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The Road to Constitutional Crisis
By Julianne Ortman
As published by the Chanhassen Villager and the Chaska Herald
July 18, 2013

We need Congressmen and women who will faithfully
perform the responsibilities that they owe, not to their
political parties, but to the American people - to ensure
that we have a Congress separate and independent from
the President.
Recently President Obama declared that
he would not implement United States Law if
it was politically or logistically inconvenient
to do so. His Administration quietly sent out
a web posting advising the nation that large
employers would not have to comply with the
legal mandate to provide health insurance to
their full-time employees.
Please dont get me wrong. I have always
opposed Obamacare, believing that
Minnesota has done an exceptional job of
ensuring that every resident that wants
health care coverage has access. In fact, as a
State Senator I was a party to the lawsuit
challenging the constitutionality of
Obamacare. (I was one of many from across
the nation who argued in the Supreme Court
that the plan violated the limits of the
Commerce Clause; ultimately the Court
agreed, but upheld the mandates in
Obamacare as a constitutional use of
Congresss power to tax.)
Id prefer that there be no implementation of
Obamacare, but that is not my point. There is
a much greater concern here. Like it or not,
this law was passed by Congress, signed by
the President and
upheld in the
Supreme Court. The
President has no right or authority to delay
implementation of United States Law; it is his
duty to support and defend our Constitution
and respect our laws. Presidents do not get to
pick and choose which laws should be
followed, or enforced, or by whom.
Yet this is not the first time; it has become a
pattern, with too many recent examples:
In June, 2012, President Obama issued a
directive ending the practice of enforcing
immigration laws that require deporting
people younger than 30 who came to the U.S.
before age 16, and granting them a two year
deferral. (Many may believe this is a just or
merciful decision; please remember, my
point is not about the result, its about the
power).
The National Security Agency under
President Obama has sought and obtained
hundreds of secret court orders, including
one authorizing years of systematic blanket
surveillance of the communications of
innocent Americans. Secret law is not law:
there has been no way for citizens to know of
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the existence, interpretation, execution or
legal justification for these laws. This is a
fundamental abuse of power by the federal
government.
President Obamas IRS
illegally has targeted law-
abiding taxpayers for
harassment based upon
their political views, and
has target-audited these
groups donors. (This is
the same IRS that is
intended to enforce
Obamacare mandates; we
should be very concerned
about additional abuses).
We do not have a king. We have a President
who should never be above the law. If we
cant live with or abide by our own laws, the
answer is not to ignore them or apply them
selectively --we should change them, amend
them, or better yet, repeal them.
We need a stronger Congress to exercise real
oversight, and provide the meaningful
Checks and Balances our Constitutional
framers envisioned as the answer to abuse of
power by the Executive Branch. Both parties
in Congress for too long have adopted the
hands off, its our guy approach when their
President goes too far, so our next President
is unlikely to enforce laws he doesnt like
either unless something changes.
We need Congressmen and women who will
faithfully perform the responsibilities that
they owe, not to their political parties, but to
the American people - to ensure that we have
a Congress separate and independent from
the President. Being a member of Congress is
not like running a business; its not a game
show, and its not a country club. We dont
need to send millionaires or celebrities to
Washington. We need and deserve dedicated
and determined representatives and advocates for
the People.
Each and every one of the Signers of our
Declaration of Independence committed an
act of treason by declaring independence
from the King of England. And the di"erence
between the gallows and glory for each of
them, was the will and the courage to dene
and to overcome the force of tyranny. If we
would honor their valor and the cause of
freedom, we need to revive Congressional
oversight and its institutional independence,
before our growing crisis of condence turns into a
full-blown Constitutional crisis.

Julianne Ortman has practiced law for 25 years and
served in the Minnesota Senate for 12 years. She is
the only Republican in the past 40 years, and the
rst woman ever to Chair the Minnesota SenateTax
Committee.

Under her Chairmanship the State balanced its $5
Billion Decit without raising even $1 in taxes. Shes
never shied away from a worthy
ght in support of hardworking Minnesotans,
our economic liberties and our constitutional
rights.
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We do not have
a King. We
have a
President who
should never
be above the
law