By Harold Pease, PH. D

Anyone with but a rudimentary knowledge of the Constitution understands that it is designed to limit the growth of the federal government and it begins with the most essential ingredient—separation of powers. Congress makes all the law on the federal level, the President executes the law, as Congress made it—not as he arbitrarily wants it to be, and the Supreme Court adjudicates the law that is contested. Quite simple!! Uncontested by both political parties until now!! This has been the constitutional way since George Washington and should remain so until a new amendment to the Constitution alters the Constitution. Until than it is “sacredly obligatory upon all,” as George Washington once said.

Enter Barack Obama’s numerous (Fox News says 23, National Review says 14) executive changes to ObamaCare, which have greatly altered the 2700-page law, and if left unchallenged, will give future presidents an open door to change whatever they wish in any law they wish. Actually the only constitutional authority of a president is to veto a law sending it back to Congress to override his veto if they have the votes. Altered laws, “on the fly” so to speak, are new laws and as such effectively undermine, even obliterate, the function of the legislative branch. The Constitution prevents the president from serving as all three branches as this president is doing. Such is the recipe for an imperial president, the end of limited government, and the end of a republic.

Seeking to stop this executive tyranny and to discourage the President from violating his own law, 11 state attorney generals wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that the President, by assuming law-making powers, was not following the Constitution. The letter was initiated by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, and was signed by state attorney generals of the following sister states: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia. Because Congress had faltered in protecting her soul legislative jurisdiction, they felt compelled to step forward to protect the Constitution.

The seven-page letter read in part: “We support allowing citizens to keep their health insurance coverage, but the only way to fix this problem-ridden law is to enact changes lawfully: through Congressional action.” Moreover, “We are deeply concerned that this Administration is consistently rewriting new rules and effectively inventing statutory provisions to operationalize a flawed law.” The Attorney Generals’ letter continued, “The illegal actions by this administration must stop.”

Of the 14-23 Obama executive rule changes made since ObamaCare inception the four most notable were: the delay of the individual mandate, OPM waiver for congressional staffers (this exempts members of Congress and their staffs from the law that they created for you and I, the Small Business Exchange Delay, and the Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan Waiver. The most recent change came after more than five million received cancellation notices from their insurers because ObamaCare made it too difficult for them to continue coverage, this despite the known falsehood used to promote the forced healthcare plan made by Obama, “If you like your doctor you can keep him” and, “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it.” In this change Obama, unilaterally announced that those who had lost their insurance could have it back for a year.

President Obama’s rule changes violated two parts of the Constitution, the separation of powers between the three branches of government housed in Articles I, II, and III, and his responsibility to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” as noted in Article II, Section 3. These are serious, even impeachable, violations and should be challenged.

Noticeably absent this time in protecting the Constitution with respect to the 200-plus year process of making law is the Democratic Party. To my many friends therein, don’t you realize that by letting your party distort this process to get a gain that you face a Republican president unilaterally doing the same thing to you down the road using the same arguments that you now use to protect him? Can’t you see that the rule of law was to protect all of us and that the Constitution must remain pure or one day neither party will have it? The Constitution must be above party. This is why all elected officials swear an oath to protect and preserve it.