President Obama made a recess appointment today to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which caused Republicans to absolutely flip out (A Fox News blog screamed that he “mocks the Constitution”, which I have to say gave me quite the chuckle). Is Obama a dictator? Is he wielding absolute powers? Does Fox News distort the truth? Will Rick Santorum beat Obama in 2012? All signs point to “no”
Remember the part in “I’m Just A Bill” where a piece of legislation is passed by both the House and Senate and signed by the President to become law? Of course you do! Remember the part where the Senate minority has pro forma sessions to prevent the President from appointing a person to carry out that law? Probably not, because abuse of the filibuster is a relatively recent phenomenon, popularized by Republicans. The law that created the CFPB was passed by Congress and signed by the President. It is the law. Republicans have been playing fast and loose with Senate rules to prevent that law from being enacted. To complain about Obama’s actions today rings quite hollow, especially since the filibuster is mentioned just as many times in the Constitution as recess appointments: zero.
Have Democrats used the filibuster in the past to prevent people from being appointed to positions? Yes, they have. But that certainly doesn’t make it right. The filibuster needs to go, and frankly, we need to stop requiring Congress to confirm any sub-cabinet level positions. Yes, I know that without a filibuster, a Republican president and Congressional majority could do whatever they wanted. However, the filibuster has been used far more often to block progressive legislation that conservative legislation. It needs to go.
I feel so bad for Mitch McConnell that his Senate minority is no longer able to call the shots with regards to Richard Cordray. But in the end, that’s what being in the minority means: you hem and haw. You don’t block the enactment of a bill properly passed into law.