Americans don’t want House Republicans to sue Obama over executive actions

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Hot Air:

A note of caution.

 

Republicans in Congress and in the commentariat are fed up with this White House failing to faithfully execute the law, as is its constitutional charge. Regarding this administration’s selective enforcement of the laws passed by Congress – ranging from DOMA to DACA, from recess appointments made while Congress was in session to the delayed and selective implementation of the Affordable Care Act – the GOP is foursquare behind a proposal to sue the president over his flagrant abuse of authority.

 

The public at large, however, is less than enthralled with the idea of suing President Obama. “Based on what you have read or heard, do you believe that the Republicans in the U.S. House should file a lawsuit against Obama, or don’t you feel that way?” CNN/ORC pollsters recently asked the public. 57 percent said that the GOP should not sue Obama while just 41 percent supported the lawsuit.

 

On its face, this makes little sense when compared to another finding in this poll: a plurality of Americans think Obama “has gone too far” in his effort to extend the powers of the presidency. 45 percent agree that Obama is expanding executive authority beyond its appropriate constitutional limits while just 22 percent say he has not gone “far enough.” Only self-identified liberals, Democrats, northeasterners, and urban residents disagree that the president has exceeded the boundaries placed on him by the Founders. Another 30 percent of respondents believe Obama’s actions are “about right.”

 

How do you square these two incongruous results? While a plurality may believe that Obama has exceeded his authority and should be reined in, the public may also think a lawsuit filed by already suspect congressional Republicans is the right instrument to accomplish that.

 

The public’s calculation may yet change, particularly if Obama moves forward with even more excessive executive actions. Time Magazine, for example, suggested on Thursday that Obama may be preparing to unilaterally implement part of the immigration reform bill, which passed the Senate in 2013 but failed in the House, and extend legal status to up to 8 million illegal U.S. residents. That remains an unlikely eventuality. Barring a similar abuse of power, the GOP has a lot of educating to do in order to convince the public that this lawsuit is appropriate.

 

And that education effort will be a titanic task.

________

 

To sue or not to sue?

[SrWoodchuck]

BS

[Cyber_Liberty]

I think a lot of people know what he's doing is illegal, but like the results and don't care. Additionally, there are people who don't think he's breaking the law. Plus, there are people who think a lawsuit is just bad tactics. Add those groups together and it's not hard to see how "a majority" of people don't want the see a lawsuit.