Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

sofa king

(10,857 posts)
21. What if there was already a law on the books?
Thu Mar 29, 2012, 08:03 AM
Mar 2012

Things are not what they seem in the US. The US is technically in a state of emergency, and there are already dozens of laws that allow the President to use that state of emergency to exercise other powers as well.

Including this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic_and_All_Hazards_Preparedness_Act

I'm not sure about it, but I think it's possible that President Obama can use this law above to enact a form of universal health care, making DHHS a health care provider "for the duration of the emergency," which some argue has never ended since 1919.

What will stop that is that it would never pass Congress. TheWraith Mar 2012 #1
Why not? bu$h did. RC Mar 2012 #8
Again: executive orders cannot rewrite federal law. TheWraith Mar 2012 #16
And I said bu$h did it, and he did do that. RC Mar 2012 #19
"Bush did it" is not a valid excuse for Obama doing it. Arkana Mar 2012 #23
Well, I seem to remember reading EC Mar 2012 #18
What if there was already a law on the books? sofa king Mar 2012 #21
Technically? SATIRical Mar 2012 #25
The current SOE was declared in 2001. sofa king Mar 2012 #27
what's to stop them? Well, being utterly owned by big insurance, big pharma, etc for a start.... mike_c Mar 2012 #2
Obama would have happily signed a bill with a public option, but Congress pnwmom Mar 2012 #4
you might not have been paying attention during the hearings and such... mike_c Mar 2012 #6
I was paying attention and I disagree. Pelosi and Reid knew where the votes were pnwmom Mar 2012 #9
sure they knew where the votes were.... mike_c Mar 2012 #10
Oh yeah, right. Blame the progressives. That always works. n/t pnwmom Mar 2012 #11
working to maintain greedy insurance company profits doesn't strike me as particularly progressive.. mike_c Mar 2012 #12
So....losing 10-90 would solve this problem? jeff47 Mar 2012 #14
History doesn't remember the count--whether it's 10-90 or 30-70 would be irrelevant Arkana Mar 2012 #24
The President can't pass a law change by himself. Congress has to do that. pnwmom Mar 2012 #3
if it dosen't require funding, I think he can... Rosco T. Mar 2012 #5
Presidents can't make laws, so he can't. pnwmom Mar 2012 #7
but he wouldn't be MAKING a law... Rosco T. Mar 2012 #13
And W would be expanding the scope of the laws against murder jeff47 Mar 2012 #15
Even if he could do it, few people without insurance could afford a Medicare buyin. bornskeptic Mar 2012 #17
Its that expensive Dokkie Mar 2012 #33
The President can not do what you are suggesting. jzodda Mar 2012 #29
But they have an entire library of laws they can execute. sofa king Mar 2012 #22
You are suggesting something akin to martial law jzodda Mar 2012 #30
Yep. Just think of what the other guys would give away... sofa king Mar 2012 #32
Wrong jzodda Mar 2012 #31
Well, doesn't Congress have to write that into law? But I like it. freshwest Mar 2012 #20
Lobbyists. That's who will stop it. Stop it dead. Kablooie Mar 2012 #26
This can't be done via executive order jzodda Mar 2012 #28
Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»Let's ASSUME that the man...»Reply #21