Obama and His Executive Orders

According to news reports, Obama is planning to announce a long list of executive orders, most notably raising the minimum wage for federal contractors, tonight in his State of the Union Address.  This is not the first time we've seen this president decide to unilaterally act when he can't get his way in Congress.  Obama has used executive orders on major issues such as environmental policy, gun control, and now the minimum wage.  I don't have an issue with the use of executive orders by Presidents; all presidents issue executive orders.  However, I can't remember a president who uses executive orders as a way to go around Congress like Obama is wont to do.  As we have come to expect with him, when he doesn't get his way, he blames others, stomps his foot and in many cases, decides to ignore the Constitution.  Obama has twice stood up in front of the American people, put his hand on a Bible, and sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States. The last time I checked, the Constitution gives the power to write laws to the legislative branch, aka Congress, not the executive branch.  However, Obama continues to show his contempt for the Constitution, and he continues to get away with it.  Oftentimes I think Obama considers himself King Obama rather than President Obama.  King Obama does whatever it takes to get what he wants and gives little regard to the Constitutional limits on his office.  

I'm tired of Obama's contempt for the Constitution.  I'm tired of Obama blaming republicans in Congress for not just rolling over and give in to all his demands.  I'm tired of Obama telling Congress and the American people that he will not negotiate. I'm tired of the media giving Obama a free pass on his actions.  Can you imagine the outrage and gnashing of teeth that would have occurred if President Bush had acted like this?  Senator Obama would have been the first one to cry foul if President Bush had tried this. 

Rather than ignore and circumvent Congress, the president needs to step up and be a leader.  He needs to lead by example and show a willingness to compromise rather than insist on his way or the highway.  Sadly, Obama continues to prove that he is anything but a leader.  A leader works with the opposition party and is willing to give and take in order to get bipartisan legislation passed.  A leader takes responsibility rather than assigning blame.  A leader engages in good faith negotiations.  A leader does not abjectly refuse to negotiate and threaten the opposition.  President Obama needs to learn that he is the leader of the entire country, not just the democratic party, and half this country does not want blanket approval of his policies.  Half the country wants him to engage with republicans, meet in the middle and develop compromise legislation that actually works for this country. 

Unfortunately based on his first 5 years, I don't think we'll be seeing any leadership from this president.  We'll continue to see more the of same blame game, Constitutional contempt, and executive orders when he doesn't get his way. The question is how long are we going to let him get away with it before "we the people" demand that he honor, uphold and adhere to the Constitution?