Checkmate! Looks like Pres Obama may have set the GOP up before making the 4 recess appointments

[Tx4obama]

I saw a comment in the comment section that is spot on.
(here:http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/01/04/397578/bush-administration-legal-advisers-said-obama-can-recess-appoint-cordray/ )

Patrick Hughes · Boston, Massachusetts
When the president announced he was going to use his authority to raise the debt limit a couple of days ago, Republicans in Congress whined mightily that they wouldn't be able to demagogue the issue because their bodies were in recess. Now they are trying to argue that they aren't in recess. Go figure.

LOL

So, I went and looked up what was reported regarding what 'Congress' said in response to Obama's debt ceiling request...

Obama requested a debt ceiling increase and CONGRESS asked him to 'wait' because 'they are NOT in session' (!!!) - LOL
See here: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-05/obama-will-delay-debt-limit-increase-request-official-says.html
and here: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/30/obama-delays-request-for-12t-debt-ceiling-increase/

It does seem like President Obama laid the ground work that would show that Congress refused to 'do any business' because they were not in session, before he made yesterday's four recess appointments - So, it looks like President Obama set this one up VERY well, and the GOP wouldn't have a leg to stand on if they were to fight against the appointments in court!

Good job President Obama!

[SpiralHawk]

1. The olde winger wangerooo

turnabout suckerage -- for those who have so maliciously suckered America.

[SunsetDreams]

2. Ha ha ha Thanks for pointing this out

I didn't know about that at all. I think you are onto something

[Old Codger]

3. LOL

Got em

[Robb]

4. The man has excellent Constitution Fu.

(bows)

[kentuck]

5. Hmmmm...

Interesting...

[monmouth]

6. There's that chess thingy again...LOL..n/t

[redqueen]

54. +1

[JNelson6563]

7. I reckon there'll be more of this....

[notadmblnd]

8. Not only are the GOP presidential candidates looking like a bunch of clowns

the entire GOP congress is too.

[ProSense]

9. Oh

Because Congress won’t be in session in the next 15 days, Obama agreed to the joint request from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. The House of Representatives is scheduled to return on Jan. 17 and the Senate plans to reconvene on Jan. 23.

...my!

[kentuck]

13. Did they step in it ?!

Or what?

[PatrynXX]

36. So far the two twins stepped in it

something about late breaking news that Rick Santorum might have won Iowa anyway. missing votes. what is this Wisconsin. Either way Mitt, willard and Rick all stepped head first in it.

[tallahasseedem]

26. Oh my indeed!

This is just...well, BRILLIANT!

[Zorra]

10. Nice set up. Well done! nt

[CakeGrrl]

11. Nooooo, it can't be CHESS!

[Blue Owl]

12. Suck it McConnell

You heard me

[JoePhilly]

14. Now THAT is hilarious!!!!

[lamp_shade]

15. GREAT observation, Tx4obama.

[wandy]

16. Never try to play checkers with a Chess master.

[Spazito]

17. Oh dear...

and from fox news no less:

"But with Congress not due to return to Washington until mid-January, lawmakers asked Obama to delay his request so they would be in session during the 15-day period allowed for objections."

It does not say the House, it says Congress which is both the House and the Senate. As the now famous faux pas of Rick Perry so eloquently stated, "Oops!"

[Frustratedlady]

18. I thought they were keeping at least two congresscritters around so he couldn't do that.

Didn't they do that a year or so ago?

I love it when he zings them.

[DCBob]

19. I think there is also some strategy to making the appointment during a "pro-forma" recess.

Apparently he could have waited a bit and there would have been a window for a "legimate" recess appointment just prior to the first session of congress. But I think the President wanted this to make some news to highlight the GOP's extremism against the consumer protection bureau. The optics are bad for the Republicans on this and the President knows it. Well done once again!

[Tx4obama]

20. Well that window passed on January 3rd

As of Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - we are now in the second half of the 112th Session of Congress.
---
Note: if President Obama had made the recess appointments on January 3, 2012, in between the first and second half of the 112th Congressional Session, then they would have only been in effect for ONE year. Since President Obama waited and made the appointments on January 4th they will be effect for TWO years.
See here: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/the-hidden-benefit-of-obamas-hardball-consumer-watchdog-gambit.php

[DCBob]

24. I didnt realize that window already passed..

but I still think he may have purposely not done it during that window.

[Tx4obama]

27. Yes, so that the appointments will last 'two' years instead of 'one' :) n/t

[DCBob]

28. I see. Yeah that make sense.

thanks for the clarification.

[deacon]

21. Bazinga. n/t

[malaise]

22. Freaking perfect

GObama!!

[MilesColtrane]

23. pWned

[whathehell]

25. Music to my ears...Keep on keepin' on!

[MH1]

29. Oh, that is beautiful!

[joshcryer]

30. That's ridiculously hilarious, haha!

[grantcart]

31. Great point

I wondered at the time why he delayed the debt ceiling move.

[Pirate Smile]

42. Yeah. It seemed odd. They put out the request.

Everybody thought they might be jamming Congress, Congresd objected, and then we haven't heard anything about it since then. I wondered what was going on
.

[riderinthestorm]

32. This is a great point. I definitely applaud! nt

[opihimoimoi]

33. Chess Master...5 moves ahead all the time.... BatShit Crazy...GOPers are TOO EASY...

KnR

[stillwaiting]

34. I love it when Obama makes me happy.

I really, really do.

[FSogol]

35. K & R. Perfect. n/t

[Historic NY]

37. Good find....

their official calender also betrays them.

[madamesilverspurs]

38. Indeed!

[Pirate Smile]

39. K & R - that's awesome.

Here is more info re why Pres. Obama chose those 4 spots to recess appoint http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002122292

[Tx4obama]

41. Yep. :) n/t

[spanone]

40. k&r...

[Tarheel_Dem]

43. Tx4o, you're good. Really good. Great catch.

[Surya Gayatri]

44. And the Zen chess-master strikes again...

This is a man who never reacts in anger; therein lies his secret strength and subtle source of power.

In fact, he's more like an oriental master of GO, surrounding his adversary,
rendering him impotent,
and relegating him to an irrelevant corner of the battlefield.

So satisfying to watch him slowly, but relentlessly, advance across the board. But, frustrating to see the public and media misinterpret his every move as 'weakness', while braying for more bloody confrontation. SG

[Rex]

45. GOOD!

[Motown_Johnny]

46. Cheney syndrome

I'm in the Executive Branch, no no no, I am in the Legislative Branch!


We are not in session, no no no, we are in session!



I am so happy the election is finally starting to draw near. Pres. Obama is starting to come out of his shell.

[tabatha]

57. I think the timing of "out of the shell" is perfect.

He knows when to leave certain strategies alone until they are most effective.

If he had done this before, the Repubs would have been wary. Instead they walked smack into a wall.

[a2liberal]

47. Nice! (n/t)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

48. How dare he!

Not only is this going to take all the fun out the Congressional Republicans semi-annual debt ceiling poo-fest. It's going to make all of them look like the lazy obstructionist buffoons they are during an election year!

Double not fair!

[sabrina 1]

49. Lol, checkmated! I hope we see him doing more of this to Republicans. This is what people

wanted to see. They are ultimately cowards and bullies and never should be catered to. Maybe he finally learned that over the past three years.

[lamp_shade]

50. Good morning. K&R. 132 now... 3 "boths".

[mopinko]

51. were there other appointments?

DH says there were bunches.

[Pirate Smile]

55. There was 4 - Cordray & 3 to the NLRB.

Those appointments make it so those 2 agencies can function - without them, the agencies don't work.

CFPB couldn't start regulating non-banks like payday lenders, etc. until they had a director so now they can do that.

The NLRB was going to fail to have enough people to form a quorum so they wouldn't have been able to function either.

Pres. Obama didn't do a mass recess appointment like Teddy Roosevelt did. He only appointed the ones where the Republicans blocking them actually crippled their ability to perform their legislative function. It was actually about the agencies, not the appointees.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002122292

[Jester Messiah]

52. Forget chess, this man plays rope-a-dope like a Stradivarius! [nt]

[Ikonoklast]

53. He showed them his right hand, kept it out there, then...BOOM!

A huge left hook comes out of nowhere and caught them flush on the jaw.

[JDPriestly]

56. What is more. As I understand it, Obama has a majority support in the Senate for his

nominations. The Republicans could prevent these nominations from coming to the floor but I don't think they have the votes to override his appointments.

Therefore, Obama is on safe ground in making these appointments.

Good for Obama.

In particular, the Richard Cordray appointment should be very popular with voters. Strong oversight of the financial sector's dealings with consumers could have prevented the mortgage fraud that has brought down the world economy.

The sales personnel for the financial sector who market their lies about the melt-down would have us believe that somehow millions of homebuyers who were too stupid to know how to read their loan agreements were smart enough to trick banks into lending even more millions.

Can you think of anything less logical. If a person couldn't do math well enough to figure out how much his adjustable mortgage might cost if interest rates rose, how could he possibly have understood how to falsify his credit story just enough to qualify for a loan he couldn't afford?

Nonsense. The folks who knew exactly how to fix the numbers and get the buyer qualified are responsible for the irresponsible lending practices. They "helped" get buyers in over their heads and took home big paychecks for doing it.

Apparently bankers and their spokespeople don't have to think logically.

[Tx4obama]

59. More info regarding Cordray

President Obama originally sent the Cordray nomination to The Senate July 17, 2011.

On December 8, 2011 The Senate failed to get 60 votes for cloture (53-45)
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00223

Then on December 17, 2011 (the day The Senate went home for the Christmas break) The Senate announced the Cordray nomination would be dropped from consideration and sent back to the White House along with several other nominations
http://democrats.senate.gov/2011/12/17/senate-floor-wrap-up-for-saturday-december-17-2011/

So, considering the nomination was sent back to the WH and since the GOP said they would NOT confirm 'anyone' for that position - Obama had no other alternative than to make the recess appointment in order to keep the agency up and running.

[librechik]

58. lol--GOP talking out of both sides of their mouths has predictable results. n/t

[Tx4obama]

60. MORE evidence (PROOF) that The House is in recess

For the second time in recent weeks, C-SPAN’s video on Friday morning cut away from high drama in the U.S. Congress as Democrats demanded to be heard, only to see their session immediately shut down by Republicans.

In another so-called “pro forma” session, or a session of Congress staged merely as formality in order to block presidential recess appointments, the House of Representatives was gaveled in on Friday and immediately gaveled out again, even as Democrats took to the floor demanding to know where their Republican colleagues were.

After the session was initiated, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) stood and asked Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA), “Where are the Republicans?” He was joined by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and a small assemblage of other Democrats who’ve been pushing to extend lower payroll tax rates to working Americans.

SNIP

Links to the rest of the article and VIDEO here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10175224

p.s. Pelosi knows that the Republicans are not going to let anyone speak during the Pro-forma sessions, so going there today to try to speak has to be part of a calculated strategy, in my opinion, to rack up more evidence that The House is actually in recess.

[Old and In the Way]

61. Good stuff!

It certainly does look like the Republicans have painted themselves into a corner on this issue. Oh well, sucks to be them.

[lamp_shade]

62. Pelosi, Axelrod and Debbie W-S will be on this morning's talk shows. I hope they

discuss this issue broadly, loudly and IMO exclusively. The issue has not received much, if any, media attention.

Axelrod (ABC This Week)
Pelosi (CNN w/Crowley)
W-S (Fox)

[Tx4obama]

63. And it has happened again on January 10th

See DU OP here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002149132
House GOP shuts down Dem speaker Jim Moran in pro forma session