four more years to complete his progressive transformation of a, soon to be, once proud Republic? No doubt, some of those folks would be the same ones who refuse to believe our president detests the fact that our Constitution is a document of limiting powers. Just how much more evidence does anyone need?

Russ Wiles

Tilton