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My statement that wars were started "without congressional approval" may be wrong. That said, I still do not believe that it's outside the president's power to

by sequoia 14y ago

My statement that wars were started "without congressional approval" may be wrong. That said, I still do not believe that it's outside the president's power to shut down gitmo. As many other commenters here have pointed out, he could simply order marines to free those prisoners with no charges to Cuban soil; this would cost no money at all; congress would not be able to prevent it. Could the president not do this? Furthermore, he promised to do so repeatedly during his campaign. Was the president, a constitutional scholar, merely mistaken about his powers as the executive? I apologize for muddying the waters with discussion of other presidential actions.

parfe 14y ago
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ClosureOfGuantanamoDetentionFacilities http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ClosureOfGuantana... Obama issued the order to close the prison his second full day in office. Congress then blocked any funds whatsoever from being used to close the prison. http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/senate/1/196 http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/senate/1/196 No, the president can't just release prisoners into Cuba because A) Cuba is a sovereign country and the US doesn't get to just deposit individuals there, terrorist or not. B) The president literally cannot pay for any operation, at all, to close the prison. I suggest you read up more on the issue before forming such a strong opinion.
- sequoia 14y ago
  If this decision is so clearly and unequivocally not his to make, why did he promise to do it in the first place? Is he stupid or a liar? I don't think he's stupid.
  - parfe 14y ago
    Are you American? A majority of Presidential campaign platforms are issues which also need Congressional approval. Tax Reform, healthcare, domestic policy, spending cuts, and budgets. Obama did what he said, but congress blocked him. He's neither stupid, nor a liar for that. Any more than he would have been lying if Congress blocked healthcare reform.

by sequoia 14y ago

parfe 14y ago

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ClosureOfGuantanamoDetentionFacilities http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ClosureOfGuantana... Obama issued the order to close the prison his second full day in office. Congress then blocked any funds whatsoever from being used to close the prison. http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/senate/1/196 http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/senate/1/196 No, the president can't just release prisoners into Cuba because A) Cuba is a sovereign country and the US doesn't get to just deposit individuals there, terrorist or not. B) The president literally cannot pay for any operation, at all, to close the prison. I suggest you read up more on the issue before forming such a strong opinion.

sequoia 14y ago
If this decision is so clearly and unequivocally not his to make, why did he promise to do it in the first place? Is he stupid or a liar? I don't think he's stupid.
- parfe 14y ago
  Are you American? A majority of Presidential campaign platforms are issues which also need Congressional approval. Tax Reform, healthcare, domestic policy, spending cuts, and budgets. Obama did what he said, but congress blocked him. He's neither stupid, nor a liar for that. Any more than he would have been lying if Congress blocked healthcare reform.