# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 940
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18782 "2015-01-27T18:41:09Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > A President can veto laws. He cannot just alter a law because he doesn’t like it, or refuse to enforce it. The exception would be if that law violates the Constitution by infringing on executive branch powers that Congress has no say over. > > Under no circumstances can a President just refuse to enforce a law passed by overwhelming majorities in Congress, and reaffirmed several times in subsequent legislation. So what does this have to do with Obama? The arbiter of whether he’s done this is neither **adaher** nor the Republicans in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18783 "2015-01-27T18:44:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > A President can veto laws. He cannot just alter a law because he doesn’t like it, or refuse to enforce it. The exception would be if that law violates the Constitution by infringing on executive branch powers that Congress has no say over. > > Under no circumstances can a President just refuse to enforce a law passed by overwhelming majorities in Congress, and reaffirmed several times in subsequent legislation. Nonsense. Bush did, repeatedly. His signing statements were in large part a written justification for doing so. The remedy is impeachment, should Congress choose to pursue it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18784 "2015-01-27T18:45:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Congress did pass enough funding to deport more than just felons. The President has the executive authority to draw that line. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18785 "2015-01-27T18:45:47Z")
Then I guess we now live in a country where a Republican President can repeal ACA himself with no input from Congress: just don’t enforce the mandates. Prosecutorial discretion, you see. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18786 "2015-01-27T18:47:48Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > You don’t think it wasn’t just her natural incoherence? No, it seemed to be “enhanced” incoherence, IMO. BTW, did y’all know that the rate of alcohol abuse and dependence in Alaska is twice the national average? [Cite](http://dhss.alaska.gov/dbh/Pages/Prevention/programs/substanceabuse/default.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18787 "2015-01-27T18:48:22Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > You all should put him on ignore too. The air smells sweeter, water tastes fresher, the sky is bluer. There is literally no downside to it! 😃 Thanks. Plonking him cured my thinning hair. Well, not really, but I’ve slowed it down by not tearing it all out. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18788 "2015-01-27T18:49:18Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Then I guess we now live in a country where a Republican President can repeal ACA himself with no input from Congress: just don’t enforce the mandates. Republican president? Ha ha. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18789 "2015-01-27T18:50:11Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > A President can veto laws. He cannot just alter a law because he doesn’t like it, or refuse to enforce it. The exception would be if that law violates the Constitution by infringing on executive branch powers that Congress has no say over. > > Under no circumstances can a President just refuse to enforce a law passed by overwhelming majorities in Congress, and reaffirmed several times in subsequent legislation. Holy fuck you’re stupid. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18790 "2015-01-27T18:50:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The President has the executive authority to draw that line. We need to distinguish between technically legal, and legal but dangerous to the constitutional order. The President’s immigration action, as well as his Cuba action, stretch executive authority about as far as it will go, and in very creative ways. They violate the spirit of both of the policies Congress has passed. We have a Cuba embargo and no official relations with them because we want them to become more democratic. You may not like that policy, and the President obviously does not, but that is Congress’ policy. On immigration, Congress has very clearly stated in law after law on the subject that those who are here illegally will be deported. Of course we can’t deport all of them, but we can deport a large number of them and at first, the President was doing that. Now he just doesn’t feel like doing it anymore. While his order can be written to techincally remain in compliance with his constitutional powers, it’s a sham, and you all know it. There’s no reason he can’t continue to deport however many he was deporting. His administration was already prioritizing felons, he announced the policy at the beginning of his Presidency. He had no need to amnesty anyone. He CHOSE to do that because he simply didn’t want to deport non-felon anymore. Had absolutely zilch to do with lack of funds. If Congress passes funding to deport more people, he’ll veto it. So complaining because Congress is now engaged in the same type of activity makes those who do it look like childish whiners. The affront to the President’s dignity here is far less serious than the affront to Congress’ prerogatives. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18791 "2015-01-27T19:07:56Z")
You just keep thinking, Butch, that’s what you’re good at. Ever see Cheech Marin’s movie, _Born in East L.A._? Scene in there struck me where I wasn’t looking. Cheech’s Mom wants him to go down to the border and pick up his Mexican cousin, and Cheech bitches about it saying “Aww, Mom, you _know_ my Spanish is no good!”. That jolted me a little, hit me in the presumptions, I suddenly realized I was surprised, gosh, of course he speaks Spanish, he’s a Mexican! No, he’s not, he was born in East L.A., kinda the whole point. These Dreamer kids grew up American, not technically, maybe not legally, but effectively. What chance would they have back on the streets their parents fled from? Do we imagine that the locals will be sympathetic? That they will develop the street skills they got from watching _Sesame Street?_ As Bob Dylan sang once “The cops don’t need you and man, they expect the same.” Sending these kids into an environment like the streets of Guatemala or Honduras is unspeakably cruel, they cannot have committed a crime worthy of such punishment, OK, maybe one or two have done so, then send them for their crimes. Or deport their parents if you have such a hard-on to punish somebody. But these kids would have no chance. Justice is one thing, cruelty and malice quite another. I’m sick of being misled by “tough guys”, fuck 'em, and the horse upon in which they rode! If what you are doing is cruel, then it is wrong, and no pile of lawbooks will ever make it better. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18792 "2015-01-27T19:29:05Z")
When the President just wanted to amnesty the Dreamers, that at least made sense from a prosecutorial discretion standpoint. If you can’t deport everyone, then you can shield a small minority from deportation and justify it. He can deport nearly 400,000 per year. There’s no reason for him not to maintain that pace. It is, after all, the law. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18793 "2015-01-27T19:31:25Z")
BTW, the fact that he announced both of these policies right after the last election in which he the outcome means something to him kinda tells you all you need to know about whether these policies are just or not. He could have done either of those things in 2009. If it was a matter of justice and humanity, he WOULD have done those things. Obviously, they weren’t so important that they couldn’t wait for three more elections to pass. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18794 "2015-01-27T19:32:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > When the President just wanted to amnesty the Dreamers, that at least made sense from a prosecutorial discretion standpoint. If you can’t deport everyone, then you can shield a small minority from deportation and justify it. > > He can deport nearly 400,000 per year. There’s no reason for him not to maintain that pace. It is, after all, the law. The executive action is also within the law. If it’s unlawful, that will be determined by courts, not by **adaher** and John Boehner. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18795 "2015-01-27T19:33:41Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > BTW, the fact that he announced both of these policies right after the last election in which he the outcome means something to him kinda tells you all you need to know about whether these policies are just or not. He could have done either of those things in 2009. If it was a matter of justice and humanity, he WOULD have done those things. Obviously, they weren’t so important that they couldn’t wait for three more elections to pass. No, this tells us nothing about his motives, because there were other strategies and options possible. You certainly could be right, but it’s just as reasonable that he tried other options, and when those failed, resorted to executive action. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18796 "2015-01-27T19:36:56Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The executive action is also within the law. If it’s unlawful, that will be determined by courts, not by **adaher** and John Boehner. I’m not saying it’s illegal, just that it violates the spirit of the law and it’s unjustifiable. It severely unbalances the balance of power between the executive and legislative branch. It gives the executive a HUGE advantage. Basically, laws passed by Congress have only as much force as the President wishes to give them. And their only response is impeachment? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18797 "2015-01-27T19:37:59Z")
And another thing liberals love to complain about: Congress won’t pass many new laws. What’s the point? The President claims he can’t handle all the laws he’s already entrusted to enforce. Why does he want more laws that he’s helpless to enforce? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18798 "2015-01-27T19:44:28Z")
**adaher** is a Stupid Republican Idea. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18799 "2015-01-27T19:46:24Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > You don’t think it wasn’t just her natural incoherence? That’s the thing. It WAS her natural incoherence. Her TelePrompTer went tits-up, y’see. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18800 "2015-01-27T19:46:57Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The President claims he can’t handle all the laws he’s already entrusted to enforce. You’ll have to provide a cite for such a dubious claim. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18801 "2015-01-27T19:51:23Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I wonder what goes through McCain’s mind when he hears about Palin’s latest word-vomits. Does he feel shame? Has he psychologically distanced himself from his Frankenstein’s monster somehow, to be able to sleep at night in his twilight years? Or maybe he just takes a drink. McCain? He’s as loopy as she is. I’m hoping they team up for a sequel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=939) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=941)