- Aug 16, 2005
- 884
- 1
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I'd post a poll, but I think it'd come out with too many options were I being fair with the possibilities. What I want to know is this: what would you identify as your political leaning and how do you feel about the state of executive power in the United States?
I urge you not to think of it solely as the executive power of Barack Obama, but the executive power of any president that could currently be in office. So, instead of thinking of it as "Barack Obama has too much power!" I hope you might think of "The presidency of the United States as it stands has too much power!" Or it could be the converse. Your call.
Here's what I'd propose so we can try to make it simple and have dialogue based on these distinctions: post a short snippet about your leaning, a short snippet about the state of executive power, and a longer justification or explanation below if you so choose. Here's what I have to say, for example.
Leaning: libertarian/liberal lean. I see libertarianism not as the utopia for society, but as the best way to come to agreements among people so as to better our society. Too much party power just minimizes the people's prerogative.
Executive power: is incredibly excessive. The president has too many powers and they are insufficiently checked.
Rationale: I want to see change by way of the larger populace, not by way of one person in the Oval Office. Granted, Congress is incredibly ineffective, but unless it's an immediate national security emergency that absolutely cannot be solved quickly enough without unilateral action, I want it to go to a vote in Congress. The people don't like the result of that vote? Better replace your representatives and get your voice heard as much as possible. People are probably jaded on caring about elected officials because they seem both incompetent and lacking in power. Let the legislative branch check the President better (and the judicial branch as well) and I think we could see bad executive policies become points of deliberation, as opposed to opportunities to whine and do nothing.
I'm asking this question because I'm frankly interested to see whether people generally view executive power as too expansive in the United States. It's been my observation that both liberals and conservatives are fine with the status quo of executive power as long as it's their guy in office. That frankly concerns me.
I urge you not to think of it solely as the executive power of Barack Obama, but the executive power of any president that could currently be in office. So, instead of thinking of it as "Barack Obama has too much power!" I hope you might think of "The presidency of the United States as it stands has too much power!" Or it could be the converse. Your call.
Here's what I'd propose so we can try to make it simple and have dialogue based on these distinctions: post a short snippet about your leaning, a short snippet about the state of executive power, and a longer justification or explanation below if you so choose. Here's what I have to say, for example.
Leaning: libertarian/liberal lean. I see libertarianism not as the utopia for society, but as the best way to come to agreements among people so as to better our society. Too much party power just minimizes the people's prerogative.
Executive power: is incredibly excessive. The president has too many powers and they are insufficiently checked.
Rationale: I want to see change by way of the larger populace, not by way of one person in the Oval Office. Granted, Congress is incredibly ineffective, but unless it's an immediate national security emergency that absolutely cannot be solved quickly enough without unilateral action, I want it to go to a vote in Congress. The people don't like the result of that vote? Better replace your representatives and get your voice heard as much as possible. People are probably jaded on caring about elected officials because they seem both incompetent and lacking in power. Let the legislative branch check the President better (and the judicial branch as well) and I think we could see bad executive policies become points of deliberation, as opposed to opportunities to whine and do nothing.
I'm asking this question because I'm frankly interested to see whether people generally view executive power as too expansive in the United States. It's been my observation that both liberals and conservatives are fine with the status quo of executive power as long as it's their guy in office. That frankly concerns me.