Charles Krauthammer: Revolt of the attorneys general — and it’s ongoing

[TomSea]

Charles Krauthammer: Revolt of the attorneys general — and it’s ongoing
    Mar 4, 2017 0

WASHINGTON — Among the many unintended legacies of Barack Obama, one has gone largely unnoticed: the emergence of a novel form of resistance to executive overreach, a check-and-balance improvised in reaction to his various presidential power grabs.

It’s the revolt of the state attorneys general, banding together to sue and curb the executive. And it has outlived Obama.

Normally one would expect Congress to be the instrument of resistance to presidential trespass. But Congress has been supine. The Democrats in particular, approving of Obama’s policy preferences, allowed him free rein over Congress’ constitutional prerogatives.

Into that vacuum stepped the states. Florida and 12 others filed suit against ObamaCare the day it was signed. They were later joined by 13 others, making their challenge the first in which a majority of states banded together to try to stop anything.

Continued: http://www.winchesterstar.com/opinions/columns/charles-krauthammer-revolt-of-the-attorneys-general-and-it-s/article_cb9ed544-4e72-59d1-abff-446a8141add1.html

[thackney]

Texas vs. the Feds — A Look at the Lawsuits
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/01/17/texas-federal-government-lawsuits/
JAN. 17, 2017

Since President Obama took office in 2009, the state of Texas has sued his administration at least 48 times, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of state data — a point of pride for the state's Republican leaders.

Former Texas Attorney General and current Gov. Greg Abbott filed 31 of those lawsuits. His successor, Ken Paxton, has mounted 17 such legal challenges since taking office in 2015. Paxton's office has provided cost estimates for 39 of those cases, which as of mid-2016 totaled about $5.9 million.

So what did Texans get for their money? So far, there have been seven cases in the win column for the state, with 12 losses, nine cases withdrawn and 20 pending....

[r9etb]

A really interesting article.  Krauthammer's comments about the "supine Congress" are correct, and it's galling. 

Not specifically discussed, he's suggesting that the de facto reins of government are held by the executive branch, and implemented through executive orders and regulations from the various agencies; and the only counterbalance is state-initiated lawsuits acting through the courts.

This makes a kind of perverted sense -- Congress has largely abdicated its lawmaking responsibilities to the various federal bureaucracies, and it is unwilling and/or unable to reassert control over them.

[Smokin Joe]

Considering how many States filed suit, it makes me wonder if the ACA would have even passed if the 17th Amendment hadn't.