Just when you think that Donald Trump can’t possibly stain the Presidency any worse than he has already, the narcissist idiot goes and does something really stupid. This week’s stunt: declare a National Emergency so that he can obtain funding for his precious border wall project.
As any high school student knows, the U.S. Congress decides how money is spent in our country. That responsibility is ingrained in the Constitution, and is one of the “checks and balances” designed therein to ensure that the Executive branch remains responsible to the people. One wonders if our Chief Executive has ever read it.
Congress recently said, “No!” to the President’s extravagant demands for funding a wall that isn’t needed along the Mexican border. So, in typical Trumpian fashion, he announced a bogus “emergency” which would allow him to pilfer funds budgeted for other purposes to apply to his pet project.
In other words, our President plans to misappropriate monies budgeted for defense, FEMA disasters, etc.
This is a very bad idea, and sets a horrible precedent. Ditto, no matter who is President.
Politically, Trump’s action is a ball-buster for his own Republican Party, because: (a) they know that there’s not really a National Emergency, and can’t defend it; (2) the funds that the President plans to swipe from the Federal Budget are going to harm many Republican political constituencies, like defense contractors, communities with military bases, industries which supply our military, and areas of the country which are trying to recover from disasters; and, (3) they will lose credibility as a party which traditionally supports our military (i.e. instead of strengthening our military, which was a primary goal of the GOP two years ago, they will be seen as weakening it.)
(The Speaker of the House will now introduce a Resolution of Disapproval of the bogus “emergency”, which will be approved by the Democrat-majority Congress. The Senate will then have to take up the measure, which will force Republican Senators to decide whether (a) to support the Constitution, which they are sworn to do, or (b) support the power grab by President Trump, which diminishes the power of the Legislative branch of government. It is a lose-lose proposition, foisted upon the GOP by its own standard bearer.)
The precedent, if allowed, of permitting the Executive branch to declare a National Emergency whenever it can’t get what it wants from the Legislative branch, sets both parties up for big trouble in the future. For example, should the Democrats regain the Presidency in 2020, what is to stop the new President from declaring a National Emergency regarding gun control, climate change, minimum wage, or any other issue on which Republicans and Democrats disagree?
If a President is to be allowed the power to unilaterally undermine the budgeting function of Congress, what is to stop him from defunding whole functional areas of government? For example, could the Executive branch declare that the Judicial branch was “out of control” such that it constituted a National Emergency, and eliminate its funding
Is it possible that Donald Trump could use this newly assumed power to defund the FBI’s investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 Presidential election? He could declare that his Administration’s distraction from the nation’s business constitutes a “national emergency”, for example.
(This is not so far fetched, though, as dictators throughout the world have used imagined “emergencies” time and time again to dissolve elected legislatures, imprison critics, impose martial law, execute opponents and so forth. Our President has expressed his admiration for the Philippines’ President Duterte…who has used this exact tactic to assume dictatorial powers. As has been said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”)
“Checks and Balances” is a distinguishing feature of our form of government, wherein we are governed by rules of law, not of executive whim. This intentional design of our democracy has heretofore protected it (and, us) from overreach of a would-be tyrant. Congress has exercised this role in the past (impeachment proceedings against three Presidents) as has the Supreme Court (denying President Truman’s attempt to takeover U.S. steel mills in 1952, for example).
(Another feature of our democracy, which keeps the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches from engaging in malfeasance or overreach, is the Constitutionally-empowered freedom of the press. As the Washington Post’s masthead says, “Democracy dies in darkness.” Not surprisingly, Donald Trump, President of the United States, a guy who specializes in malfeasance and, now, overreach, has often publicly declared the press to be “the enemy” of the people.)
Congress’ recent action only gave the President a portion of the money that he wanted for enhanced border protection. Instead of $8 billion, Trump was given $1.75 billion, with the stipulation that none of it is to be used for a concrete wall. Of course, a concrete wall was what Mr. Trump promised to his supporters during the campaign, while at the same time assuring them that Mexican, not American, taxpayers would pay for it.
So, Trump lost. The man hates losing and losers, and can’t abide himself falling into that category (again). So, he’s trying to save face by changing the rules, pretending that he’s above the law, and is trying to demonstrate to his followers that he can miraculously turn defeat into victory.
The reality of this “National Emergency” stunt is that everyone, including the President, knows that there is no emergency.
The Civil War, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 9/11…those were emergencies. The U.S. government’s own statistics fail to support Trump’s assertions regarding rampant illegal immigration, propensity of crime by Mexican immigrants, and the flow of illegal drugs across wall-less borders. The President admitted as much when he announced the bogus emergency: he said that he “didn’t have to do this”, and was exercising this option so that he could get his border wall built “faster”.
The other undeniable truth is that, had Congress granted the Administration $100 billion to build concrete walls, not one cubic foot of said wall would be built during Trump’s Presidency.
This is because of the hundreds of lawsuits that will ensue, from states, border cities, property owners, and environmentalists, challenging the so-called “emergency”, challenging eminent domain, and challenging the waiver of environmental quality laws to speed the construction. The Administration’s arrogant disregard of Congress’ budgetary prerogatives will not undo the many other laws that must be followed by all Presidents and all political parties. Hundreds of lawsuits will be filed and will totally overwhelm the Justice Department. Just this week, suits were filed by sixteen states, including California.
Said litigation will burn up the remainder of Donald Trump’s time in office.
I’m sure the President is aware of this, and that actually erecting a concrete border wall is not his goal in all of this, just as making the Mexican government pay for said wall was never realistic, either. The reality is that the Wall issue was just an election campaign dog whistle tactic to rile up red-necked Americans to vote for him, playing on the overt and covert racism in society. Blame everything on the Mexicans (and, the Chinese!), the strategy went. And, it worked to get him elected.
Now that it is time to pay the piper, Trump has revealed himself to be the con man that most people have always known him to be…there will be no Mexican money, no concrete wall, no nada. The fact is that the Trump Administration has yet to build one additional foot of border wall in its 25 months in office, and many of his ardent supporters are now abandoning him. Firebrand Fox News political commentator Laura Ingraham, one of the President’s strongest Conservative supporters, said this week that “the only national emergency is that our President is an idiot”.
So, here we are, in 2019, with a frustrated and emasculated Chief Executive throwing yet another desperate Hail Mary pass that isn’t going to accomplish anything except undermine his own party’s election ambitions in 2020.
This is precisely what one would from the King of Bad Ideas. He’s the guy who went bust on such brainstorms as his three Trump Hotel/Casinos, Trump Airlines, the scam Trump University, Trump Pale Ale, Trump Magazine, Trump Mortgage, Trump Steaks, the GoTrump.com travel agency, and the non-profit Trump Charitable Foundation (whose only beneficiary turned out to be the Trump family).
Trump’s failures as a businessman, scam artist, and human being are one thing; in those cases, the only casualties were investors, contractors, students, and get-rich-quick hopefuls. Trump has words for people like that: “suckers” and “losers”. He likes to play with other people’s money, so “Caveat Emptor”!
But, his latest bad idea threatens the entire fabric of our democracy. Rather than making America great again, the “National Emergency” gambit, if allowed to go unchecked, would un-make American government: our republic would be on the slippery slope toward an autocracy, not a democracy.
And, when he is done ruining our form of government, and out of office, Donald Trump, private citizen and entrepreneur, will simply move on to his next bad idea.
