GOP President Can Quickly Wipe Out Obama's Legacy

Two Republican authors liken what he leaves behind to a sand castle
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 21, 2015 2:10 PM CST
GOP President Can Quickly Wipe Out Obama's Legacy
President Obama's legacy could be undone quickly, the authors argue.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

By the time he leaves office, President Obama seems poised to join FDR and Ronald Reagan as "one of the three most transformative presidents of the past hundred years," argues an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. But this op-ed is authored by two prominent Republicans—former Sen. Phil Gramm and former Mitch McConnell adviser Michael Solon—who do not mean that as a compliment. They have good news for their fellow Republicans, however: Unlike FDR and Reagan, Obama didn't enact his agenda with bipartisan support in Congress but through "executive orders, regulations, and agency actions," and that means it can be undone quickly by a Republican president. Everything from immigration reform to the Iran nuclear deal to the Keystone pipeline decision to "the most pernicious parts of ObamaCare" could be rolled back starting on day one.

"At the beginning of the inaugural address, the new president could sign an executive order rescinding all of Mr. Obama’s executive orders deemed harmful to economic growth or constitutionally suspect," they write. Similarly, the new president can halt regulations put into effect by agencies such as the EPA, the FCC, and the NLRB, a tactic used by the president to "circumvent" Congress. The problem with governing this way is that Obama's legacy is no stronger than a sand castle, write Gramm and Solon. "All the American electorate must do now is choose a president totally committed to overturning the Obama program—and Obama’s sand castle will be washed away." Click for the full column. (More President Obama stories.)

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