Obama to Republicans: 'So sue me'
(CNN) - President Barack Obama dared Republicans to follow through on their threats to bring a lawsuit against his administration over his use of executive action.
"Middle-class families can’t wait for Republicans in Congress to do stuff. So sue me," Obama said Tuesday at an event in Washington.
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"As long as they’re doing nothing, I’m not going to apologize for trying to do something."
Obama’s defiant attitude comes as House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, plans to propose legislation that could bring a lawsuit against him for implementing executive actions that the GOP contends amounts to a breach of his constitutional power by side-stepping the legislative process.
Obama: Boehner's lawsuit is 'a stunt'
Recently, Obama has ramped up his use of executive authority as a way to bypass a deeply divided Congress, avoiding inaction on issues the White House has made hallmarks of the President's second term agenda.
On Monday, Obama said he would start "a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress."
Poll: Can Obama get the job done?
At Tuesday's event, Obama continued to harp on congressional Republicans to pass legislation - this time pushing them to invest in transportation.
Standing in front of Key Bridge, which connects the city's Georgetown-area to Virginia, Obama continued his stepped-up rhetoric hammering Republican for obstructing action in Washington.
Obama proposed a long-term highway construction bill earlier this year that he says would spur job growth.
"It’s not crazy, it’s not socialism," Obama said of his transportation proposal. "It’s not the imperial presidency - no laws are broken. We’re just building roads and bridges like we’ve been doing for the last, I don’t know, 50, 100 years. But so far, House Republicans have refused to act on this idea."
CNN's Mike Ahlers and Rene Marsh contributed to this report.
Related: Obama’s ‘day in life’ offers opening to tout message and slam Republicans
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Better late than never! Considering the lack of good options presented by the obstructionists in Congress, his actions will be less destructive in the long term. And yes, at least some things the people have requested will get done. Those in Congress who spend their time bragging about their disdain for America shouldn't be there in the first place.
Our so-called "Constitutional Law Professor" of a president doesn't fair well when his decisions are compared against the Constitution the judiciary. Obama should instead suggest a contest in which he can win....golf, community organizing?
Just look at the real reason why things are the way they are on the HILL, it's really simple the man is BLACK and he is the leader of this country and so many WHITE people do not like that. The GOP has not done one thing to move this country forward. They have not pass anything to help the american people all they have done from day one is to try to make the president look bad and not help the american people. At a 7% approve rating the GOP has let this country down time and time againt. In 2016 the same GOP that are standing againt the president and telling lie after lie after lie standing hand in hand with each other is the same one that going to be tell you why he is the best man to be PRESIDENT and not the other GOP guy sad,sad,sad but so true.The PRESIDENT is trying to help ALL american not just what they call american, This is not their country alone and never will .
Obama is the worst and most dishonest President ever. He continually lies to the general public and has done it so much, his followers all believe what he says. Open your eyes people. Wr are quickly becoming the one of the 3rd world countries you all want to help. This man should be in federal prison and there are many cluelesson here still ssying how good of a job he is doing? SMH... What happened to America?
In response to what DinkyPink wrote: you're absolutely right. Political parties and skin color are this country worries about anymore, which is why he was elected in the first place. It had nothing to do with political affiliations or what his plans were for this country. He was elected simply because of his skin color. I chose not to vote in either election because I did not agree with either political party's views, but the numbers of times I've been called a "racist" simply because I did not vote for him is appalling. The government, as a whole, has become completely corrupted, and politicians are no longer concerned with the best interests of the people they represent, but rather making sure their pockets are lined and the future generations of their own families are taken care of. If the people of this country don't make a stand and take back their government from the politicians then we are headed straight for a dictatorship. Maybe not this presidency or the next, but it will happen if the people do not take action.
Quinnipiac found 45 percent of voters say the country would have been better off if Mr. Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, had been elected, while just 38 percent say Mr. Obama remains a better choice.
Bravo Mr. President!
I figure the Republicans will take control of the Senate in January just in time for Articles of Impeachment to be passed. Timing is everything....
Shocking comments from a president who claims to be a Constitutional scholar.
Pugslie
Go have some more "crack" pie. Big mouth, arrogant attorney with barnyard manners and disrespect for anyone who doesn't agree with him. Reminds me of a former leader...let's see, who was that? The guy who was the head of the Third Reich.
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Talk about barnyard manners – at least President Obama didn't wash his hands then use some stranger's shirt to dry them off. As for your not-so-veiled "third reich" remark – the same guy who wiped his hands on a stranger ALSO opened a concentration camp in which to hold prisoners without charge. Project much?
Boehner is SUCH a joke. He wrote to President Bush asking him to use an executive order to bypass safety codes - passed by CONGRESS - to save the Delta Queen steamship based out of his home state of Ohio. Boehner himself asked Bush to use executive orders to circumvent laws passed by Congress.
The term "middle-class", so widely invoked by politicians on both of the spectrum, is imprecise –, to say the least! I would much prefer to see it replaced by "middle-income", so as not to introduce into the picture the whole issue of "values", which has nothing to do, necessarily, with how much a family earns.
Schoolyard bully shouting infantile statements. Never has America experienced such an egomaniac blustering and showing no sign of negotiation or compromising, but in -your- face defiance of the Constitution and the will of the people. Even staunch liberal law and Constitution expert Professor Turley says Obama has overstepped his authority and is endangering our system of government.
Impeach GOP members of Congress that met and vowed to block anything Obama wanted as opposed to representing the People.
Sean
As Obama says this all snarky and arrogant, his delays with obamacare has caused its first death:
The Las Vegas woman died Monday, less than two weeks after her family went public with details about Nevada Health Link insurance exchange enrollment troubles that kept her from treatment in January for an aggressive brain tumor.
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Yeah, except if she HAD insurance PRIOR to the passage of the ACA, there would have been no need for her to be shopping on the exchange. If not for the exchange – warts and all – a lot of patients would die for lack of insurance at all. If we had a single-payer system in America, that woman would might still be alive today.
I actually applaud President Obama for not giving a FLYING Fudge on GOP fleixing their muscles. He is already on his second term, he could have easily just be complacent and play nice for the remainder 2 years of his presidency...but he is not. When you try to offer cooporation and you get none, then you just gotta get it done. I agree with his statement "As long as they’re doing nothing, I’m not going to apologize for trying to do something."
I rather have a President that is doing something than sitting there plyaing cat and mouse with the opposing party.
Not everthing he does might be right or work out the way its intended, but at least he is doing something. We keep electing "talkers" to DC.....how about some fearless "do-ers". You'll never accomplish or get anywhere unless you attempt at it – it doesn't guarantee success everytime. But failure is always a guarantee when you're doing nothing.
So the one thing this President was supposed to be accomplish in is organizing. Well, organize something other than empty rhetoric.
We need Obama to stand up to the do nothing,shut down the government because we don't have the votes to repeal Obamacare,anti democracy, just sayNo,No,No,No,No tea party who wants America to fail.
13 times the Supreme Court decides against Oblunder unanimously and the Constitutional Scholar says,"sue me"????
That's like sticking your tongue out at a firing squad...
The "elected idiot" is one arrogant SOB. Dumb american sheep could not see this?
Obama is the worst president ever. I say impeach him. Just wait and see how he ruins Ameri a!
The President is correct; I say "BRING. IT. ON." to the "other" side.
Congress (supposedly) represents the people ... if they don't approve, then it shouldn't get done ... period.
We don't need anymore of the President's help. His energy policies are crushing the middle class. With his never ending deception and secrecy he looks more like Dick Nixon than Jimmy Carter.,
Impeach Obama!