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Executive Power

The NLRB, the IRS, and the Cancer of Senate Obstructionism

Peter M. Shane | Posted 05.17.2013 | Politics
Peter M. Shane

What we are witnessing today in depressing, even contemptible form is a GOP-led congressional subversion of two of the most elementary norms on which our government rests.

Republican Wants To Overhaul Controversial Law On Presidential Power

AP | DONNA CASSATA | Posted 05.20.2013 | Politics

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Wednesday that Congress should overhaul the 2001 authorization fo...

Obama, Civil Liberties, And The Presidency: An Interview With Gene Healy

Radley Balko | Posted 03.15.2013 | Politics

Gene Healy has been one of the more prominent and consistent critics of presidential power going back to the Clinton administration. (Disclosure: Heal...

America's Dead-End Politics and Obama's Responsibility

Sanjay Sanghoee | Posted 04.27.2013 | Politics
Sanjay Sanghoee

There is a reason why the President of the United States is called the Commander-in-Chief and it is not because we want a monarch. It is simply because someone in our government needs to take charge and do something.

Necessary Roughness: Why Obama's Use of Executive Power Is Justified

Sanjay Sanghoee | Posted 04.27.2013 | Politics
Sanjay Sanghoee

We are a nation at risk of flying apart and falling apart, just as we were in 1787, and the prevention of that requires a firm leader who is willing to call the shots no matter how unpopular those decisions might be and no matter who disagrees with him.

Jason Linkins

Looking Forward In Angst: Death-Dealing Drones And You

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 02.11.2013 | Politics

It would not seem, at first blush, to be particularly helpful to use drone attacks to incinerate people who preach against al Qaeda. But I'm sure I am overthinking things. Omelettes and eggs, after all. Best not to question it.

Targeted Killing Program

Hector Villagra | Posted 04.09.2013 | Los Angeles
Hector Villagra

Obama deserves nothing but the harshest criticism for claiming that the executive can wield the power to kill U.S. citizens with no accountability, whether before or even after the fact.

Debt Ceiling and Guns: Using Presidential Authority to the Fullest

Robert Reich | Posted 03.12.2013 | Politics
Robert Reich

Anyone who thinks congressional Republicans will roll over on the debt ceiling or gun control or other pending hot-button issues hasn't been paying attention. But the president can use certain tools that come with his office to achieve some of his objectives.

The Power of the President

Mike Lux | Posted 01.27.2013 | Politics
Mike Lux

It's not just legal action that is important here either: the regulations being written right now under Dodd-Frank will go a long ways toward either helping or hurting our chances of getting back on the path to a strong economy.

How Presidential War Came Out of the Shadows -- and We Went Into Them

Tom Engelhardt | Posted 01.08.2013 | Politics
Tom Engelhardt

In the last decade a high-tech, privatized, covert version of war has become presidential property, fought at the White House's behest by robots, warrior corporations, and two presidentially controlled "private" forces.

Leader, Teleprompted: Why Executives Must Master the Machine

Connie Dieken | Posted 11.18.2012 | Business
Connie Dieken

As an executive, you're called upon to deliver important messages to your organization and the marketplace. People look to you to set the tone in public speaking. You want to come across as a strong leader, but natural. That's why you need to master the Teleprompter.

Destroying the Commons: How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta

Noam Chomsky | Posted 09.22.2012 | Politics
Noam Chomsky

What we do right now, or fail to do, will determine what kind of world will greet the millennial anniversary of Magna Carta. It is not an attractive prospect if present tendencies persist -- not least, because the Great Charter is being shredded before our eyes.

House Votes on Immigration: An Opportunity for Bolder Executive Action

Mary Giovagnoli | Posted 08.13.2012 | Politics
Mary Giovagnoli

There's still time to turn the ship around, starting with bolder, more concrete action to protect DREAMers from deportation and better implementation of the existing prosecutorial discretion memos.

Obama Uses Executive Power To Bypass Congress

nytimes.com | Posted 04.23.2012 | Politics

WASHINGTON — One Saturday last fall, President Obama interrupted a White House strategy meeting to raise an issue not on the agenda. He declared, ai...

Recess Appointments and President Obama's Surprising Restraint

Peter M. Shane | Posted 03.07.2012 | Politics
Peter M. Shane

For all the brouhaha surrounding President Obama's recess appointments this week of three new members for the National Labor Relations Board and of Ri...

Promises, Promises: President Obama's NDAA Signing Statement

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 03.04.2012 | Politics
Daphne Eviatar

Back when he was a candidate, then-Senator Obama criticized President George W. Bush for his frequent reliance on signing statements to circumvent Congressional intent. What a difference executive power makes.

Theodore Roosevelt Vintage Cartoons At The Library Of Congress

The Huffington Post | Arin Greenwood | Posted 11.28.2011 | DC

WASHINGTON -- "Bully!: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt" is a new book put out by D.C.-based Regnery Publishing. It's a biography of the wi...

Effective Immigration Enforcement, Not Failure to Enforce the Law

Donald Kerwin | Posted 12.06.2011 | Politics
Donald Kerwin

U.S. immigration policy still needs to be fixed. The American people would be better served if Congress worked towards constructive solutions to this challenge, rather than engaged in political theater.

Obama, Libya, and Executive Power

Kent Greenfield | Posted 07.20.2011 | Politics
Kent Greenfield

Up until this week, I would have said that George W. Bush was the most aggressive president in modern times in exercising executive power. Now, I can honestly say President Obama is giving "W." a run for his money.

To Hell with the Constitution: Obama Goes To War

Michael Ratner | Posted 05.30.2011 | Politics
Michael Ratner

Barack Obama's decision to bomb Libya is another shocking example of his grab for the kind of executive power he eschewed in his predecessor's administration -- so long as he was still a candidate.

Not Defending DOMA: A Conscientious and Responsible Decision

Peter M. Shane | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Peter M. Shane

A distinguished fellow law professor, Adam Winkler, has recently argued that the Obama Administration's decision not to defend the constitutionality o...

The Power of the President

Mike Lux | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Mike Lux

Progressives need to spend less time commiserating over all the good things that Congress should do but won't, and more time thinking about the things Obama could do if he aggressively seized the reins of government.

Peter S. Goodman

Republicans Criticizing Elizabeth Warren's Lack Of Transparency Had No Problems With Dick Cheney

HuffingtonPost.com | Peter S. Goodman | Posted 05.25.2011 | Business

Recently enough that you may still recall it, a secretive, paranoid man who had previously headed a major multinational energy company found himself v...

Lucia Graves

Rate 10 Things Obama Could Do Without Congress

HuffingtonPost.com | Lucia Graves | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has the executive authority to bypass a hostile Republican House of Representatives and a bitterly divided Senate...

Doing Better Than Barack

Michael B. Laskoff | Posted 05.25.2011 | Politics
Michael B. Laskoff

Recently, I feel transported back to the Clinton impeachment. You remember: a married man who received oral pleasure from someone other than his wife ...