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Remember Dems’ ‘non-traditions’ at the polls

A “non-traditional” State of the Union address will be presented by President Barack Obama later this month, his aides have told reporters.

That would be appropriate for a president who has rejected some of the traditional safeguards of our form of government. State of the Union addresses usually follow a formula, including a call to action by Congress on key issues. Obama will do some of that, the White House says. But in addition, he will lay out his own priorities for unilateral action during his last year in office. They will include new gun control limits and additional action related to climate change.

Of course, with both houses of Congress controlled by Republicans, Obama is well aware he cannot get a wish list approved on Capitol Hill. That is not a problem for him. As he has emphasized in the past, he will use his phone and pen, issuing executive orders, not requesting major initiatives be approved by Congress.

Though many presidents have used executive orders, and some have pushed the envelope of constitutionality, Obama has set new standards for ignoring the separation of powers system set up by the nation’s founders. That has been true especially in his campaign against affordable electricity and the coal industry.

By himself, working through the Environmental Protection Agency, the president has ordered massive changes in how Americans obtain our electricity – and how much we pay for it. Congress should have reined Obama in on that score years ago.

But electric rates are not guaranteed in the Constitution. The right to keep and bear arms is covered by the Second Amendment. Just how far does Obama intend to go in overriding that? Lawmakers of both parties should be concerned about a president who seems determined to make Congress irrelevant. But many Democrats are working right along with him, blocking Republican attempts to curb Obama’s abuses of power. The late Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., would have been astounded and angry at that attitude. Byrd, revered by many in his own party, considering himself a West Virginian and an American first and a Democrat second. He was a staunch defender of the Constitution, even against other Democrats.

But times have changed. Except for a few Democrats (including, appropriately, Byrd’s successor, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.), many lawmakers in the party view defending their president as a top priority. Come November, when Americans in every state will go to the polls to cast ballots for president and their members of Congress, that attitude should be in voters’ minds.

editorial@tribtoday.com

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