Well said. Could not agree more. Trump's desire to have more goods and services made in the U.S. is baseless. Can't happen to the level he wants. Never. He should acknowledge (and learn) that other countries can simply produce and provide goods and services that the U.S. can't compete with and enter into fair trade agreements. We cannot grow bananas in winter.
Hear hear! Thank you for this insightful explainer. I'm sharing this to help my friends and neighbors understand this issue — that we have co-equal branches of government, and the branch that most directly represents the people must reassert its power.
Yes, Congress needs to claw back much of the power that it has yielded to POTUS. But perhaps even more important it needs to claw back the power the powers that SCOTUS has claimed for its own. In particular it needs to take back the power of Judicial Review. SCOTUS claimed this power early in the 19th century in the case of Marbury v Madison. Thomas Jefferson objected strenuously but he was merely the president then and the structure and power of the courts was left by the Constitution, to Congress. Technically Congress still has that power but they have not bothered to exercise it sufficiently.
In theory, it is Congress that sets the laws and POTUS has the power to enforce those laws. The only power of the courts is to interpret the law, not to change it. Congress could pass legislation making it clear that the courts can only interpret laws as they apply to individual cases; that they simply do not have the power to change a law or to eliminate it. Of course, should the Court think a law is not constitutional then they should bring that to the attention of Congress and take the trouble to make the case to them. But establishing what the law says, should be up to Congress, through the ordinary legislative process, to make any change to the law.
Well said. Could not agree more. Trump's desire to have more goods and services made in the U.S. is baseless. Can't happen to the level he wants. Never. He should acknowledge (and learn) that other countries can simply produce and provide goods and services that the U.S. can't compete with and enter into fair trade agreements. We cannot grow bananas in winter.
Hear hear! Thank you for this insightful explainer. I'm sharing this to help my friends and neighbors understand this issue — that we have co-equal branches of government, and the branch that most directly represents the people must reassert its power.
Yes, Congress needs to claw back much of the power that it has yielded to POTUS. But perhaps even more important it needs to claw back the power the powers that SCOTUS has claimed for its own. In particular it needs to take back the power of Judicial Review. SCOTUS claimed this power early in the 19th century in the case of Marbury v Madison. Thomas Jefferson objected strenuously but he was merely the president then and the structure and power of the courts was left by the Constitution, to Congress. Technically Congress still has that power but they have not bothered to exercise it sufficiently.
In theory, it is Congress that sets the laws and POTUS has the power to enforce those laws. The only power of the courts is to interpret the law, not to change it. Congress could pass legislation making it clear that the courts can only interpret laws as they apply to individual cases; that they simply do not have the power to change a law or to eliminate it. Of course, should the Court think a law is not constitutional then they should bring that to the attention of Congress and take the trouble to make the case to them. But establishing what the law says, should be up to Congress, through the ordinary legislative process, to make any change to the law.