Conservative firebrand Rep. Allen West is castigating President Barack Obama for “shredding” the U.S. Constitution by aggressively pushing to impose his agenda through executive-branch rule-making rather than via Congress.
In an exclusive Newsmax.TV interview, West cited Homeland Security Department chief Janet Napolitano’s announcement last week that the federal government will allow illegals not charged with other crimes to remain in the country and will not deport them.
“It’s absolutely a form of amnesty, and it does go against our Constitution,” says West, who called for a congressional investigation into the administration action.
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West tells Newsmax that the new policy means “we’re rewarding people for an illegal activity.” He adds the policy will be an added economic strain on hospitals, schools, and welfare agencies.
The Obama administration has pushed its agenda forward in recent months with a number of executive branch rules, enacting policies that would have little chance of getting through the GOP-controlled House.
Examples: The National Labor Relations Board is trying to block Boeing’s effort to relocate a plant to South Carolina; the EPA, following the failure of cap-and-trade legislation in Congress, has issued a series of regulations that raise the barriers to power plants that are fueled by domestically abundant coal; and the administration continues to restrict approval of deepwater-drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico.
The administration’s latest edict on immigration amounts to giving undocumented workers a free pass to be here illegally, says West, who also expressed concern that the policy’s roll-out occurred as members of Congress were on their summer break.
“It just once again shows that back-door nature. We see it a lot with the regulatory process that’s coming out of the administration,” West says. “And now we see it as well with the Homeland Security Secretary.”
“Is Obama shredding the constitution with this?” Newsmax.TV asked West.
“I think he absolutely is,” the congressman replied. “I think he’s shredding his responsibilities as the president, and his respect and regard of the Constitution.”
Other highlights from the exclusive Newsmax interview:
- West is confident he won’t lose the support of the tea party base following his vote in favor of the compromise that raised the debt ceiling. He explained to grass-roots conservatives that it is not realistic to expect to get 100 percent of what they want until the current political balance changes in Washington.
- He continues to support the cut, cap, and balance approach to restoring fiscal accountability to the federal government. But he says conservatives will need reinforcements in Congress before they can enact it into law.
- He noted that a gallon of gas cost only $1.86 a gallon when President Obama took office and criticized the administration’s energy-exploration and development policies.
- He continues to embrace his role as the only conservative in the Congressional Black Caucus, saying: “The black community has to diversify its political interests in the United States of America . . . the Democrat Party is just taking the black community for granted.”
Liberals, he says, are “scared out of their wits” by conservative women and minorities, fearing they will demonstrate there’s an alternative to progressive social policies.
The Florida congressman also addressed his recent remark that black leaders in Congress are like the overseers on a 21st-century plantation.
“One of the things you have to look for is all of the sudden we have a 16 percent unemployment rate in the United States of America in the African-American community.
“And when you have certain black leaders sitting back, as we saw in that video clip, ‘Well, you tell us when and we’ll let go of the president.’ Well, we should have been letting of the president, his failed policies, some time ago,” West says.
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