In Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998), our Supreme Court correctly struck down our Executive Branch of government [our President] from exercising the extraordinary power of line-item veto powers, i.e., our president removing specific provisions of a bill presented to him, before signing it into law. Of course, many of our Founders, with great enthusiasm and wisdom, also rejected such an extraordinary power being placed in the hands of our president. One of the most eloquent arguments made against allowing such power being placed in the hands of our president was that of Benjamin Franklin:
‘The negative of the governor was constantly made use of to extort money. No good law whatever could be passed without a private bargain with him. An increase of salary or some donation, was always made a condition; till at last, it became the regular practice to have orders in his favor on the treasury presented along with the bills to be signed, so that he might actually receive the former before he should sign the latter. When the Indians were scalping the Western people, and notice of it arrived, the concurrence of the governor in the means of self-defense could not be got, until it was agreed that the people were to fight for the security of his property, whilst he was to have no share of the burdens of taxation.’’ ___ SEE: Benjamin Franklin, June 4 of the Constitutional Convention
And here we are today, while the powers of our Executive Office are defined and extremely limited as outlined in Article 1, Section 2, of our Constitution, somehow our president is now exercising legislative powers when our Constitution declares:
“All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” Article 1, Section 1.
In effect, our president is today usurping legislative power already struck down as being unconstitutional by our Supreme Court, and, exercising the desired power of line-item veto [exercising his will with regard to legislation] even before legislation is presented to him using “executive orders”. And that is a direct assault on our system of government and its separation of powers as commanded by our Constitution, under which the people’s elected members of Congress are entrusted with the exclusive power to enact legislation, which I might add is also limited by the terms of our Constitution.
Our Constitution is being shredded and trampled upon before our very eyes, by those who took an oath to support and defend it, and in the process, American citizens are being made into taxpaying slaves to finance the whims and fancies of those holding an office of public trust.
JWK
At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a Mrs Powel anxiously awaited the results and as Benjamin Franklin emerged from the long task now finished asked him directly, ‘Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?’ “A republic, if you can keep it,” responded Franklin.