Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The new Paris Climate Agreement is opening some real questions on the constitutional boundaries of the power of the President of the United States.
Obama has pledged to contribute up to $3 billion in U.S. spending on the Green Climate Fund, including $500 million in fiscal year 2016.
The Green Climate Fund is pool of money where developed countries, with contributions from public and private sources, help developing nations confront climate change.
The climate change agreement does not legally bind countries to contribute money to the climate fund, but it sets the goal for rich countries to contribute together at least $100 billion per year.
A new spending bill appropriating money for this fiscal year — which is expected to be voted on by lawmakers this week – does not assign money for the Green Climate Fund.
But Republicans were unable to attach a proposed policy provision that would have explicitly blocked Obama from sending federal money to the Green Climate Fund.
In addition, the $1.1 trillion spending bill does not prohibit the administration from transferring money from other accounts for the climate fund.
I am not an American, but I suggest that if the President of the United States has the power to send billions of dollars to foreign countries, and majority votes in the Congress and Senate are powerless to prevent this enormous diversion of taxpayer’s money, then the US Congress and Senate are as irrelevant to the process of the governance of the United States, as the toothless Roman Senate was under the Caesars.
In 1788, President George Washington refused to be king, and created a Presidential office which was limited by the US Constitution.
The climate “emergency” has created a pretext, a convenient crisis, which in my opinion has undermined the constitutional balance of power established by the Founding Fathers, perhaps irrevocably.
If the Senate and the House of Representatives cannot restore the balance of power which was established by the original US Constitution, then the United States, for better or worse, is no longer the Republic which the founding fathers created in 1788.
An election is a contract. That contract runs out in a year and the Yanks will have another chance. We Canadians just elected Sonny Trudeau. We are stuck with our contract for many years, perhaps decades. Sonny promised the UN black hole 3 billion dollars from an economy 1/10th the size of the US.
You couldn’t have a clearer aid fund effect than this – The hard working people in the US gift their taxes to the rich people in the developing world. China and India need it? and the paragons of democracy like Mugabe, Zuma etc?
I think the greenies in the US will be happy to know that American dollars will be transferred from helping their own needy to the poor and needy in developing countries like China and India so that governments in those countries by not needing to spend its own money on the poor and needy can maintain the worlds highest growth rates, establish hundreds of coal fired power plants and buy up all the businesses and land in countries like Australia. I suspect this will all be done whilst they sell solar panels and other parts for the renewable energy infrastructures and increasing emissions as fast as ever such that the total cutbacks by the rest of the world are meaningless ( even if they weren’t scientifically meaningless anyway. )
Obama should get a lot of thanks from both sides of politics if he is able to leave a vibrant India and China at the expense of American growth and welfare.
Otto Passman said it best foreign aid is:” “taking money from poor people in rich countries and giving it to rich people in poor countries.” ”
All this global warming B.S. does is take away the pretense of helping the poor.
What’s worst is that China is already taking our money as we satisfy our need for solar panels. Trump is right, everyone is out manuvering us at every turn. In this case, China is trying to double dip by taking advantage of the stupidity of our government. policy driven by CO2 madness promoting solar power and again by claiming they also deserve climate reparations.
Why is everybody so hard on O’bama. Americans should accept the fact that they as the people are responsible for the decline now facing the US. They have de-educated themselves, they are directed by childish toys like TV, Facebook, Twiter. They no longer understand how the world works. More importantly the don’t care.
One way to solve that problem is to limit voting eligibility to those who own real property. That would eliminate most of the “takers of other people’s money”.
I agree, no one should be able to vote themselves a raise for doing nothing !!!
I agree that voting should be limited to those who actually pay the taxes. But I would also include those who put their lives at risk by serving in the military.
And the voting age should be raised to somewhere around 25 years or so. Voting is way too important to entrust to a child of 18 years who has never held a real job, never paid taxes, and been supported his/her whole life by mommy and daddy. A big part of our problem is that we have large numbers of children voting on the basis of who is coolest and who looks the best on television.
George,
Please don’t lump us all together. For example, I never watch TV, I’ve never been a member of social media sites including Facebook (I don’t even text), and I never voted for this President. I’m much better educated than 97% of my (Middle School Principal) wife’s teaching staff. And I think it’s pretty clear the direction the world is heading.
I care very much, but I’m resigned to the fact that the population has been so deliberately dumbed down by gov’t .edu factories, that it believes CO2 is ‘carbon’, and it believes that ‘alternative energy’ is cheaper, more efficient, and cleaner than traditional fossil fuel energy. So naturally the same dumbed down public will believe there is a “climate change” crisis happening — even though the past century has been one of the most benign global ‘climates’ in all of human history.
It’s become so bad that some presumably well educated fools posting here will argue that ‘dangerous AGW’ is occurring, even though they cannot quantify it, or produce any observations that convincingly support their belief; the best any of them can do is to claim that the natural, cyclical changes in Arctic ice are caused by human activity.
Their credulous belief alone is enough for them; it is much easier to just parrot what’s on the nightly news, than to think for themselves. I have yet to see an example of rigorous thinking from anyone in the ‘man-made global warming’ crowd, and that goes for some highly educated people. I suspect they know that what is being observed is simply natural variability. But they are opportunists who see self-serving possibilities in parroting the ‘climate change’ scare.
I have little hope that things can be turned around at this point. Even if a new President is elected who is a staunch supporter of the original Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Left’s dictum of “two steps forward, one step back” applies. They will just wait for the next Obama, and sooner or later that will be the end of American exceptionalism, and of the rule of law in all but name (that’s practically the case now), and finally we will be back to Plato’s idea of an ideal republic: a strong military, beholden to a tiny aristocrisy, and all supported by a huge proletariat whose job is to do as they’re told, pay immense taxes, and not complain about any of it.
Right now 50% of the population is on the dole, and that number is rising fast (in the 1980’s it was only 12%). And illegal immigration is ramping up geometrically, placing much greater burdens on the declining taxpayer base.
This is a deliberate, planned policy. Sooner or later, things will get so bad that the majority will be screaming for someone to “do something!” And the complicit, conniving government will step in and “do something”, claiming it is “for the good of the country”. People will get what they’re screaming for: they will get it good and hard.
But it will only be for the good for the very small aristocrisy. Feudalism was well known in Plato’s time, and it has had a much longer run than the Enlightenment’s experiments in democracy and personal freedom.
Humans are hard wired to accept — and to want — a headman to rule them. No family, village, town, city, state, or nation is without the equivalent. I often look at the history of Hawaii, where each island in turn was eventually conquered by one tribe, which became the aristocrisy. Each island had its king. Then one island after another was conquered, until the whole island chain was ruled by one tribe and its king.
That pattern has happened throughout history. Does anyone seriously think it isn’t happening now? It’s just a matter of time before one tiny aristocrisy comprising a fraction of 1% of the world’s population becomes ensconced. And none of us here will be part of the aristocrisy.
That subset is already established. Does anyone really wonder why the country’s billionaires are all in agreement with the ‘carbon’ scare? What, none of them can think for themselves? None of them has a different opinion? Or, maybe they’ve been ‘talked to’. Which is more likely?
I’d like to be more optimistic. But that’s what I get for reading thousands of hours of history…
Thus the desire for those in power to confiscate guns and scrape the 2nd Amendment. A fully armed populace at least gives us a chance.
George says:
Why do you think US are facing a decline?
The US economy seems to have recovered quite well from the financial crisis. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 211,000 last month, and the average monthly gain has been 237,000 over the prior 12 months. That is sign of very healthy growth which we in Europe can only marvel at.
/Jan
Jan,
Many of those jobs are part time and in +55 age group. Watch the video below featuring Peter Schiff, one the few people who predicted the 2008 housing crash in the US and the subsequent global financial crisis.
http://www.europac.com/media/video_blog/over_hyped_oct_jobs_report_does_not_assure_dec_rate_hike
Jan. Don’t believe the lies that Obama and the democrats tell you. There are almost 100 million people in the US not working. Many of those are happy on the dole but many more would like to work. The real unemployment is nearer to 25% than 5 %.
This nearly 100 million Americans not working is regularly reported and well known. The 5% figure is government perfidy and propaganda.
Judging from the Omnibus Bill, sure, he can do anything he wants. Congress gives him everything he asks for. He’ll definately have the money.
Can the President redirect funds to the International Climate fund? Yes, But he will have a public relations disaster doing it. A few past examples, like the Fast & Furious debacle, where the money was stolen from was not widely circulated. Thus limiting public outrage. Then of course there was Iran Contra affair, that of course did not go over very well.
Last President Nixon had a bad habit of not spending the monies Congress appropriated, if he did not like the program the fund were intended for. Congress fixed that by passing a law requiring the executive office to spend the funds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impoundment_of_appropriated_funds
How this legally works out for diverting funds outside the jurisdiction they were appropriated for will depend largely on how much of a stink is made by the Department raided for the funds.
Also the issue of the Sequestrate process being part of the budget as likely to throw some type of monkey wench into the works.
Last as President Oboma is a lame duck with slightly over year left to his administration he my just “do what he wants” and ignore the consequences figuring that he will be long gone by the time the courts get involved. Of course that will not save the administrators who aided and abetted such plundering
michael
There is nothing new happening now days that was not per se predicted 2,000 years ago, to wit:
The US’s socio-economic “pendulum” has done swung too far to the “left” to ever swing back again without the populace having to suffer great hardships, deaths, destructions, rioting, burnings, lootings and other acts of anarchy simply because the “troughfeeders” that have been feeding at the government “trough” for so long that they will not be denied the “freebies” that they have become accustomed to receiving without having to produce anything of value in return. They will not be denied the “freebies” that they truly believe they deserve and thus will attempt to take what they need or want, by any means possible, from anyone that has what they want.
Obama WANTS nation wide civil unrest so he can declare Martial Law and cancel all future elections, thus, seating himself as Emperor !! Just look at how he has behaved recently and his pathetic comments to ” His People ” …
If that were to happen I believe you would see a marked increase in sniper rifle sales.
I think he will take a more “legal” way of cancelling the election. Everyone knows Hillary should be in jail for her mishandleing of classified information. The Obama administration will wait until Oct 2016 to finally “find enough evidence” to put her away. But by then she will be the Democrats candidate. The argument will then be that it is “unfair” to the American people to have only one candidate to vote for and thus the election must be cancelled. So Obama will petition the Supreme Court to allow him to continue as President “as long as it takes” to fix the problem.
I’m surprised the brokest nation in the history of the world has money to throw at UN boondoggles.
It will be borrowed from China to give BACK to China !!! DOH !
BOb burns through Billions like I burn through Benjamin’s. Only difference is I burn MY money and BOb burns OUR money. Thats right some of your Benjamin’s you send to BOb for him to spend without asking you if it is okay for him to Burn you money.
Two points: The most effective tools for improving the economy of undeveloped countries are coal and oil. Monetary aid from the developing world has done more harm than good in the developing world.
Won’t happen. Both sides of Congress would not support it and even this President would not be capable of pulling off that sort of heist on his own. The only reason the Dems support AGW is it allows them more tax $$ to spend on pet projects and government and the thought of giving that money to another country isn’t part of their plan.
The author of this piece has demonstrated greater respect for the US Constitution
than the US President.
The Constitution empowers congress with oversight on the flow of public funds.
The public gave Republicans both houses of congress – to exercise that oversight.
If they fail to do so, granting this president a free pass on his pet fantasy,
Republicans will be punished in the next election.
We no longer have to pay anything to fight climate change because we are a poor nation with a large national debt, trade deficit, and unfunded liabilities. The Paris Climate Agreement ends all forms of climate change, extreme weather, and sea level rise for now and for all time. Forget the physics. It is a done deal and we should now move on to solving other problems.
never trust a politician:
16 Dec: The Hill: Devin Henry: Funds for Obama climate deal survive in spending bill
“Based on what we have reviewed so far, there are no restrictions on our ability to make good on the president’s pledge to contribute to the Green Climate Fund,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Wednesday…
“This is a rebuke to those congressional extremists who tried to play politics with desperately needed money to help the world’s poor take climate action,” Friends of the Earth senior analyst Karen Orenstein said in a statement Wednesday. “Morality and reason, rather than science-denying isolationism, prevailed in this case.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/263447-spending-bill-wont-stop-funds-for-obama-climate-deal
It’s a public relations gambit. There is no money allocated at the present time. What the Majority in congress was trying to do was something similar to the “Bolin Amendment” that caused the Iran Contra affair.
It would have been nice to have a stated ban of funds but it is not necessary. Because of the Sequester agreement in regards to the budget both sides hands are tied in so far as new spending goes.
As a matter of fact only the House of Representatives can introduce a “Spending Bill”.
The president through the appropriate agency can request funding. That request goes to the relevant committee, then if it is voted “for” by the committee it is Written into a “Bill”. Then the real fun starts.
Any funding not already in the pipe line prior to Cop21 is DOA.
All President Obama can do is scrounge around under the Congressional chairs and sofa cushions for lost change. (like Ollie North did)
michael
Stop whining and do something.
Write your elected representatives!
Demand, in no uncertain terms, that they block federal spending, until it insures that no money will leave the US government without congressional approval. Make it clear that, if they relinquish this constitutional protection, they and in particular the Repubicans (to whom the public gave both houses of congress) won’t be around after November.
The bureaucratic power? Maybe.
The Constitutional authority? NO!
All I know is 399 days (according to by Obozo countdown clock) seems like an eternity…
The Obama (like any other American president) has the power if the people allow him to get away with it.
This weakness in our system has become glaringly obvious during the Obama presidency. For our system to work depends upon everyone not only working in good faith but also their voluntary willingness to follow the Constitution, follow the law and obey the House and Senate rules.
What do you do, when you’re a community organizer in the most corrupt city, in the most corrupt state, of the United States.
You ride the wave into a position that is so far over your head, you bow to foreign leaders.
An alpha you are not, those slavering beasts know it now.
Get ready for it.
Could someone please tell me what are the 196 countries that signed on are or are they mere phantoms like the “66 country coalition” Barack bin Barack Hussein Al-Sissy claims have joined him in his plan to eliminate ISIS and other perpetrators of “workplace violence” and “random occurrences” of “man made disasters”?
Thanks in advance
I fear the parents of the people who will these absurd bills are not yet born. It is a beautiful thing in politics when there is no dissenting vote on spending. Nobody alive today will be affected. The ultimate fun money.
Sadly, here in New Hampshire, our own Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte (who is up for re-election) has drunk the Climate Koolade, and come out in favor of the “Clean Power Plan” which calls for a 32% reduction in GHGs by 2030. Under this 1,560-page monstrosity of a plan, states have the “choice” of either coming up with their own plan, or having one drawn up for them.
Just catching up on this thread
I also read this earlier today. This website normally does a good “accounting” the money flow concerning congress folks. I didn’t see anything for Senator Ayotte, but I think the most logical place to predict how your rep will act would first be an accounting of how they make their money.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/12/in-climate-debate-obama-faces-a-congress-heavily-invested-in-the-oil-and-gas-industry/
Dangerous times for Profiles in Courage if they are in the way of the money flow.
The Lady Senator
http://www.opensecrets.org/usearch/?q=senator+ayotte&cx=010677907462955562473%3Anlldkv0jvam&cof=FORID%3A11
Climate change has created heaven on earth for burocrats (UN, EU)
They can shift almost unlimited amounts of money without accountability because the objective, saving the planet, is beyond questioning.
Also an army of opportunistic entrepreneurs (parasites?) is dancing around the subsidies.
Climate change policy is a serious threat to humanity. An unprecedented manifestation of backwardness.
Deep down Obama is an anti-capitalist; he believes all of America’s success is the result of exploiting other countries and their people. Self loathing is a driving force in his decisions as it is with many liberal politicians in the US. He deals out punishment on companies and individuals that are successful because it’s not “fair” to the unsuccessful. In the same way he wants to punish America for causing “climate change”.
He’ll try to pay the highest monetary penalty possible to the corrupt UN. He has 13 months left to punish us so watch out!!!
Atlas Shrugged comes true!
David,
I’ve been to Ouray, CO and there isn’t enough room to accommodate all the potential strikers.
Environmentalists have taken over the moral compass from the church. God was replaced by “Mother Earth” with wilderness as an ideal. This was a genius marketing move because to live now automatically means to sin!
However, nobody will call the bricks in the wall “mother” . The earth is no mother, but a resource of materials.
Prosperity is victory over nature: housing, vaccination, clean water, medical practices, transportation systems.
The second error is “sustainability” as a primary goal. In several places in the world, people lived sustainable for centuries: life expectancy 35 years , deep poverty and stagnation (Highlands New Guinea, Amazon jungle)
Our life is the result of unsustainable living by our ancestors (thanks!) this brought science, prosperity and freedom on an unprecedented scale. (only abundant energy may end slavery. The energy of one person is insufficient for a nice life)
Innovation helped us out.
Not sustainability but maintaining prosperity should be our goal. Sustainability hopefully is a result.
For society, sustainability is timely innovation. We need research