Critics attack President Obama’s executive order threats
President Obama attempted to declare independence from Congress during his State of the Union address, vowing to tackle economic issues through executive order if legislation doesn’t pass.
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Calling 2014 “a year of action” Obama says “I’m eager to work with all of you, but America does not stand still — and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”
“The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by, let alone to get ahead,” he added. “And too many still aren’t working at all. So our job is to reverse these trends.”
To do so, the president announced an executive order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for future federal contract workers and the creation of a new Treasury savings bond for workers without access to traditional retirement options.
Even before the speech, Obama was facing harsh criticism.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) called the proposal a “constitutional violation.”
“I think it’s a constitutional violation,” King said on CNN. “We have a minimum wage. Congress has set it. For the president to simply declare ‘I’m going to change this law that Congress has passed,’ is unconstitutional. He’s outside the bounds of his Article II limitations.
“This threat that the president is going to run the government with an ink pen and executive orders, we’ve never had a president with that level of audacity and that level of contempt for his own oath of office,” King added.
Full transcript of the President’s 2014 State of the Union – Click HERE
