Virginia Beach-resident David McCormick’s bid to be the nominee of his party for U.S. Senate in Virginia recently came to a halt. Nonetheless, the positions he took remain worthy of strong consideration. For instance, one of the last recommendations he released to the public before ending his pursuit of the nomination was a statement about a bill he would propose to rein in the abuse of Executive Orders:
I fervently believe America’s best days are ahead of us, that the entrepreneurial DNA inherent in all Americans can solve any problem facing this nation. The collective wisdom of the people in deciding their leaders remains the boldest and most successful experiment in the history of the world. The people’s voices, beliefs and ideas were intended to be the basis of “The People’s House” and the halls of the United States Congress as a whole. However, for too long, Congress has abdicated both its power and responsibilities to the executive branch to the point it is no longer relevant in many of the most important issues facing our nation. The power to declare war, confirm appointments, ratify treaties and, in many cases, to legislate have all be usurped by the Executive Branch.
Many of you have reviewed the first three legislative bills I will submit as your U.S. Senator. These initiatives seek to rein in a massive, unaccountable government, secure the borders of the United States, and strengthen the value of the dollar. These legislative initiatives show exactly where I stand on the issues and how I will represent you in the United States Senate.
My fourth bill will seek to restore the checks and balances to our federal government by reining in the excessive use of executive orders by the President. For decades, the executive branch has sought to usurp the Constitutional powers of Congress—We the People—through the use of executive orders. Just last week, President Obama amended an executive order from 1950 to grant himself the power to control all national resources, food and energy supplies, all transportation systems, and businesses in the United States during any emergency crisis. Previously, President Obama used an executive order to amend the No Child Left Behind Act without Congressional approval. In perhaps the most egregious abuse of authority, President Roosevelt used Executive Order 9066 to detain over 100,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry. President Clinton used Executive Order 13112 to implement major components of the United Nation’s Agenda 21 Treaty, thereby bypassing the Constitutionally-mandated approval of this dangerous treaty by the Senate.
Our founding fathers knew our Republic could only survive if strong checks were placed on the power of all branches of government. Unfortunately, Congress has remained silent and inactive as the executive branch has continuously grown the size and scope of its own power. As your Senator, I will seek to reverse this disturbing and unconstitutional centralization of power in the Office of the President. After all, the only title in the nation superior to that of President is that of Citizen.
My fourth legislative initiative is introducing the following bill to the United States Congress, “All Executive Orders pertaining to any legislation, be it original legislation or acts of amending legislation, shall first be reviewed and approved by Congress or a special committee appointed by Congress.” (The same would apply to the President’s attempts to amend other unconstitutional executive orders.
In the Executive branch, we curlnetry have military, police, and intelligence agencies. Do we need all kinds of them? What are their proper roles and functions in society? How does the role change domestically vs abroad? We need some kinds of them, but I suppose how many and what kinds is not itself a constitutional question. Like, some kind of air force was obviously not specified in the constitution but just as obviously had to develop as such. Conceivably, a space branch of the military might also emerge in the same manner Chinese are already there. So anyway, the branches of the military roughly make sense I’m not sure what would be gained or lost by collapsing them and would need to hear from some military people, or at least those knowledgeable about it. As for police/intelligence I can see the justification for an intelligence agency and an investigative agency (whatever one might say about the present ones), and also the secret service, but the other para-police agencies that have developed, like that connected with our beloved ATF I can see some vigorous pruning as being beneficial up to including elimination of same. But, again, that’s not a constitutional matter in itself, is it? (More below.) An intelligence agency and military will naturally focus abroad, though not exclusively, and the FBI (or theoretical equivalent) primarily domestically. I guess that’s stating the obvious.I was remembering in two Frank Herbert novels (The Whipping Star and ?The Dosadi Experiment), where there is a guy connected with a sabotage agency of government. Its primary purpose is to mess up, sabotage, eliminate bloated government bureaucracies. There’s no mechanism in the constitution for doing this, so it has to be an ongoing policy struggle, right? Unless there’s an amendment saying something to the effect that all government agencies/organizations not enumerated in the constitution must be subject to review to see if they can justify their continued existence a bureaucratic dismantling mechanism, that also could be a check on creeping intrusions. But this is getting past the specific issues of the executive branch.As an additional note, I only vaguely know what I’m talking about here . . .