From the pulpit, the President said it is still early and there are positive signs. But his announcement to extend a "grandfather clause" for workers for one year to avoid losing insurance they currently had was not in the original Affordable Health Care Act. Linked is an article from Forbes on Obama's "announce (ing) new plans to implement the law ."
Obama grants 1-year reprieve for existing health insurance plans
Here is the President's full-press conference (notice the first question from a reporter was about the President's popularity -- not policy -- horserace journalism):
Obama remarks on the Affordable Care Act (Full)
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Using your Patterson text, your flipped assignment to be posted by classtime on Monday. Define the presidential action and with supporting evidence to back your claim, was Obama's announced fumble recovery an:
A -- Executive Order (pg. 340) "Executive power.....also check out the White House.gov site for a listing of President Obama's previous Executive Orders.
B -- Use of the "Executive Leadership System" in the Bureaucracy (pg. 383). "-- as a means of coordinating the bureaucracy's activities to increase efficency and responsiveness."
or,
C -- An overreach of Presidential Power, infringing on Congress' Lawmaking Function (pg. 324).
BTW, please table any political statements in your post behind what your claim and support that analyzes what the President did.
38 comments:
A. An Executive order is a rule or order issued by the president to an executive branch of the government and having the force of law. Obama's announcement was not an executive order because he as the president cannot add to a piece of legislation passed by congress.
B. The executive leadership system is an approach to managing the bureaucracy that is based on presidential management tools. In this situation, it is hard to tell exactly how much influence the bureaucratic agencies had on Obama's decision and the information presented to him. For instance, it is difficult to tell whether Bush's knew there were no weapons in Iraq or whether the agencies simply told him what he wanted to hear.
C. The lawmaking function of congress is simply defined as their power to make necessary laws. This is the institution/duty most violated during Obama's speech. Because, he cannot implement his fix to the ACA without congresses support. So while he may have made it sound like a quick and simple fix, the fact of the matter is it will takes weeks if not, most likely, months before a settlement is reached, and by then the ACA may have a number of additional difference. So while Obama may wish he had the power to fix ACA without congress, he does not.
I think Obama used or will use an executive order which are essentially orders that carry the weight of law behind them and I think this is what Obama did because he claimed that his assurances that people could still keep their previous insurance if they had it is something that I'm not sure Congress would deal with seeing as that is such a small measure to make a new bill for or even to amend legislature. Obama does not want the ACA tampered with in any way because it just opens the door for more stalemate. Through his words one can tell that he is trying to take a forceful stance on this matter and could possibly leave Congress out of this entirely. He also said he would extend the grandfather clause to those who bought separate plans after the ACA came out and thus not cancel insurance for those that bought insurance outside of the ACA. This is clearly an executive order as he plans to go through with some sort of legislation and then enforce it through the executive branch.
By announcing the extension of a "grandfather clause" to all existing health-care plans, President Obama is using an executive order.
An executive order is basically like a federal statute: it requires instant compliance and takes on the same power as a law, but without the need for congressional approval.
What makes Obama's "political fix" an executive order rather than executive leadership action or encroachment of Congressional lawmaking functions is that Obama's action will provide immediate change and correction that will soothe some of the unrest over the Affordable Health-Care Act.
Though it seems that Obama is overextending his power, his actions are not without precedent. FDR did not seek congressional approval for the internment of Japanese Americans. Nor did LBJ ask Congress for compliance when he issued an executive order that prohibits discrimination in government contractors' hiring process. These men acted immediately because the time they lived in needed instant action. In delay would have brought on more conflict. They stepped out of the usual executive leadership managing and delegating tasks role and provided direct instructions for the nation.
Congress has too many voices. Although it is great in making sure no rash decisions are made, it requires a huge amount of time to bring change. The executive branch is much more united and ready to provide the necessary "fixes" to government problems.
Anything Obama does now a days stirs up controversy and argument. In the end, he is trying to provide the fastest, most impactful change that he believes can benefit the majority of the nation. Obama is not purposely trying to defy Congress. He said that during the legislation write-up of the law, this mistake was not caught; if it was, it would have been fixed from the start. He is only trying to serve his nation in the best way he can do: which is through an executive order.
An executive order is a rule issued by the President to to an executive branch that has the full force of law. Executive orders are immediate and do not require the approval of the Congress. Executive orders decide how and to what degree laws will be enforced. They also deal with emergencies. Obama is doing both of these things. He is instating the grandfather clause as a law and is explaining exactly how it will be enforced. On top of this, he is dealing with the healthcare emergency. Therefore, Obama's "political fix" is an executive order. He is in no way overstepping his boundaries or abusing his power
I believe Obama is using an executive order. An executive order is a rule or order made my the President to an executive branch of the government and having the force of a law. The President does not need the approval of Congress to make these orders. They have used executive orders to carry out legislative policies and programs, and as a result, it has become a critical tool in presidential policy making. This is exactly what Obama is doing. He is simply extending the grandfather clause to everyone for a year. This helps avoid public debate and opposition and makes the process of implementing the ACA easier. We already have enough problems with the ACA, and this grandfather clause was only making things more difficult. Obama's order eliminates the time it would take Congress to come to a decision. This "fix" is definitely an executive order.
I think Obama's quick fix of the affordable health care act was an overreach of presidential power. This is because he does not have constitutional authority to edit a bill, this is congress's job. Executive power just allows the president to execute laws and decide how the law will be interpreted and applied. By granting a one year reprieve for existing health care he is changing the law itself that specifically canceled health care plans that did not meet federal requirements.
The president should have used executive leadership in order to suggest a way to congress and get public support for his fix. Instead he skipped congress all together and said this is the new bill. This is the same as using a signing statement which changes bills, which in class, we all agreed was wrong.
Personally, I believe that Obama's announcement to extend the "Grandfather Clause" for one more year comes directly from the notions of Executive Order. According to the text, an executive order is when presidents have substantial power through their own capacity and in such case they can determine how laws will be interpreted and applied. As president, Obama has the right to extend the clause because he is the sole authority in the executive branch who could interpret the Affordable Health Care Act.
We can argue that Obama does not have the right to extend this clause, and for some reasons he is overstepping his power, but as president, he is constitutionally allowed to exhibit this kind of power.
We as the people of America need to understand where exactly he is coming from. He made a promise to the American people, and I think he is trying to follow through with the best of his own abilities. If he has the constitutional right of extending clause, he can.
I believe President Obama was implementing an executive order by extending the grandfather clause to all people for the next year. The multitude of issues surrounding the ACA is calling for something to be done and as Chief Executive, when issues like this happen, it is his job to take a firm stance in hopes to improve the situation. Attempting to go through congress again would carry its own wealth of problems, with Republicans still fighting to have the ACA repealed. What Obama did was necessary for this law to be executed in a way to help people like it was meant to, so his actions were that of an Executive Order, implementing a law to the best of his abilities.
The Affordable Health Care Act or "Obamacare", is proving to be more of a hassle than a solution each and every day. By extending the grandfather clause to include all existing health care plans for a one year, Obama is using executive order to fix the controversial ACA. Executive Order is a rule or order issued by the President to an executive branch of government such as the legislative branch, and having the force of law. The president does not need the approval of Congress to issue an executive order and it seems as if Obama wants congress out of the equation so no one else can interfere with the ACA. I believe this executive order will only make the situation more complicated for customers and insurance companies and Obama may regret instituting the ACA in the first place.
I would consider this an executive order.
This was not simple leadership of the federal bureaucracy because it involved amending or changing a law signed by congress. This was more than just him carrying out the law effectively.
However, I do not think this was an overreach of power either. If this clause had been extended using an Executive Signing Statement, there would be no question that it was constitutional. However, since the clause was extended as a result of unforeseen problems with the way the law was written, there is no way the issues at hand could have been prevented at the time of signing. By changing it now, it certainly doesn't become less constitutional, it just shifts to a different presidential power.
That power is an executive order. An executive order is a policy or law that goes into effect with no congressional debate attached to it. It is still subject to judicial review and is used exclusively for cases of minor importance and cases like what happened with the ACA. When the president needs a law passed to more effectively carry out his obligation to enforce laws, he should be able to and is traditionally allowed to do so.
Those attempting to argue that this was an overreach of his power are simply upset about the law and aren't necessarily looking at the definitions of the terms.
Is it a coincidence that the students claiming it was an overreach are students well known by their peers to be highly conservative?
Obama's announced fumbled recovery was most definitely an Executive order since he issued the extension of a Grandfather Clause. Essentially, an executive order is a law issued by the president that does not need to go through congress for approval. This is an important tool for the president as it allows him to avoid the mess that congress tends to create when issues pass through them. However, it was not an over reach of Obama's power as he was merely extending the Grand Father Clause, not modifying the act in any major ways. Of course, anything a president will say in today's world will strike up controversy in one for or another.
I think Obama is executive order in this case. Based on the Constitution, the president has the power to execute the laws faithfully. He does not need the approval of Congress for this and what he says has the force of law. He has room to make decisions concerning laws in order to make them as beneficial and loyal to the American people as possible. The extension of this grandfather clause is just part of his execution of the law. There were multiple issues with the Affordable Healthcare Act, and for him to make the bill go through Congress again in order to correct it would probably result in it never being made law, as Republicans and others opposed would have more time to shut the bill down. Obama took the responsibility upon himself to correct the bill, thus an executive order.
President Obama's most recent action is a decision to alter a piece of legislation without hindrance from the powers of Congress. This fits the definition of an Executive Order. The President is expressing the legislative power granted to him in order to pass legislation that will attempt to a solve his problem as quickly as possible. He could not go through Congress for this action, because the process would be too slow (It's a quick fix) and there is the strong possibility that it would not pass. If it did not pass, President Obama would be rather upset, because at the moment, the American people don't seem to happy with him. So in order to keep everybody as sane as he possibly could, he got something done quickly. I also noticed that Executive Order is the only option actually in chapter 12. So why not?
I believe President Obama's speech was an example of the executive leadership system because Obama can only ask the insurance companies to comply with his request that they allow people to keep their plans. He cannot control what the insurance companies do with their businesses as long as it is not illegal. In his speech, he did not order the companies to allow people to keep their plans. It would take a law passed by Congress to make the companies comply.
I believe Obama's extension of the Affordable Health Care Act's grandfather clause is an overreach of presidential powers. Obama verbally changing a law that has already written and passed by congress infringes on their lawmaking ability. By doing this he kind of took congress out of the equation by doing what he thought was an executive order. This is not an executive order because the president is not interpreting the law, he is actually changing it, there for he is overreaching his powers as president.
I think that this is overreach of presidential power on Obama's part. An executive order allows the president to issue an order that has the full force of the law. However, this does NOT allow Obama to edit the Affordable Healthcare act. Congress must be the ones to edit the law, but since Obama took them out of the picture, his is overstepping his bounds.
A. An Executive order is basically a law that the president can issue, and it's enforced by the executive branch. Obama's announcement weren't an executive order because he's adding to a law, not creating an entirely new one.
B. The Executive Leadership is a way of executing the laws made by congress, in a way that is hypothetically best for the American people. Sometimes it seems like the Presidency has an unbelievable amount of power, but when examined further, it sometimes seems like he's chained to the will of congress.
The extension of the grandfather clause in the Affordable Healthcare Act is, obviously, an executive order, and one well within President Obama's legal boundaries. We as a nation elect one strong, singular, leader, an executive if you will, to deal with such unexpected complications in legislation as the dilemmas that have arisen regarding the Bill. A swift and efficient correction by the President was therefore not only essential to the democratic process, but what we in fact elected President Obama to do. A lengthy deliberation over such minute details of legislation in full session would not only bring to life myriad congressional maladies, but would be a humiliation to our nation, and thus, the democratic process.
This was most definitely am executive order. Obama was simply fixing minor issues with the law passed by Congress, in order to assure his goal of the law was carried out. As the president he has every right to do that. An executive order is a policy put into effect by the president without a check by Congress, BUT it is still subject to judicial review. So it cannot be an overreach of presidential power seeing as his decision can be checked by the judicial branch, and he was fixing problems with his law to help the citizens. He was correctly serving his roles of Chief citizen and legislator.
The definition of a Presidential Executive Order is as follows:
A presidential policy directive that implements or interprets a federal statute, a constitutional provision, or a treaty.
I believe Obama utilized an executive order when he stated in his national address how he intended to extend the wording of a grandfather clause included within the Affordable Health Care Act. Due to previous encounters with Congressional stalemates, the President will avoid any further entanglements with the legislative branch to save Obamacare from further problems. As such, the issuing of an executive order reveals Obama's determination to bypass the gridlock on Capitol Hill. By adding to existing legislation, the President might overstep the bounds entitled by his position, but successfully portrays him as an authority figure who has had his fill of Congressional dissent. Therefore, I would brand Obama's actions as an executive order that directly affects public policy and the legislation making up the Affordable Care Act.
I believe that Obama overreached his presidential power when he made an executive order to edit the Affordable Healthcare Act. By adding the one year of reprieve for the existing health care plans. Obama has changed the law which only congress has the power to edit laws. When Obama made his promises to those effected by the law he stepped over congress and past the boundaries of his power.
President Obama has overstepped his presidential power by trying to "fix" the mistakes made with the Affordable Health Care Act. Insurance companies have spent the past months prepping for the December 15 deadline to offer insurance that will be compliant with the new standard January 1. The implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act and website to apply has became a total failure. In Obama's statement, he wants insurance agencies to comply to new standards within the next month. However, this is logistically impossible for insurances companies because of limited time. The ultimate fact of the matter is, obama wants individuals to switch to a governmental health care, and is politically putting insurance agencies in a tight position. If the insurance agencies are unable to meet obama's new standards within the next month, and the law is a failure by january 1, Obama will be able to place the blame on insurance companies. He is overstepping his power as president by extending the time given and forcing insurances agencies to comply to his administration order. Also, this can be very dangerious for future legislation because of the presidents' influence on legislation without congressional approval.
I think that Obama used an executive order for the extension of the grandfather clause. An executive order is a power of the president, granted by the constitution that allows the President to create laws, or dictate how existing laws should be carried out. That being said, I think that Obama made an executive order to determine how the ACA should be carried out after seeing the issues in the first couple of weeks. This is not an overreach of Presidential power because it is a power that is granted to the President in the Constitution.
I would classify what Obama had said as an executive order. Executive orders is a rile or order issued by the president to and executive branch of the government. Obama was continuously apologizing for the confusion of the health care form. He told the public that if people wanted to keep their previous insurance that they were able to. Obama used the grandfather clause by really explaining and going into depth on healthcare. Even though I disagree with the way this health care plan has been going, but I don't believe that Obama is stepping out of his boundaries of president.
I believe that Obama's attempt to fix the ACA through an extension of everyone's insurance policies is an overreach of Presidential power. An Executive Order is an order issued by the president to another part of the executive branch of government that acts as a law. It could possibly be considered in this sense due to the immediate implementation of the "grandfather clause"; however I think that Obama's alterations change the Act itself. Therefore it steps outside of his power and onto the law making ability of Congress. It is understandable why Obama would need to institute an Executive Order because of the issues of a Republican controlled House of Representatives and Congress's inability to handle immediate issues, but he cannot overstep his boundaries.
An executive order is a rule or order issued by the president to an executive branch of the government and having the force of law. Obama's decision to amend the Affordable Health Care Act falls under this definition because he is simply adjusting a law that was already passed in response to all the negative feedback about the law. This remains within the bounds of his power as executive leader. Obama has had several past executive orders, such as "Preparing the US for the impacts of climate change" and "Continuance of certain financial advisory committees". All of his executive orders are responses to issues at hand, in this case, adding a grandfather clause to the ACA. Since this "political fix" is a response to such a law, it would be considered an executive order.
I believe that President Obama's decision to extend the grandfather clause of the affordable care act was a example of an executive order. As an executive order is a way the president enforces a law, his extension of the grandfather clause is just a way he decided to fix the problems the affordable care act was having prior. I personally thought using a executive order to accomplish this was necessary, as waiting on congress to agree and make this change would have been a challenge in itself. It was smarter to do away with the complicated process of suggesting this to congress and take responsibility to the American public and provide a quick solution to their complaints.
Executive orders are orders by the president to state to what extent, and how the laws will be enforced. The ability for the president to make these decrees, comes from where the constitution states that the president can "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed". Now what the president said he would do is extend the grandfather clause, which is a part of the affordable healthcare Act. Presidents clearly have the ability to make executive orders in times of emergency, or in order for laws to be enforced, but President Obama may have overstepped his duties by essentially changing the Legislation of congress. By saying that he will extend and change the law, he may be attempting to use an executive order, but amendments do have to go through congress, and the judicial branch may find him overstepping his duties. Therefore, Obama is attempting to use an executive order, but he may have begun to step into the duties of congress.
I believe that Obama was issuing an executive order regarding the Affordable Health Care Act. By definition, an executive order is an order from the president directed toward a particular branch of the government. Therefore, I believe that President Obama has the right to interpret his law and act upon it which ever way he pleases.
I believe that Obama used an executive order for the extension of the grandfather clause. An executive order is a power given to the president, which allows him or her to create laws, or dictate how existing laws should be carried out, without necessary congressional approval. While many people continuously argue that Obama does not have the right to extend this clause, and somehow in doing this he is overstepping his power, but as president, he is constitutionally allowed to exhibit this kind of power. The vote of the American people has put Obama as president and I believe that it's time to trust that he will use his powers to do the best for our nation.
In this case, Obama is guilty of an overreach of presidential power. Congress's Lawmaking Function is the authority of the legislature to make the laws necessary to carry out the government's policy. The Constitution gives the president the right and responsibility of suggesting laws to Congress, but it does not give the president power to single-handedly change laws. By extending the grandfather clause on the Affordable Health Care Act, Obama significantly altered the law to something different than what Congress voted on. Given the bad situation Obama has been in recently with the health care website malfunctioning and his approval rating at an all time low, I can see why Obama would make a move like this out of frustration in an attempt to get himself out of a hole. However, our government is supposed to function under a just system of checks and balances and a mandate like this straight from the president is not a fair use of power.
Obama's actions appear to be an executive order. The definition of an executive order is a presidential policy that implements or interprets a federal statute, a constitutional provision, or a treaty. Obama's expansion of the grandfather clause is an example of his role as Chief Legislator. If he had waited to obtain congressional approval, the Affordable Care Act would not have been improved for the benefit of Americans. This adjustment does not affect the whole act, therefore critics should wait and see how it plays out rather than complain about Obama.
Obama essentially delivered an executive order by "extending the grandfather clause." Executive orders have the force of law, and are used in emergencies such as these because they do not require the lengthy and difficult process of congress approval. Issuing an executive order was strategic in Obama's position because sending this to congress would just lengthen it's current stalemate, and after so much effort to pass his healthcare act, he needs to resolve its flaws quickly to avoid public disapproval.
Obama's announcement to extend the "Grandfather Clause" is an example of an executive order. While his provisions weren't necessarily approved or determined by congress, he does have the right to amend the law. I think his actions were lawful and proper as he was simply amending the bill to better serve to the American people. An executive order is when presidents have substantial power, a bully pulpit, if you will, and in such case, they can determine how laws can be interpreted and applied. Obama has the constitutional right to extend the Grandfather clause because of his office as President. The constitution grants the president exceptional power to edit or alter bills as they see fit, within in reason and consideration of course.
I think that Obama is in a very difficult position right now. His approval ratings are exceedingly low and this Affordable Health Care Act has been the highlight of his term. It obviously has turned out to be a huge disappointment and Obama was forced to accept responsibility for his failure and assure the American people that he planned to move forward and correct his mistakes. An Executive Order this early shows him to be a president who is willing to cater to the needs/demands of the people.
An executive order is a power granted to the President upon election. Although, I believe Obama made an executive order to determine how the ACA should be carried out after seeing all the problems in the first couple of weeks. This is not an overreach of Presidential power because it is a power that is granted to the President in the Constitution.
I believe that Obama used an executive order in order to extended the grandfather clause. Executive order is when the president makes a rule/order that has the full force of law without Congress's approval. Obama was just trying to fix the problems that were going on with the Affordable Care Act by continuing all existing health care plans for a one year period. This was not an overreach of presidential power because he was using his presidential powers that were granted to him by the constitution to fix problems that needed to be fixed.
http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/11/obama-dismisses-using-executive-orders-to-nullify-178333.html
While some Democrats point to executive orders as ways to handle issues ranging from LGBT workplace equality to immigration reform, President Obama is focused on working through Congress to achieve his agenda, he said Monday.
After being heckled by protesters calling for an executive order to stop deportations earlier in the day and hearing “executive order” shouts during an afternoon fundraiser, Obama addressed the issue head on.
“Somebody keeps on yelling, ‘executive order,’” Obama said at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in San Francisco.
“I’m going to actually pause on this issue because a lot of people have been saying this lately on every problem, which is just, ‘Sign an executive order and we can pretty much do anything and basically nullify Congress,'" he said to some applause. "Wait, wait, wait. Before everybody starts clapping — that's not how it works. We've got this Constitution, we've got this whole thing about separation of powers and branches."
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