Yo Te Amo Esta Pais...les Etats Unis.

.....It seems that some people still believe that Obamacare is unconstitutional in spite of the fact that five judges on the Supreme Court decided that requiring people to buy health insurance is a tax, not a penalty, and therefore the health plan is constitutional. The Constitution does give the government the right to impose taxes.  The Affordable Health Act is therefore the law of the land.  
.....It seems that some of the same people claim that Obama violated the Constitution when, by executive order, he suspended the deportations of the children of illegal immigrants who were born in this country, who graduated from schools in this country, and who speak English in this country.  Republicans were furious.
.....It is factual that many presidents, who by executive order, have violated the Constitution. Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during his tenure and had about 13000 arrested for being a danger to the war effort because of their public anti-war protests.  He also violated the Constitution, when by executive order he ordered that approximately 75,000 troops be recruited.   But only Congress can raise armies.

Here is the exact quote from Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 12:

 12: (Congress has the right) to raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years.  

.....However, Congress was not in session, and Lincoln felt that the Confederacy had many more troops than the North, and that the war would be lost without a superior army.  Therefore, he "raised" the army. We had one email comment about this "violation" of the Constitution who claimed, "...That clause does not speak to the president's right to mobilize military in  an emergency, particularly when an invasion may be imminent."

.....Excuse me?  I read that statement several times to make certain I understood it. In other words it's O.K. to be invaded without doing anything that the Constitution doesn't allow?  That is ludicrous, and I feel that the author of that statement probably made a mistake.  A lifeguard was recently fired for saving a drowning person because he left the beach where he was hired.  I would claim that act as an emergency requiring the lifeguard's immediate attention, and to hell with leaving his area; a man was drowning.  Let's cut Abe some slack; he saved a drowning country.

Ruth Grimsley All very educational for an English lady, Baron! But I'm confused by  the meaning of the term "speak to" in your quotation. When we we've established that, I'll know better what issues we're discussing. Cuzzin Ruth  Baron Dear English Lady, it means  approximately"...says nothing about". POST SCRIPT  JULY 7, 2012 .....I suppose it's no secret that my political persuasion is left of right,  and that doesn't make me a bad person. This morning I read in the  newspaper a piece from a column by Rachel Patron, who  no doubt, is also somewhat "left of right".  And since I have plenty  of room here, I'll simply repeat it: "...Throughout the last year of debating, I've been bothered by the superficiality and ignoranceof right-wing conservatives pretending  to be constitutional experts.  On Fox News, or conservative radio, you repeatedly heard 'Obama shredded the Constitution'  or  that he 'violated our God-given rights'  or 'deprived the nation  of liberty and freedom,' etc. ...Since no specific instances of 'shredding'  or 'violation' have been  shown, or abused freedoms identified, either the speakers do not  know the Constitution, or they repeat talking points they've been handed .  Probably both."   ...Although conservatives are circling the wagons, President Obama  still comes out a winner, becauseit shoots down his enemies' assertion that he's an overreaching domestic leader.  On foreign  policy his credentials are strong--and Obama Bin Laden is still dead.