I read the first page of this Boston Globe story (Hat tip: H. App. B.) about the White House not enforcing or following laws enacted by Congress by asserting that they conflict with its interpretation of the Constitution, and was not that surprised. And I've come to the conclusion that there will never be any sort of a legal solution to this. Here is why.

Although the SCOTUS has hinted that it is the sole interpreter of the Constitution it is unlikely to hold so. Given that it's finals week, I'm glossing over a lot of my reasoning, but I think if any challenge is mounted to the President's conduct it is likely to be found a political question and deferred to the elected branches. The elected branches are at the hands of a single party and so they are not too eager to steal power from each other. Well, let me rephrase that, Congress is not eager to stand in the way of the President as he expands his power from previous administrations. Effectively, by voting for a particular party, we as the electorate have also voted on an alteration of our system of government. Naturally given someone's political leanings he/she is likely to have the knee-jerk reaction that this is either legitimate/good, or the most egregious violation of human norms since Napoleon crowned himself emperor.

My solution is very, very simple and I think those of all political persuasions would see it to their advantage to adopt it. Inform the public. Let's talk about historical practice. Let's talk about the implications of a President who claims he has inherent powers to act without statutory authorization under the Constitution while at the same time he also claims he has the powers to ignore statutes. Let's talk about the consistency of having 19th century federalism combined with a 21st century presidency. Or has the die been cast? Are we the Roman Republic circa 44 BCE?