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When Alexander Hamilton wrote his classic analysis of the presidency in The Federalist Papers (No. 70), he minced no words: “Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government.” The executive branch has to act and act decisively. The legislative process is not designed for speed, nor is adjudication in the courts. The presidency is—and needs to be. As commander in chief, the president has to be ready to address whatever crisis the nation faces.
The alternative to an energetic executive, Hamilton explained, is a “feeble” executive. A feeble executive will act feebly. And “feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution: And a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be in practice a bad government.”
The designers of the Constitution could not, of course, know who would occupy the office in the future. What they could do was design the Constitution so as to give future presidents the ability to act decisively and energetically.
That is why, Hamilton explained, there is one president, not two and not a council. When multiple people have to agree on any particular action, there’s always the possibility for delay or even gridlock. Checks and balances are, indeed, important in the right context. But checks and balances on military strategy when the battle is underway can be fatal. So “[t]he executive power”—not some, but the entirety—is “vested” in the president by Article II of the Constitution.
As Hamilton explained, decisiveness and promptness “will generally characterise the proceedings of one man, in a much more eminent degree, than the proceedings of any greater number.” So having a single, unitary executive who has the final decision-making power is a key feature of the Constitution’s design for the presidency. President Harry Truman captured the point succinctly with the sign he placed on his desk: “The buck stops here.”
-- Lael Weinberger
Janet Yellen shocked the banking world when she said that America's “needed belt tightening is significant—larger than in most programs supported by the International Monetary Fund."
Yes, even larger than the bankrupt nations now beholden to the IMF, which demands a kind of austerity Americans might not survive. Examples:
By 2010, Greek debt had spiraled to 130% of GDP and climbing. No one was willing to lend them money anymore... forcing the IMF to swoop in with a "rescue" package that came with brutal strings attached.
Pensions were slashed by 40%. Public sector wages were frozen, then cut. Over 150,000 government workers were laid off. State assets—airports, ports, utilities—were sold off at fire-sale prices to foreign investors.
Greece's economy contracted by 25%. Youth unemployment hit 60%. An entire generation was hollowed out.
Argentina has been through the IMF wringer multiple times; in fact in in 2018, Argentina received the largest bailout in IMF history: $57 billion....
Martyn Lloyd-Jones declared, “Whenever you put happiness before righteousness, you will be doomed to misery. That is the great message of the Bible from beginning to end. They alone are truly happy who are seeking to be righteous.”
Attention antifa and transtifa and insurrectionists who hate ICE:
Nearly every state has specific statutes that criminalize willfully interrupting or disturbing a religious assembly or worship service. These laws protect the right of people to gather and practice their religion without intentional interference.
Let the Minneapolis arrests begin.
