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Krauthammer: Obama’s threat to bypass Congress is all bluster

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Brendan Bordelon Contributor
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Charles Krauthammer has a message for his conservative compatriots: Be not afraid! President Obama’s pledge to override congressional defiance is nothing but a “pathetic” bluff, with the right-wing commentator noting that “in the end, there’s very little he can do.”

Krauthammer spoke with Fox News’ Greta van Susteren on Monday about Obama’s promise to override congressional disapproval of his agenda through executive orders. The columnist noted that while the president’s promise is “unconstitutional” and contrary to Article I of the Constitution, at the end of the day it’s nothing but bluster.

“What makes it sort of pathetic,” he explained, “is that it sounds like a tough threat and it is unconstitutional — it’s not how you ought to be president of the United States. But in the end, there’s very little he can do.”

“What’s interesting,” he continued, “is that he said the same thing in 2011. This was a speech he gave in Nevada. It was announced by the White House as the ‘We Can’t Wait’ tour. And it was one statement after another: ‘I’m not gonna wait for Congress to act, I will do X, Y and Z.'”

“In the end it didn’t work,” Krauthammer noted, “because in the end, the only things the president can do with a pen and executive orders are fairly limited. With one exception — that’s EPA and using the EPA to shut down entire industries. That’s power.”

Susteren and Krauthammer both agreed that President Obama is unable to accomplish his goals because of his unique inability to connect with members of Congress. “He can’t even do what normal presidents have done — what a Clinton did, what a Reagan did — which is to work with the other side,” Krauthammer claimed.

“I think Clinton actually liked members of Congress, even the ones he didn’t agree with,” Susteren said. “He liked politics. I don’t get the sense that President Obama — a fate worse than death is to have to spend any time with any politician of either party.”

“You get the impression he chose the wrong field,” Krauthammer agrees. “He doesn’t like what the presidency requires.”

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