How Are Recess Appointments Like Filibusters?
They get around the pesky will of the majority of the American people. Here’s a lovely post from the DailyKos praising the president of the AFL-CIO for encouraging the president of the United States to appoint officials during a recess in order to get around the Senate. We’ve grown used to hearing “progressives” urge Obama to make laws with signing statements and executive orders. The treaty he’s using to occupy Iraq never went to the Senate for ratification. His list of Americans to assassinate was never authorized by Congress. The Fourth Amendment and habeas corpus are not as dearly treasured as people pretended they were when doing so could make a Republican president look bad. But recess appointments is a new one. When it comes to unconstitutional senate rules like the filibuster, progressives and the president consider them sacrosanct. It’s far more important not to question a rule that lets senators representing 11 percent of Americans block all legislation than it is to pass any
