No One Asked Me But… (July 27, 2022)

By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… Has America slowly evolved into a dictatorship? The question came to my mind as President Biden signed an Executive Order in an attempt to protect the right to an abortion on demand in the United States.

Every President but William Henry Harrison, who served only a few months before he died in office, has issued an Executive Order of one kind or another. So this was not new and was not suddenly being used by a President to overturn a decision of the Supreme Court.

Again let me make two things clear, this column is not about abortion nor is the issuing of an Executive Order a new phenomenon. President George Washington’s first Executive Orders were for executive departments to prepare reports for his inspection, and a proclamation about the Thanksgiving holiday.

One of the first “orders” of business for President Donald Trump was signing an Executive Order to weaken Obamacare. This executive order on Obamacare allowed federal agencies to “take all actions consistent with law to minimize the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens of the [Affordable Care] act, and prepare to afford the states more flexibility and control to create a more free and open health care market.”

The issue at stake is not the Affordable Care Act. But was this Executive Order negating the action of Congress, Constitutionally legal, or was it an act of an elected dictator?

As one searches for a Constitutional basis for Executive Orders, one will not find this power listed for the President. However, the Presidential decree from on high has evolved into an acceptable alternative to Congressional law. This is a usurpation of power and a move to a dictatorship. An elected dictator is no less a dictator.

When President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War using an Executive Order, he cited his powers under the Constitution’s Suspension Clause, which states, “the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion and invasion the public safety may require it.”

Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, in Ex Parte Merryman declared Lincoln’s executive order unconstitutional. Lincoln and the Union army ignored Taney, and Congress didn’t contest Lincoln’s habeas corpus decisions.

The Emancipation Proclamation was also an Executive Order issued by Lincoln.
President Franklin Roosevelt imprisoned American Japanese and German citizens in internment camps during World War II using Executive Order 9066.

Roosevelt also used Executive Orders to create many of his social programs as he led the country in its recovery from the Great Depression.

I am not sure what was so great about the depression, but if we keep the economy moving like it is today, we may find out.

The integration of the American military was accomplished under an Executive Order decreed by President Harry Truman when he mandated equal treatment of all members of the armed forces.

However, the Supreme Court invalidated one of Truman’s executive orders in Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer. This was a government take-over, by Presidential decree, of the steel mills during the Korean Conflict. The steel workers went on strike, a move that had the potential of harming the nation’s efforts. In this decision Justice Black, writing the majority opinion, stated that, “The President’s power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is a lawmaker.”

There is no question that Executive Orders played a major role in the Civil Rights movement.
This is not an issue of the need for action or the merit of the action. It is merely posing the question: Is this country evolving into a dictatorship rather than a Constitutional Republic as designed by the founding fathers?

President Eisenhower used an Executive Order to invade Little Rock, Arkansas and place it under federal control to enforce desegregation in their schools. I am not questioning the need for that action to correct an immoral and unjust system. I am, however, questioning whether an Executive Order is the Constitutional method of solving the issue of equality of opportunity.

Both President Kennedy and Johnson used Executive Orders to instill the principles of Affirmative Action in employment. Again, this was a noble quest and was a much-needed step in America. However, done under the orders of the President, is this not the actions of a dictator?

Is there not a Constitutional method for passing the same laws? I must admit that it is definitely more difficult, but by refusing to use the Constitutional method of legislation have we not given dictatorial powers to the President and surrendered our Constitution to convenience?

President Franklin Roosevelt issued 3,728 Executive Orders between 1933 and 1945, as the country dealt with the Great Depression and World War II.

President Truman issued a robust 907 Executive Orders over almost eight years in office.
President Eisenhower issued 484 such decrees.

John Kennedy issued only 214 and his predecessor Lyndon Johnson 325.
Richard Nixon issued 346 and Gerald Ford 169.

President Jimmy Carter, posted 320 Executive Orders and Ronald Reagan 381 such decrees.
The senior George Bush slacked off and only issued 166 in his four-year term, before he was replaced by Bill Clinton who issued 364.

Since 9/11, the United States, operating under the Wars Power Act, has come to rely on the President rather than Congress to make laws of the land as required by the Constitution.
You may ask what war was declared by Congress? The answer to that is none. This too was a decree by President George W. Bush.

Congress approved its last formal declaration of war during World War II. Since that time it has agreed to resolutions authorizing the use of military force.

The younger President Bush, under these resolutions, issued Executive Orders dealing with terrorism and other issues of national interest.

President Barack Obama issued 276 orders during his presidency. His predecessor, President George W. Bush, issued 291 orders over eight years. Donald Trump issued 220, and President Biden has issued 92, as of July 8, 2022.

Once again, I will not argue the merits of many of the Executive Orders. I will, however, debate the Constitutionality of such action. I contend that this is the action of a dictator and the Constitutional Republic that was America has slowly evolved into an elected dictatorship.

Thought of the week… How to cook a frog “…if you put that frog in a pot of tepid water and slowly warm it, the frog doesn’t figure out what going on until it’s too late…”
– Stephenie Meyer