In the midst of composing and posting “A Call to Arms,” I left one remark of mine unclarified regarding the president’s veto powers. It was clear in my head, but not in my words. What I meant to say was that the president can veto even repeal legislation, but his veto can be overridden if two-thirds of the House and Senate so vote. In Obama’s instance, he would work to ensure that no such bill to repeal (for example, ObamaCare) ever got out of committee in either chamber and made its way to formal debate or to a roll call vote. Also, I have added a link to that section of the Constitution, Article 1, Section 7, which discusses presidential veto powers. And I have added in italics a clarifying sentence to this paragraph:
The president can veto any repeal of Obamacare, but Congress, if it has the votes, can override his veto with a two thirds majority in each house. This is a check on executive powers anticipated by the authors of the Constitution, one intended to forestall executive despotism. That is, he can veto a repeal bill but expect or risk his veto being overridden by a majority in Congress.
My apologies for the confusion.
Note: Here is a link to an article on the legality and necessity of repeal of ObamaCAre.
ReplyDeletehttp://biggovernment.com/jwales/2010/04/01/article-v-repealing-obamacare/#more-93510
Ed