According to Wikipedia, “thumbing one’s nose “is a sign of derision, contempt or defiance. It is used mostly by schoolchildren.”
Metaphorically speaking, it is increasingly used by politicians – both in the halls of Congress and in the White House itself. I think many Americans are disgusted by the “childish” words and actions of leaders in both major political parties, but it is now getting to a more dangerous stage – one that is a danger to democracy itself.
The US Constitution is a marvelous document which protects our democracy from the danger of mob rule and/or from rule by an autocratic leader. The Constitution was written for the purpose of limiting government power, in that there is a separation of power and there are checks and balances. Recently, President Biden has claimed that Donald Trump’s autocratic tendencies are dangerous, but we argue that it is President Biden’s actions that pose the bigger danger.
Take President Biden’s announcement that he would unilaterally forgive roughly half a trillion dollars in student debt. That ran counter to the opinion of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) when she stated: “People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress.”
The Supreme Court agreed with the former House Speaker. In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that federal law does not allow Biden's Secretary of Education to cancel more than $430 billion in student loan debt. Chief Justice Roberts rejected the Biden administration’s contention that the secretary of education has the power to “waive” laws and regulations relating to the student-loan program.
How did President Biden react? He basically thumbed his nose at both Congress and the Supreme Court. "Early in my term, I announced a major plan to provide millions of working families with debt relief for their college student debt," Biden said. "Tens of millions of people in debt were literally about to be canceled in debts. But my MAGA Republican friends in the Congress, elected officials and special interests stepped in and sued us. And the Supreme Court blocked it. But that didn’t stop me." Indeed, following the Supreme Court decision, President Biden announced and enacted various other measures of student debt relief.
This is stunning! We could and do argue that Biden’s debt forgiveness plan is grossly unfair to all taxpayers who never went to college, and we also would argue that the United States is too deeply in debt and cannot afford this fiscally impudent action; but that is not the point. If you are truly afraid of an autocratic leader, if you are truly afraid, we might be witnessing the “end of democracy,” then it should follow that you believe no President should have the power to unilaterally act without the consent of Congress and in contradiction to the judgment of the Supreme Court to borrow or spend taxpayer dollars. It really does not matter whether it is Trump or Biden. And yet, here is the President of the United States actually bragging that he violated the system of checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution, by going around Congress and the Supreme Court.
President Biden has staked a major part of his campaign on the theme that the former President and his MAGA followers are a danger to democracy, but President Biden’s actions in this case are authoritarian in their very nature. Shame on him.
Bình luận