The Great Excuse: Obama Blames The Constitution For His ‘Disadvantage’ And The Need To Circumvent Congress

Prof. Jonathan Turley
5/27/2014

…President Obama is now responding by attacking the Constitution and saying that James Madison and others simply got it wrong by guaranteeing equal voting in the United States Senate. Of course, he has not shared such views with the public. Instead, he discussed them with a small group of Democratic donors who are facing increasing opposition from friends in supporting Obama. Obama met with these donors in a private event in Chicago and put the blame on the Framers:

“Obviously, the nature of the Senate means that California has the same number of Senate seats as Wyoming. That puts us at a disadvantage.”

These comments also appear on an official transcript. The President does not call to change the Constitution but laments about the structure of the Senate and the equality of small and large states.

Not to spoil the new post hoc spin but I find it less than obvious. The “disadvantage” that the President has been complaining about is the refusal of Congress to do what he has demanded. Ironically, he has faced more consistent opposition in the House, not the Senate. The House is divided according to population, which Obama appears to prefer.

The problem is not the Constitution but the division in the country. We are divided on a great number of issues. Roughly fifty percent of Americans hate Obamacare and want it repealed. Immigration and other issues continue to divide voters in both parties. While we have a representative democracy, it still has democratic elements. Congress reflects the divisions in the country. When we go through periods of division, fewer things get done and really big reforms or changes are particularly difficult. However, such division is no license to “go at it alone” as the President has promised. The Madisonian system is designed to force compromise and to vent the factional pressures that have torn apart other nations. That is precisely why the President’s actions are so dangerous. They are creating a dominant branch in a tripartite system that allows for unilateral action from a president. Such powers will outlast this president and will likely come back to haunt those Democrats and liberals who are remaining silent (or even applauding) this president’s actions…

Read the entire essay at JonathanTurley.org