Obama: Going It Alone

January 29, 2014

By Rick Scarborough with Robert Knight

Obama: Going It Alone
In his State of the Union speech last night, Barack Obama scolded Congress for not surrendering all authority to him, and vowed to go it alone, using executive powers real and imagined. He mocked Republicans who are trying to repeal ObamaCare and told them to get with the program.

He announced that he would unilaterally raise the minimum wage for federal contractor employees from $7.25 to $10.10 (to aid unions in a press for a higher overall minimum wage). He said he would continue to push climate change regulations, ease immigration laws and use the tax code to funnel more money to Washington to “invest” in public projects.

He downplayed gun control, probably because his Democrats face tough re-election races in conservative states and don’t want to be identified with a gun-grabbing leader. He also barely mentioned immigration, but that’s because the Republicans appear to be ready to commit suicide by offering up ill-advised House bills that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could turn into full amnesty or at the least an embarrassing issue for GOP law makers with large Hispanic constituencies. Harry, here’s another club to beat us with.

There was more, but you get the idea. Government policies that have multiplied the national debt and left the economy in a coma will be continued, whether Americans like it or not. As Mr. Obama put it, “America does not stand still – and neither will I.” No, but standing still would be an improvement on the steady slide we’re in, morally and economically.

Here’s the delicate way the Washington Post, in a front page story last Sunday, showed the rest of the lapdog media how to explain Mr. Obama’s unconstitutional power grabs:

“The White House is reorganizing itself to support a more executive-focused presidency and inviting the rest of the government to help.”  Caesar could not have put it any better when addressing what was left of the Roman Senate before liquidating it.

Article II of the Constitution describes the president’s responsibilities. It does not describe unilateral presidential dictates along with invitations to “the rest of the government to help.” It says the president has certain, limited powers and must “take Care that the laws be faithfully executed.”  The laws are enacted by Congress and interpreted for constitutional fidelity by the courts.  In ways big and small, Mr. Obama and his executive agencies have ignored federal court decisions and refused to enforce duly enacted laws. They have demonstrated no sense of having any limits to their power.

They can do this only because the most effective check on presidential power – Congress – has been up to now utterly impotent.  By contrast, after the traffic-jam “bridgegate” erupted in New Jersey, Democrats quickly issued 20 subpoenas to Gov. Chris Christie’s administration.

After five years of mounting national scandals, from the IRS and NSA to Benghazi, Fast and Furious, executive agency lawlessness and a Justice Department that refuses to enforce laws that Mr. Obama doesn’t like, Congress is issuing no subpoenas and instead is turning its wrath on … the Tea Parties.

Taking a page from the IRS, which is formulating new rules aimed at silencing the same groups that the IRS targeted (see Robert Knight’s column below), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has declared open war on the Tea Parties. He is not getting much of an argument from the Republican leadership, which, led by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) seems intent on appearing nice, unthreatening, and trying desperately to NOT wage a war on women. Or at least not be accused of doing so.

More than ever, America needs leadership, and the Tea Parties are the only sizable force capable of pushing back.  This is a make-or-break year for America, so please pray for God’s wisdom and favor as we strive for unity and a comeuppance for the Left this November.

The Tools to Win
By Rick Scarborough

To counter this assault on America and her values, our Founders provided the only true solution, and not until we heed their warnings against the dangers of an out-of-control federal government and use the tools they provided for us in the Bill of Rights, will we have a hope of reclaiming our beloved America.  In the First Amendment to the Constitution, our Founders secured for us freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the right to assemble and redress our grievances.

All of these freedoms addressed in the first 10 amendments to the Constitution – that the States required before approving the Constitution and organizing the federal government – were designed to protect the freedoms of the people.

Consider:  They believed that a free and unfettered pulpit was the first line of defense, as the pastors could speak to political corruption and mobilize their people to stand up to tyranny whenever and wherever it raised its ugly head.  If that failed, and the pastors refused their duty, the second line of defense was a free press, where enterprising reporters anxious for self-promotion and recognition, would be free to expose the misbehavior of elected officials.  If that failed, there was finally the people, who could organize and take to the streets to “redress their grievances.”

Unfortunately, the pulpits and the press have largely failed our generation, with many pastors paralyzed by their fear of man and most in the mainstream media compromised by their ideologies.  That’s why the Tea Party movement is vital to our National restoration.

In 2009, millions of ordinary Americans took to the streets to say, “Enough is Enough!” and the Tea Party Movement was born.  And that’s why those who seek to change America feel they must stop the Tea Party Movement.

Tea Party Unity is about connecting likeminded pastors and Tea Party activists, who understand our Constitution and the Bible and who are willing to stand together against the “Government is God,” crowd.  The ball is in our court, and 2014 is our year!

Democrats’ Scorched Earth Tactics, and Clueless Conservatives
On Jan. 23rd, the FBI announced an indictment of Dinesh D’Souza, maker of the hit documentary “2016: Obama’s America,” in what appears to be a Hugo Chavez-style payback.

Mr. D’Souza is accused of making illegal campaign contributions to a U.S. Senate candidate in New York. Also in New York, conservative activist James O’Keefereports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, of which he has been critical, is targeting his Project Veritas group with subpoenas. In Hollywood, Fox News is reporting that the Internal Revenue Service has targeted a conservative group, Friends of Abe, whose members stay anonymous because of liberal blacklisting. Texas Tea Party leader Catherine Engelbrecht, her husband and their company have been subjected to 28 audits, investigations and inquiries from the IRS and other federal agencies since she founded True the Vote.

If these developments and the Obamacare train wreck are still not enough to convince you that elections have consequences, consider the commonwealth of Virginia.

Read more of Robert Knight’s Washington Times commentary.

Holder’s Hatchet Man Against Filmmakers
Meet Preet Bharara, the U.S. prosecutor who last week indicted anti-Obama filmmakerDinesh D’Souza on campaign finance charges. Mr. Bharara is the snapping jaws of Attorney General Eric H. Holder’s junkyard attack dog and the velvet fixer of President Obama’s thorniest political problems.

Mr. D’Souza very well may be guilty of a few winks and nods that wound up violating limits on campaign contributions. But it does seem rather odd to handcuff a guy and set $500,000 bail for a crime that in the past has been pleaded out as a misdemeanor. And how exactly is it that one of the few movie directors in all the land not euphorically supportive of President Obama is the one who wound up having his campaign contributions scrutinized by the feds? Has the Department of Justice already combed through the $160 million Hollywood dumped into political campaigns in the past six years — the vast, vast majority of which goes to Mr. Obama and his Democrats? And the first hit just happens to be the one conservative in the whole bunch?

Read more of Charles Hurt’s Washington Times column.

Dr. Scarborough’s Upcoming Speaking Engagements

Feb. 16-19 – Speaking at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Rhinehart, LA.

Mar. 6 – God and Country Rally in San Antonio, TX. Place to be determined.

Mar. 25-26 – United in Purpose Voter Summit in Dallas, TX also featuring Glenn Beck and George Barna.

April 14 – Speaking at The Villages Tea Party meeting in The Villages, FL.

April 15 – Speaking at the Eastern Orlando Tea Party in Altamonte Springs, FL.

April 28-30 – Dr. Scarborough will be speaking to Pastors during Family Heritage Alliance’s South Dakota Shepherds’ Symposium Tour 2014 at the following locations:

• April 28 – Luncheon at 10:45 a.m. at the ‘South Canyon Baptist Church’ (3333 West Chicago Street) Rapid City, SD
• April 28 – Dinner at 6:30 p.m. at the ‘First Reformed Church’ (516 W. 14th Ave.) Mitchell, SD
• April 29 – Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. at the ‘Cornerstone United Methodist Church’ (1350 11th St NE) Watertown, SD
• April 29 – Dinner at 6:30 p.m. at the ‘Morningside Community Church’ (2120 3rd Street) Brookings, SD
• April 30 – Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. at the ‘First Evangelical Free Church’ (2601 W. 69th Street) Sioux Falls, SD