Chris Hayes had a really quite excellent report last night on MSNBC on how the Republicans have sabotaged the Federal government wholesale, using the NLRB has an example. It's two-pronged. Legislatively, really for the first time in history, they simply refuse to approve any nominees to a board which the law mandates. Great. Such civic-mindedness. Actually, it's totally depraved: they hate government so they intend to wreck it.
The other prong is Rightist Ideologue judges who have ruled on the DC Circuit Court that the president can't make recess appointments, even though presidents of both parties have been doing it for close to two centuries. Nothing like the persuasive weight of precedent.
Result? There is no NLRB, even though the law requires it. The situation is no better at the Consumer Finance Commission, and will soon be much the same at the FCC.
So we have to wonder, what will the Supreme Court do? The issue will be before it next year (the recess appointment issue, that is). It is split, and its swing member is a pretty radical libertarian (Kennedy), so there's no basis for confidence. But, come on, surely there are five justices who believe it's just not reasonable to allow one party to manipulate two of the three branches of government not to exercise the powers vested under the constitution, but simply to trash the system of government entirely. Surely?
Don't count on it.
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