So, now we know the basis for Speaker John Boehner’s desire to sue the president of the United States.
He is angry because the president unilaterally postponed the employer mandate provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans want to eliminate altogether, but they’re mad because they didn’t the chance to do it.
I believe that’s what I heard Boehner say today.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/211912-boehner-to-sue-over-obamacare-delay
It’s not that Barack Obama has used executive authority excessively. He hasn’t. Boehner wants to sue the president because of a single act that he had the authority to perform as chief executive of the United States of America.
This foolishness is going to proceed while:
* Veterans health care issues remain unresolved.
* Highway infrastructure plans remain unattended.
* Immigration reform is stuck in the mud.
* The president’s $3.7 billion request for emergency spending on the border crisis remains in limbo.
I’m sure I’m missing some other issues, but you get my drift.
Instead, the speaker of the House wants to ask for permission from his colleagues to sue the president because of action he took that seeks to give employers some flexibility in following through on the ACA.
This is baffling in the extreme.
Here is what former White House press secretary Jay Carney said: “The ability to postpone the deadline is clear,” Carney said. He urged reporters to “read the Federal Register,” the official docket for federal regulations, to survey similar examples of delays.
“The fact of the matter is this is not unusual, and it is evidence of the kind of flexibility and deference to the concerns and interests of, in this case, a small percentage of American businesses with more than 50 employees that you would think Republicans would support,” Carney said.
I concur with Barack Obama’s assertion that Congress wants to sue him for doing his job while the legislative branch dawdles.