By Chris Long, President of Ohio Christian Alliance
As a Christian first, American citizen second, I found many of President Obama’s actions and words during his recent foreign trip to be troublesome, bordering on appalling. To outline a few of the most egregious:
First, last Friday President Obama bowed to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. No President of the United States has ever bowed before royalty. If it was a mistake of protocol, it is interesting to note that Mr. Obama did not bow to the royalties of England whom he first met with, but later to an Arab monarch who is Muslim. Many take great umbrage that a standing President representing the people of the United States of America would show obeisance to any royalty.
Second, he stated while on tour in the Islamic nation of Turkey that America is not a Christian nation, contradicting the belief of many of his predecessors and the writings of many founding fathers.
For instance, Harry Truman, in a statement to Pope Pius XII in 1947, stated, “This is a Christian nation.”
Woodrow Wilson at a Denver rally in 1911, stated, “America was born a Christian nation”.
Franklin D. Roosevelt described the United States as “The lasting concord between men and nations, founded on the principles of Christianity” in a mid-Atlantic summit with British Prime Minister Churchill before asking the crew of an American warship to join him in singing the hymn, “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”
Abraham Lincoln, in his March 4, 1861 inaugural address, stated, “Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulties.”
Theodore Roosevelt stated in 1909, “I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism.”
Third, President Obama, while at the G20 Summit, was invited by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to visit the graves at the Normandy beaches, which are the final resting place of thousands of U.S. soldiers who died liberating Europe during WWII. President Obama declined the invitation, but took the opportunity to visit a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey during his stay there.
President Obama has yet to find a Christian church to attend in Washington, D.C. even though he promised to do so after leaving the divisive controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church in Chicago.
President Obama needs to be held accountable for his actions. His statements and his actions are offensive to many Christians in this country. The Ohio Christian Alliance is calling upon its members to write and let President Obama know that his actions and words are offensive to the Christian people of this nation.
America is a Christian nation, as attested by many Presidents prior to Mr. Obama. The message that President Obama has managed to send is that Jews and Christians are to move to the back of the Obama bus.
Source: Christian Newswire, April 9, 2009
Unconstitutional Appointments Violate Oath of Office
By Gary Palmer
The primary focus of the 2012 election has been the economy, but there is another major issue that should be on voters’ minds in November … the blatant disrespect and disregard of the Constitution.
With President Barack Obama’s appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the President brushed aside the Constitution’s requirement for all presidential appointees to be approved by the United States Senate. In addition to appointing Cordray, Obama also bypassed the Senate by appointing three new members to the National Labor Relations Board.
The Obama Administration attempts to justify these appointments by claiming that the Constitution provides for a president to make appointments while Congress is in recess. It should be noted that Congress is not in recess because the Republicans specifically wanted to block these and other Obama appointments. It should also be noted that the Democrats used the same tactics to block President George W. Bush’s appointees.
According to Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution, Congress cannot be in recess for more than three days without the consent of both chambers. Neither chamber passed an adjournment resolution, therefore, Congress is not in recess and in fact, continues to hold pro-forma session.
Despite this fact, the Obama Administration has argued that Congress is not doing any work and is therefore not in session. Because the Constitution requires that both the House and the Senate pass adjournment resolutions, it doesn’t matter whether or not Congress is actually doing business or even if a majority of members are present. According to the Constitution, they are still in session.
During the Bush Administration, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid kept the Senate in pro-forma session to prevent Bush from making any recess appointments. As a member of the Senate, Obama supported this tactic. And even though President Bush was urged to ignore the pro-forma sessions and make recess appointments anyway, he refused to do so.
In an effort to justify Obama’s appointments, some argue that Bush did the same thing when he appointed former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court during an “intrasession” recess. That argument was whether or not the President could make appointments during an “intrasession” recess instead of an “intersession” recess and doesn’t apply here because Congress is not in recess.
On January 5th, The Wall Street Journal editors wrote, “These appointments are brazen enough that they have the smell of a deliberate, and politically motivated, provocation.” The Obama campaign has made it clear that running against Congress will be central to their re-election strategy. However, by running rough shod over the Senate’s advise and consent authority for presidential appointees, the Obama Administration has made the Constitution a major election issue.
Restoring constitutional government is a mainstay of the Tea Party Movement agenda. It was a major element in the 2010 elections that resulted in the Democrats losing control of the House of Representatives and almost losing the majority in the Senate. Voters in that election were outraged by the perceived abuses of the Constitution in everything from environmental policy to the passage of Obamacare.
Considering that a November 2011 Rasmussen survey reported that 69 percent of Americans believe that the federal government no longer has the consent of the governed, brushing aside the Constitution and making these appointments only reinforces that perception. It is the political equivalent of throwing more fuel on a political fire that burns hot, not only with Tea Party members, but also with millions of others who are concerned that the Constitution is being violated.
In the meantime, it remains to be seen whether or not the Republicans in Congress will stand and fight for the Constitution. After all, they did take an oath to uphold and defend it.
Gary Palmer is president of the Alabama Policy Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit research and education organization dedicated to the preservation of free markets, limited government and strong families, which are indispensable to a prosperous society.
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Posted in politics
Tagged appointments, commentary, Congress, President Barak Obama, U.S. Constitution