White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer (right) (courtesy dailymail.co.uk)

“If Congress doesn’t act, the president will.” White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer [right] speaking on Fox News Sunday

133 COMMENTS

    • Arent they all dead? Shot down in a Chinook helo by unknown forces in Afghaniland? None left to talk about the “OBL raid?” You know, the raid where SEAL Team 6 crashed a helo on the walls of a random house in Pakistan, yet still managed to keep the element of surprise, breaking into Osamas bedroom and catching him still groggy with sleep (because helo crashes are quiet), shooting him while he reached for a AKSU, then grabbing his carcass and loading it into another helo with no oppositon from OBL’s bodyguards, then taking it to an offshore Navy ship where his DNA was matched in 10 minutes, then the carcass swiftly dumped overboard into the ocean? THAT “OBL raid?”

      • You are talking about Extortion 17 and yes they are all dead. They were flying a conventional CH-47 as opposed to the usual MH-47 flown by 160 SOAR. Many questions about this the administration and DoD have refused to answer.

    • I follow American politics with interest, because A. you live next door to us, B you have the same culture and language (ROC, not Quebec) as us, and C. your political system is radically different from us–you have an elected Head of State who is also the Head of Government. There has been equally strong partisan divisions in Canada (and worse regional divisions), but the dual nature of your Presidency makes things more complicated. That and the fact that your President was elected with massive corporate support from the media-telecom sector–the people who are supposed to be reporting on government scandals.

      At any rate, I’m surprised that you Americans never made as much of a stink about THIS sleeper Obama Administration scandal, which is so jaw-dropping in it’s audacity and crookedness that it really should be enough to topple the Presidency:

      http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-usa-holder-mortgage-idUSTRE80J0PH20120120

      • “…you have an elected Head of State who is also the Head of Government.”

        I believe that a careful reading of The Constitution of the United States of America will show that due to the intended separation of powers into three government branches in the (perhaps vain) hope that the branches would provide some sort of check and balance against each other, the President of the United States is elected as head of the Executive branch of government and is therefore the “Head of State”, but he is MOST DEFINATELY NOT the “Head of Government.”

        Your error may be the similar delusion under which Obama is attempting to RULE this country rather than lead. Obama has studied our Constitution in detail and in theory at least taught classes on it in Chicago, but it is very obvious that he has studied this document as a lawyer looking for loopholes, not as a patriot understanding its intent.

    • I read rousing argument a while back about why he can’t be impeached. If he were impeached then legally that would make his presidency legitimate. On the other hand, waiting on the dais on January 20, 2017 with Marshals waiting to arrest him for treason…..

      • Actually, the problem with impeaching him is simple: Biden would be president.

        Obama hates Conservatives and the 2nd…Biden hates the 2nd and is an idiot.

        • Idiots have a hard time enforcing policy so congress would basically run the roost for the remainder of the term and then the democrats would run the incumbent and lose as a consequence of his bumbling and poor reputation. I like Biden for president by impeachment and natural death.

    • This discussion needs to wait until after the elections in November or we will wind up with another Clinton-type impeachment.

      The House of Representatives, which is majority Republican/conservative, is the body that must vote to impeach. If enough conservatives (not RINOs) are elected to the Senate in November to take a majority THEN that impeachment can be called to a vote and MAY pass, although being the first time in the history, of the country, AND a half-black president, it is still a 50/50 bet.

      Joe Biden is a joke and would not be the Dems choice for president in the next election. Hillary already has that all but locked and heads will roll if she is not nominated. That would give the conservatives two years to attempt to reverse/repeal the worst of the crap Obama and the Progressives have pushed through in the last five years. Whether or not his presidency is “legitimate” by this action is moot, since all attempts to have him removed for other reasons have failed and will fail. Even if he were arrested and tried and convicted of treason, a VERY long shot, only the legislation connected with that treasonous act would be affected by the outcome of the trial.

    • THIS. Good luck with that. Act all you want and you may just find it never works out the way you think it will.

  1. Point 1: 5 years on and still blaming the last guy? Kinda sad really….

    Point 2: I don’t think Barry realizes just how little authority his executive orders have.

    Point 3: I have never heard a freaking president whine so much when he doesn’t get his way. He’s not even trying to hide it anymore….

    • Why hide it? He already got re-elected. He can now do what ever he wishes. He is a pompous ass and a better actor than the “12 years as a slave” cast

    • Regarding authority, it’s pretty clear that his admin will obey the orders, regardless of what the courts or Congress says. We need some serious non-compliance, preferably at the level of Governors’ offices. Individual non-compliance is great, but limited in effectiveness without organization.

        • In an ideal world, yes. Or at the very least immediate removal from office, with a lifetime ban on running for elected office or holding any kind of government appointment.

      • I would expect Perry to lead the charge here. That would be a shame if he used his poison pen &…nobody really cared, Randy

  2. Wwwweeee!

    All engines, full ahead, come on y’all, this mamma jamma ain’t gonna wreck itself!

  3. The thing that is most terrifying to hear’ “I am the president and I am here to help”. (Paraphrasing Ronald Reagan)

  4. Whatever. They’re all actors, Congress and the President, and Washington is their stage.

    It is high time we implemented a part-time legislature, added term limits, and reduced pay to the median wage of their home state. For President, make compensation the median wage of DC. What expenses does the President have anyways, what with everything else paid for and provided by the taxpayer?

    Transportation? Check.
    Food? Check.
    Lodging? Check.
    Security? Check.
    Insurance? Check.

    Should I go on? The root of the problem is career politicians who push ideology, instead of citizen representatives / public SERVANTS who look to solve actual problems to which the only viable solution is some kind of government intervention and to provide for the security and sustainability of the union.

    I swear, send them all to Kentucky for an LELC class on problem solving techniques, then require every Act of Congress to have as part of the documentation the problem solving activities which show what the problem is and how the Act presumes to address it, along with a plan to track progress and results, with a sunset provision.

    Screw it, I’m submitting an amendment.

    • Agree, I usually sum it up in a shorter way, however: the government operates under the assumption that they have to do SOMETHING. It never occurs to Congress that they were intended to do as little as possible.

    • In the past the republic format was used for limited lines of communication, and a bull work against mob rule. Now our representatives use our republic to drive price of food, energy, transportation, armaments, health care, and medicines to unsustainable levels. They create legislation to curb our rights, remove our property, then pass laws to denying any resemblance of responsibility.

      The business of government is to overwhelm people with laws & regulations so they give up and submit to it. “It”‘being the consumer of your labor, theft of your ideas, al in the name of improving our local, state, and federal communities.

      The only legitimate, non violent tool we have, is the vote AND our responsibility is to use it.

    • This post is full of win.

      ErrantVenture, if you were with me in person right now I’d high five you.

      Add to that; no omnibus bills. Congress may only vote on single-issue bills of a limited length.

      • This!

        I forget which, but if I recall there was a president that refused to sign anything with more than one issue, reasoning he had no constitutional authority to do otherwise.

        It’s not just SCOTUS that’s allowed to interpret the constitution.

    • The wage hardly matters… these guys don’t get rich off their paycheck from the government, they get rich off the bribes (er…”free speech!”) from lobbyists and lucrative private sector jobs that they have waiting for them after they are done carrying water for those companies during their tenure.

  5. barry’s gonna act? He’s been acting like he was the President. Doing a lousy job of it, too. I’ve seen kids in a grade school class production do a better job of acting.

  6. I am not supporting the President here but with the 2016 election on the way so far no GOP/Republican candidate has emerged. Fear and scare tactics cannot be the only card the GOP can play if they think the have a chance in a win. Even if President Obama starts an antigun agenda and Hillary picks up that ball as a major campaign point the GOP has to offer a better alternative.

    • Indeed. Romney and McCain were just “leftist lite” on the issue of burgeoning government–they just threw some red meat to the religious conservatives and continued espousing socialism.

    • You are absolutely right. And what concerns me even more is that Hillary “What difference does it make?” Clinton is still considered to be the Democrats’ shoo-in candidate. That that woman is still deemed fit for any public office is downright terrifying.

      • There’s a good reason she’s been relatively quiet lately. The voting public has an incredibly short memory, if she were still in the limelight the chances of her publicly saying/doing something stupid go up exponentially. This way by the time 2016 comes around people will forget just how dangerous she is….

      • Hillary is not by any stretch “deemed fit for any public office”, but she IS most definitely qualified for any Democrat public office. Their standards are different than conservatives.

    • The GOP is similar to a 747 routing across the Atlantic. As a passenger climbing the stairs to the cockpit, open the door, and auto pilot engaged, no one flying the plane.

      While they’re the bulwark 🙂 against the Dems, if they can’t muster leadership, then it’s into the dustbin of history..

  7. Fine Mr President, we the people can act too. But it’s not going to be the type of action you and your party wants. Especially when alot of them are running for reelection. Keep John Morse,Angela Grion,and Evie Hudak in mind.

    • Heard recently among friends of mine “see that stuff going on in kiev? coming to America, soon.”

    • And in the last year we have seen a small glimpse of what he is doing as he ignores congress, the courts, and the American People as he charges full tilt into the abyss.

        • You my friend, have just made at least one list with that comment. I’m sure I’m on a list also for what it’s worth.

          I don’t always bitch about Obama, but when I do, I prefer to do it on TTAG.

  8. I’m an ignorant hick so maybe someone can help me with this. I remember a long time ago, back in high school, in American Government class that Congress (aka law makers) wrote bills that might become laws. The President would then veto or sign the bill into law. The Supreme Court was there to make sure us citizens didn’t get screwed too bad by laws that violated the Constitution. Has something changed about this process I didn’t hear about? The President can now act unilaterally and make laws via this executive order thing? Huh?

    • What’s changed is that the Ivy Leaguers no longer have any pretense of observing the Constitution.

    • Executive orders are the president’s way of executing his job. By definition “executive” orders are instructions to the “executive” branch of government. The president may not make law by executive order, but he may enforce policy that Congress has already set or that SCOTUS has already nullified.

      For example, Congress makes a law saying it’s illegal for any government entity to access phone metadata without a warrant.(or SCOTUS comes out and says that it’s unconstitutional). So the president, in order to make the executive branch comply, issues an executive order to the NSA directing that all phone metadata be destroyed and that it never be assembled or used again.

      Sounds innocent enough, but We The People have a big problem. It’s not technically a problem with executive orders — it’s actually a problem with the scope of government. Although the president can’t, for example, executively order that silencers be made illegal, there’s nothing to stop him from ordering the ATF to cease processing applications. He can’t make environmental laws, but he can order the EPA to enforce any executive order he wants. He can’t outlaw conservative groups or force churches to violate their religious convictions, but he can order the IRS to audit them to death and deny them their tax-exempt status.

      The IRS and the EPA even have SWAT teams now. Do you think that Congress got together and decided that the IRS should be able to break down your door and shoot you for not keeping all your receipts? I wouldn’t put it past them, but more likely the president issued an E.O authorizing the establishment of such teams.

      Hope that helps. Somebody correct me if/where I’m wrong.

      • Da Prez doesn’t have to write an EO to authorize Agency SWAT Teams. Each individual agency can do that internally by including (or burying) the item in their budget. A bit of administrative “pixie dust” and *POOF* you have a SWAT on 1 October.

  9. Why is everyone worried?

    After all I’ve been told not to worry because Obama is not coming for our guns.

  10. I sincerely hope he, Obama, doesn’t do something really stupid but seeing as he’s an insecure man with a very small dick and a very large stick, it wouldn’t surprise me if he did do something foolish. My advice, Barry…..don’t.

    Tom

    • You have high hopes for the man. His mission in life seems to be acting stupidly, From his hellcare roll out to Benghazi, The IRS tea party scandal to his penchant for vacationing and goof err golf, he is past master at being the fool.

  11. Stand down folks.

    Obama can’t do squat to hurt gun rights.He’s an empty suit in one city.The most damage he can do is cause another temporary demand spike.

    EO mandating private sale BG checks ? Good luck.Half the states in America would file suit the moment he said “Go”.And soon after the judiciary would strike the EO down with prejudice because -and this is something the antis knew even in the 90’s- the Brady Act derives its authority from the Commerce Clause, which doesnt apply to intra state commercial activities.

    AWB? Who’d enforce it ? The FDA? There ain’t enough bodies in DC to account for the magazines and ARs in South Dakota alone.Considering Obama can’t even launch a website for his core politicial project, there’s no way he’d be able to establish an online gun registry.

    And no way to enforce it either, as every rural Sherrif would give him the finger-and they’d be legally empowered to do just that.

    Folks, if Irans political leaders can laugh at this guy, we can too.He’s not a threat to our guns, our rights , or Iranian nuclear scientists. We may as well worry about a medically impotent man committing rape.

    • The problem with your theory is that there are a lot of fools on the dole who would take up arms in a New York minute to keep him in power and the gravy train on its tracks. Plus he has the likes of law(less) enforcement from New York, Maryland, and Kalifornia as well as Chicago, Detroit, and a lot of other major cities to call on as his brown shirts, black shirts, cripo and gestapo

      • This works both ways. The majority of Progressive/Liberal political support is in the five or six largest cities in America. The majority of persons in those enclaves who would be willing to take up arms to continue their lives sucking on the government teat are criminals, thugs and gang members. Hardly the most “well regulated” militia that can be found.

        While these people may be able to terrorize and control their turf, the ability to mount or even support a strategic or even tactical military campaign is glaringly missing.

        The rural areas TEND to be controlled by more moderate or conservative groups. No major city anywhere in the world, even in America, can last much more then 3-5 days without trucks bringing in the food they absolutely need to survive. Attacks on power generation and water plants would further complicate their position.

        Unless you believe that the U.S. military would be willing to fight on U.S. soil against their friends and neighbors, which is questionable even for local National Guard troops, pro-government insurrectionists within the major urban areas would be doomed from the moment they took up arms. JMHO.

    • Words are true and the real reason our democratic foundation is showing signs corrosion. Congress in mass is passing legislation with no means of enforcement, in effect feigning work. Pretty much what the majority of the country does today.

    • Remeber his executive order banning the re-importation of military surplus guns? That’s a start. Barry has done a lot of damage already, and he’ll continue to do more.

  12. Is this like one of those sequels where they hype the hell out of it, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover jumping in front of explosions and shit, and then you go the movie and Joe Pesci’s in it again for no reason?

    I’m too old for this shit.

  13. At last week’s town hall meeting with my own congressman, in a district that voted 60% for both him and Romney, many attendees lobbed the impeachment question at him. His reply centered on the impossibility of conviction in the Senate, anyway, so it’s a waste of time. Well golly gee, lots of things seem impossible until somebody does it.

    This kind of defeatist, apologist, go along get along, nonsense out of the GOP, which refuses to use the power it does have, is why we’re suffering under this lawless president. My Congressman had the nerve to say that the real power is the power of the purse, which the House controls. True enough, but he’s not using it. Instead he’s just voting to pass the continuing resolutions and the budget.

    So what’s his grand plan to defeat Obama? In ten years, he expects he’ll have the seniority to be chairman of the Appropriations Committee, then he’ll roll up his sleeves and show the Democrats what’s what. 10 years. We all walked out in disgust. I’m voting Libertarian this time.

    • Ditto. Plus, if amnesty goes through, will basically be throwing away a vote voting Republican anyway. May as well throw it away to some folks who actually represent us. Maybe see who the Tea Party brings to the table.

    • You need to get rid of that sob.

      I would not advise that…guaranteed to keep the Dems in. Tea bags don’t have the numbers. OUR job is to hold GOP accountable.

    • Please don’t do that!

      I have libertarian leanings myself, but I am NOT a Libertarian, because at this time in America they CANNOT win an election for president and in most case are very long shots for Congress or Senate. Any vote for a third party candidate who has no statistical chance of winning the seat is giving your vote to the candidate of the other party that you dislike the most. Splitting the conservative vote guarantees that the Liberal will win since neither of the “conservative” candidates can get enough votes to defeat the single Liberal candidate.

      I agree that this RINO POS should probably go, but your best tactic is to beat him to death in the primaries and get a decent candidate to run in the final election. Voting for a no-win candidate is liking voting “Present” in Congress, it is wasted effort at best, and it is exactly the position Obama almost always took. Not your best role model for effective government.

  14. Just another instance of “Stop me if you dare” – like recess appointments and environmental regulations and the whole leftist strategy, act now until someone makes you stop (or uses the court to legitimize the illegal or unconstitutional activity)

    It’s also rhetoric to further demonize those who don’t agree with him, and positing himself as a savior and solution.

  15. Obama is a dangerous KLOWN who reminds me of the “BATTY BATTY BATTY” character in the movie HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE. Never use the words CRACK or COKE in front of him unless you have some…

  16. This looks like an obummacare distraction, hopefully we can stay on course. The pres is just one head game after another. Sure he can roll his tanks down the roads… are they going to get out though? He has to look strong to the “daddy is all powerfull crowd”, their way of life depends on on it. He looks more like a lemming to me, Randy

  17. This blog is called The Truth About Guns. This out of context comment by a White House aide, that in context has nothing at all to do with guns, has no conceivable place here. Gun politics is one thing, but just general politics should be avoided. You could always start a blog The Truth About Politics, but I suspect it would be short lived since there is no truth in politics…

    • The context is that the prez wants to puke out additional executive orders because congress has “failed to act” in support of “common sense gun control.” Part of TTAG’s mission is to discuss the politics of firearms. Obama does that a lot, because he has rallied for more gun control ever since Sandy Hook.

      • The article says nothing about gun control. Just executive orders, and he’s shot his wad on those when it comes to gun control. Try reading the referenced article before you spout nonsense.

        • For the record, this is what the article ACTUALLY says, not what you people want it to say:

          In a letter Saturday to Obama supporters, Pfeiffer called 2014 a “year of action” and said the president will lay out a set of “real, concrete, practical proposals” to grow the economy and strengthen the middle class.

          “President Obama has a pen and he has a phone, and he will use them to take executive action and enlist every American … in the project to restore opportunity for all,” he also wrote in the letter.

          On Sunday, Pfeiffer said those proposals will include efforts to increase the minimum wage, extend unemployment insurance and pass comprehensive immigration reform.

      • I take it you didn’t read it either. I’ll send you a copy of Dick & Jane, to help get you up to speed.

    • It is a well known and not even attempted to be disguised platform of the Progressives and Liberals that civilian disarmament is their goal. They do not like the Second Amendment and work to destroy or dismantle it at every possible opportunity. Therefore – in order to protect our natural, civil and Constitutional right to keep and bear arms (among other things) we must work against these nascent fascist forces in our government. Obama is the poster child for this faction.

  18. He wants Civil War so he can declare Martial Law and destroy all those who believe in the Constution

    • I don’t think he can unilaterally declare Martial Law – he needs Congress’ approval. Anyone know for sure?

  19. He’s going to realize that even though his Executive powers have stretched far and beyond their Constitutional limits, there are things that even he can’t do through force of will.

    We must not ever stand down, however. Eternal vigilance really is the price of liberty.. well, what little of it we have left anyway.

  20. You know… the mere concept of ‘executive privilege’ has always had a shaky legal standing as is. It was originally allowed when there was a certain issue that was time critical. There is no legal standing for President Stompy-foot to just use it every time he doesn’t get his way on an issue. And it certainly doesn’t allow him to label every single piece of legislation he likes as ‘time critical’. Such actions are the deeds of a tyrant. And America has an honored history of throwing off tyrants.

  21. Is there some connection to guns here? Is anyone aware of some brewing executive branch order that is relevant?

  22. Presidential tantrums are amusing to watch. Obama has a phone, he has a pen and he has feet that he can stamp. But what he does not have is the unlimited power that he craves like a junkie jonesing for the spike.

    Poor little POTUS. After five years of screwing America, he’s learning how irrelevant he is. And the backbreaker was when the Senate blew away his gungrabbing bills and made him an official lame duck. How ironic.

    • What this article points out is that Congress, through its inability to come to a consensus on any major issue (in fact an antipathy to consensus), has become irrelevant. A truly sad state of affairs.

  23. We are now seeing the effects of a spoiled, irrational politician who has been sternly told “No!” by adults for the first time in his career, and has people walk out on him while he speaks.

    • I’ve been waiting for the day when the whole press core would get up, turn their backs, and walk out in unison when Carney starts to shovel obvious BS. Clearly, a number of White House Press secretaries have made statements that turned out not to be true. But I don’t know if there has ever been a time when the WH press secretary is lying, knows at the time he’s lying, while the press core knows he’s lying, and the press secretary knows that the press core knows he’s lying. It truly boggles the mind.

  24. Everybody waking up? The man is setting himself up as a dictator, in plain sight. He is not talking about what we understand his limits might be under The Constitution, he is talking about not having limits. This is not about one amendment of The Constitution, it is about voiding the entire Constitution. This has been coming, one step, one test, at a time, he has been firing “shots” that were not answered, he has an opening, he is going to hit it. He has the backing to do it. A justice department that will declare him legal, a court system he can ignore. A military run by “liberal” commissars.

  25. So all you tin hat commandos think that the president should do nothing while Rome burns? Does the world stop turning if Congress refuses to govern as it ought to? Give me a break. Both parties are at fault, and they both need to get off their duffs and earn their pay. But that is just plain politics, not gun politics. Let’s get back to what this blog is and should be about.

    • “Tin hat commando”? Mark……never mind, not worth it. This whole frigging cluster bump of a government is not worth it anymore. Keep thinking it does not matter, it’ll never happen, etc. It has happened, it is here, and you are right, congress is not going to stand up. There is no need to vote anymore, we have hit bottom. The man said, “by pass congress”. It will not just be about the 2nd Amendment, it will not just be “selected” items, it will about the whole nine yards. I am so sorry so many, over the years, died for so little. (Put that pointed end up your butt first, it’ll go in easier.)

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