Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Bypassing Congress? Answering Tuesday's Question.

So my question yesterday was, essentially, how can the White House give money to the Palestinian Authority ($192 million) when Congress had expressly prohibited any funds being sent to this group.

The answer is:  Barack Obama waived the restriction made by Congress by saying that it was in the "national security interests of the United States." This is the memorandum issued on April 25 regarding the waiver.

I have to be honest:  this seems weird.  Congress bans an action, and the President waives the ban and then does precisely what was disallowed by another branch of government.  I fail to see how this is legal, or constitutional, and I have not found anyone who can explain it, either.

Congress banned taxpayer dollars going to this group last year after Palestine launched an unsuccessful bid for statehood at the UN.  Hamas has since joined forces with the PA, and Hamas is a bunch of terrorists, so this is akin to handing $192 million over to a bunch of terrorists.  This is an excellent overview of the "what" of the situation, but not the "how is this constitutional" question.  It seems to me that the President has established that he can do anything he wants, as long as he thinks it is important.

The Hillsdale College course on the Constitution needs to go on my "must watch" list.  I haven't really answered the question, but I've established that this is rotten, and also barely covered.  The only news agencies that hit in Google regarding this story were the Times of Israel and The Blaze.

Tonight's question:  Will our field trip to Georgia's first capitol and a friend's art show happen tomorrow?  I have one little one who has come up with a sore throat and fever...


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