Let’s Make a Deal: Patriot Act

It was September 11, 2001 and two commercial jets had just slammed into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City. A third had hit the Pentagon. A fourth had crashed into a field in Shanksville, PA. All commercial Air travel was grounded and America had for all technical purposes closed the borders and the country’s military was placed on high alert. Robert Kennedy wrote in his book entitled, “The Road to War”, that “on September 14, 2001, George W. Bush declared a state of national emergency and Congress granted permission to deter and prevent acts of terrorism.

” (Kennedy R, 2010, p.125). Although there are checks and balances in the Constitution to ward against conditions simulating absolute power, there are also executive powers granted to the office of the presidency as the nation’s leader and Commander in Chief of the military.( Genovese, M, 2011, p.162).

The president can use directives termed Executive Orders to create policy.” (Greer, J. 2012, p.45). These methods were used by both the Bush and Obama administrations to swiftly move forward on their administration policy agendas without involving Congress directly.

By claiming Presidential “executive privilege”, both administrations were able to keep “in secret” information from Congress. The election to utilize their Presidential “executive prerogative” enabled both administrations to execute executive orders, therefore, bypassing Congress directly for permissions. The president’s executive prerogative gives him the right to make policy and to take action to protect the people, however, the president is accountable for his actions and “swears by Oath that he will faithfully execute the laws”.

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(Greer, J, 2012, p 45)

Through the lens of Front Line’s video “Cheney’s Law”, the Bush administration is introduced going through extraordinary circumstances by an act of Terrorism on American soil. “The President requests an extension of executive powers through orders directly from his office in order to gain information to detain suspects and extract information of terrorism according to “Cheney’s Law. (Frontline Video, citation for Cheney’s Law). “Through War Powers, Congress gives the authority “to provide for the common defense”. It was on October 26, 2001, that Congress approved the USA Patriot Act in response to the after 9/11, War on Terror. “The US Patriot act gave permissions for increased powers over financial institutions, immigration, and domestic criminal activity. The department of Homeland Security was also created.” ( Greer, J, 2016, p.88) This allowed for methods such as increased surveillance through wire taps (both foreign and domestic) and stronger interrogation techniques to be used to gather information about terrorism against the United States. “It was not discovered till much later that suspects of terrorism were detained without due process and that special military tribunals were set up by executive order in order to avoid processing detainees through the criminal court system.” (Greer, J, 2016, p 395).

“The George W. Bush administration had a full agenda during its 8 year terms. This included “No Child Left Behind”, The War on Terror after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina’s failed federal response, and the bailout of the financial industry in 2008.” (Greer. J. 2016 p 88)

The Bush administration had suffered from a lack of public popularity before the terrorist attacks of 9/11. “The War Powers Act of 1973 prohibited the president from sending armed forces for more than 90 days without seeking a formal declaration of War or continued military action from Congress.”(Greer, J, p 449.). According to Front Line “Cheney’s Law” the executive directives filed in response to the War on Terror gave a large margin to interpretation of the permissions being granted by the USA Patriot Act. (Front Line Cheney’s Law citation). “Detainees of “The War on Terror” were not subject to the rules of conduct under the Geneva Convention “(Greer, J, 2016, p.455) Also, it was later discovered that excessive means were used for extracting information through interrogation techniques such as: Water Boarding, sleep and food deprivation, and other physical abuses. Domestic U.S. detainees were also held without representation for up to a year according to Frontline’s Video “Cheney’s law.” U.S. Citizens are entitled to due process. According to the Supreme court case “Boumediene vs. Bush (2008), one provision of the Military Commission Act was struck down as unconstitutional because it barred prisoners from filing a writ of habeas corpus. After the ruling, the Obama administration swiftly abandoned the use of military commission trials at Guantanamo.“ (Savage, D., The supreme court, 2nd edition, p 500)

Barrack Obama’s administration had hit the ground running as soon as they got into office pushing the agenda of Universal Healthcare according to Frontline Video “Obama’s Deal” and it was ultimately as success.(Obama’s Deal video citation)

“President Obama spoke of having this opportunity of making America great again and having Healthcare for all.” (Frontline Video, Obama’s deal) The President was up against a great deal of resistance from the Insurance and Pharmaceutical industries according to Frontline video “Obama’s deal”. However, the Obama administration reviewed past mistakes of the Clinton administration and decided to use a completely different approach which included negotiation with the involved parties to work out a plan for success. It all seemed to be a slam dunk until the backfire happened. Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy fell gravely ill. Activists that were denied the same seat to the healthcare table as industry lobbyists brought their anger directly to the town halls. Congress soon began to feel the heat of the public’s displeasure with the Healthcare bill.

“On September 9, 2009, the South Carolina Republican Congressman, Joe Wilson, shouted out during President Obama’s speech the words “You Lie”. Clearly, healthcare reform was not unifying as some progressives had hoped. It was polarizing.” (Miniter, R, Leading from Behind, p.63) To help sway public opinion about the Universal Healthcare bill, President Obama went out on the road to “meet to people” and explain how Universal Healthcare would work. This gained him a lot of support and along with bargaining with the pharmaceutical and insurance agencies and negotiating internal deals among the Congress, the bill was successfully past. (Frontline “Obama’s Deal). “ In 2010 there was still were growing joblessness, shrinking home values, climbing gasoline price problems that had been identified by a vast number of Americans.(Miniter, R, 2012, p79.) It was in May 2011 when the news came that Osama Bin Laden had been found at last. (Miniter,R, 2012 p.119)..

President Obama was a very charismatic leader according to the front line Video “Obama’s deal” He had popularity among the American people. President Obama’s administration inherited the “War on Terror” tactics that were underway from the Bush administration. President Obama extended the USA Patriot Act, but his focus was on the Healthcare Industry and how he could achieve the dream of insurance for all. His promises of terminating no bid contracts took a back seat to sweet deals with the pharmaceutical companies according to front line video ( Obama’s deal cite citation).. “The bill imposes caps on insurance company spending and profits. One of the only ways to manage expenses is to reduce the actual cost of products, which means’ pushing providers to accept lower fees and reduce their use of costly services like radiology and other diagnostic testing. To accomplish this, insurers will have to exert more control over doctors- so they trying to buy up medical clinics and doctor practices (Limburgh , David, 2010, p.77)

“He began his presidency ,in his words, “a clean reak from business as usual, quickly issuing an executive order compelling the CIA to follow the interrogation policies specified in the Army Field Manual , thereby outlawing the use of torture by the United States. (Genovese, M. 2011, p159.)

Criticisms made up largely of the “secrecy” executive privledge had in each administration plagued both Bush and Obama. (Frontline Video, Cheney’s Law, and Obama’s Deal citation) The Bush administration was accused of treating the presidency like it was the sole power source and the Obama administration were the new deal makers for a price. A President’s tool box contains much needed skill sets such as negotiation, compromise, and persuasion. The Presidential role is expected to be filled by a strong and charismatic leader. The President not only needs to onboard two congressional houses to his policies, but the American people by their popular opinion (the power of the people). Both the Bush and Obama Administrations had campaign promises to fulfill when entering office.

Although the President has Executive Prerogative to create executive orders and executive opinions, the President has to still obey the law. This includes asking Congress for permission to go to war, or to pass bills being introduced into law. The legislature and the executive branches do not always agree on the outcomes of a Bill and Congress can by a “two thirds majority in each chamber” vote to deny a bill.(Greer J. 2016, p. 45.) The Constitution grants the President the power to Veto a bill. Both the legislative and executive branches are granted powers that allow them to deny a bill’s passing through to law.

This is an important political bargaining tool because both administrations have used various strategies through their executive privilege (keeping information secret from Congress) to push through their administration policy agendas. “Executive Unitary theory is a philosophy that infers the President has the sole voice in executing the powers of the office of the Presidency and does not need permission from Congress.(Genovese, M, 2011, p.128 )

The Vice President, Richard ( Dick) Cheney stated in the Frontline video that President Bush has such a power and the Bush Administration has driven their administrative agenda off this theory. (Frontline Video Quote, Cheney’s law).

The Strategies used by both the Gorge W. Bush and Barrack Obama administrations to achieve their objectives were to file executive orders, use persuasion of the office of the president, and utilize bargaining methods to achieve their agenda goals. “As President, the executive powers granted by the Constitution include the power to Veto and pardon and Commander in Chief of the military forces of the Unite States, the president has the power to direct those forces in defense of the United States. Both administrations used the USA Patriot Act passed in 2001 to carry out executive orders that allowed them to forward their administrative agendas. This is found in the methods of wire tapping and increase interrogation methods used during the War on Terror.” (Greer, J,2016, p.109)

“The Bush administration’s efforts to condense the three branches into one ( the executive) is not the answer). (Genoverse, M, 2011, p.162) The strategies used by both administrations were not illegal. The use executive orders to further the agenda of their administrations without interference from Congress or to use persuasion and bargaining methods to achieved desired solutions. However, there is a perceived morality to the office and how the president conducts his office. The president often has to make tough choices to protect the United States, but historically power has corrupted many governments and given history Hitler and Mussolini, and why cede the integrity of our constitutional system ( Genovese, M, 2011, p.162) The Framers wanted to prevent tyranny, and not to create a strong centralized, independent center of power.” (Genovese, M, 2011, p 162.), they also saw to it that “the office of the presidency was granted “the executive power” within the Constitution. The executive powers are for the President to lead the nation and to function in times of its defense.