Yesterday, I posted this on my Facebook page:
In his first 6 days in office, Biden has issued 28 executive orders. Trump issued 4, Obama 5, Bush 0 and Clinton 1. And President Biden says he’s going to ‘rule’ by consensus.
I got some unexpected responses. One stuck with me “Biden is doing exactly what he promised to do, and in a fast and orderly manner.”
Kings and dictators rule in a fast and orderly manner. Our form of governance has always been messy and slow. And it’s always been contentious. That’s the nature of politics in a Republic that was designed to limit and balance power among the three branches.
Even if I liked the policies in President Biden’s executive orders, which I don’t, I would still object to the way he is starting out his term. By his 9th day in office, Biden’s executive order count was up to 42. His orders aren’t limited to small, administrative matters; many of them are large in scope and impact. At a time when Biden’s own party has control in both the House and Senate, albeit by a slim margin, he is taking shortcuts. This is a blatant transfer of power from the legislature to the presidency. Biden isn’t the first, and some could argue is simply following in his Democratic and Republican predecessors’ footsteps - but - he has picked up the pace considerably. That should worry everyone.
“The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power. ”
We are not at war. The immediate crisis of the pandemic has passed, though you might not know it from the headlines. Our coastal cities are not underwater due to global warming. We have time to debate, argue, wrangle, and enact policies through the democratic process outlined in our constitution. If President Biden truly wants to unite the country again, acting by fiat with the stroke of his pen, is not the right way to go about it.
Fast and orderly might be an impossible wish when I’m waiting in line at the DMV. It might also be just what I want on the rare occasions I pick up fast food on my way home from work. When it comes to preparing a gourmet meal or creating legislation that governs my life, I’ll take slow and messy every time.