Obama (2007): "The President does not have power under the Constitution to..."

[Philhelm]

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_War_+_Peace.htm


Q: In what circumstances would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress?

A: The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent. History has shown us time and again, however, that military action is most successful when it is authorized and supported by the Legislative branch. It is always preferable to have the informed consent of Congress prior to any military action. As for the specific question about bombing suspected nuclear sites, I recently introduced S.J.Res.23, which states in part that “any offensive military action taken by the United States against Iran must be explicitly authorized by Congress.”

Source: Boston Globe questionnaire on Executive Power Dec 20, 2007


Oh really?

[BamaAla]

Hope for Libya changed his mind!

[AZKing]

The lyrics of this song are pretty appropriate for the last few Presidents.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3plBzBB8LE8

[sailingaway]

I was just going to post that!

[qh4dotcom]

Ha Ha Ha

[specsaregood]

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_War_+_Peace.htm

Oh really?

He must have made like Romney and consulted his lawyers to find out what he could get away with.

[newbitech]

wow facebook worthy..

[Tal]

Reminds me of his talk before the election of how he wanted ''transparent government'' I guess he forgot that promise also as soon as Bradley Manning leaked those government documents.

[Kotin]

but the United Nations says its cool!

[awake]

They violated article 2 of the UN Charter in attacking Libya, which is a UN State member.

"Nothing in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state..."

[anaconda]

So will any journalist get up and read this to him? And ask the obvious question?

[Feeding the Abscess]

Know what's funny? OnTheIssues credits Obama with being against the PATRIOT Act. Not only against, but STRONGLY against. Also says he supports getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fucking Twilight Zone material.

Oh, Ron Paul has a 58% economic liberty rating (while apparently supporting the progressive tax system) and Dick Cheney is a libertarian-leaning conservative LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[Philhelm]

So will any journalist get up and read this to him? And ask the obvious question?

"Are you serious? Are you serious?"
-Nancy Pelosi

[aGameOfThrones]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD3xfT0c99g

[awake]

There is a strong possibility that this whole 'event' is running cover for the Saudi/AE invasion in Bahrain. The unrest is growing.

[Philhelm]

President Obama on the Constitution and Congress declaring war:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11OhmY1obS4&feature=related

;) :D

[AFPVet]

So the U.N. basically turned into the League of Nations....

[sailingaway]

They violated article 2 of the UN Charter in attacking Libya, which is a UN State member.

"Nothing in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state..."

Now THERE is a precedent I sure don't like...

[AZKing]

They violated article 2 of the UN Charter in attacking Libya, which is a UN State member.

"Nothing in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state..."

The UN is useless. They also have laws against torture that would categorize water boarding as torture. You don't see them doing anything about it.

[squarepusher]

///////////////////////////////

[McBell]

Oh, Ron Paul has a 58% economic liberty rating (while apparently supporting the progressive tax system)
What are you talking about?

Strongly Opposes topic 11:
Make taxes more progressive
(+5 points on Economic scale)
Click on "explanation of political philosophy" and you get this:

The candidate scored the following on the VoteMatch questions:

Personal Score 68%
Economic Score 78%

[Agorism]

Nice catch!

[Philhelm]

So the U.N. basically turned into the League of Nations....

The curse of Woodrow Wilson lingers on...

[Philhelm]

Bump for the Hypocrite-in-Chief.

[Teaser Rate]

Not that I want to defend Obama, but I think it's a little unfair to criticize him for changing his mind on this issue. Presidents have different intelligence and different incentives than candidates or senators.

It's easy to us to be against any invasion on principle alone because we have no responsibility in the matter. It's much harder to watch people die in the streets knowing that you could save them with a simple order.

[aravoth]

Not that I want to defend Obama, but I think it's a little unfair to criticize him for changing his mind on this issue.

Really? What intelligence could he possibly have that would trump the laws that govern the way this nation commits acts of war?

[Philhelm]

It's much harder to watch people die in the streets knowing that you could save them with a simple order.

This has nothing to do with Obama's authority to deploy U.S. forces, since Libya was not an imminent threat. If he wanted to do that, he should have had Congress decide. Finally, if he was so concerned about the Libyan people, why did he wait so long to do anything? I suspect his motives don't match his rhetoric.

[Feeding the Abscess]

What are you talking about?

Click on "explanation of political philosophy" and you get this:

So they fixed that, finally. Still ridiculous that he has a 78% economic score when rank and file Republicans have 90 and 95%. I'm guessing the "does not support free trade" nonsense hurts him. Stupid.

[bunklocoempire]

Weird, just saw this (BostonG Q&A) mentioned on FOX (3/21), four regular familiar faces, don't know their names 'cept one was Juan Williams. One of 'em brought up Obama's Libya lack of Congressional war vote and Juan piped up "yeah, Bush got approval/went to Congress" (something to that effect.) Interesting. Misleading of course, but interesting.

Bunkloco