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- Jun 10, 2014
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Succinctly? Executive Orders.How does the President have the power to approve or cancel a project like the XL Pipeline or any other project? You'd think a project that crosses state lines and crosses Federal property would require Congressional control.
The office is a lot more powerful than it was ever supposed to be.
Presidents no longer work with Congress, making phone calls, negotiating and... you know, doing their job in order to get legitimate legislation passed. Since JFK, presidents have relied more and more on executive order to implement uncontested change during their presidencies.
Executive Orders were never meant to actually manipulate, much less dictate, policy. They were meant to allow the president a vehicle to quickly get something clerical or necessary for the execution of the office taken care of immediately without having to go through channels in congress for permission, funding etc. Now they've ballooned into overarching policy-setting commands that dramatically shape our day to day lives.
And the reason ruling by executive order is dumb and shortsighted? Because the very next president can undo everything you've done with the stroke of a pen. It's short-term, selfish and stupid legislation