Power of the president

Over the past 30 plus years starting with the Reagan administration a new threat to our form of government has evolved. It has its basis in bi-partisanship and encourages elected officials to place party ahead of country. It is reinforced with the growth of gerrymandering which is largely responsible for the almost guaranteed reelection of incumbents. Presidents have learned to use this divide in the electorate to increase their power and it is now approaching the danger zone. Presidents have come to realize that as long as there is division in the legislative branch they can get away with just about anything. Any president can take an action to which congress disagrees and there is not much that they can do to stop him. They have three courses of action and all three have lost their effectiveness. First they can sue and go through the courts but that takes years and people will lose interest. Second they can withhold funds but that threatens a government shut down and the political price is too high. Finally they can impeach but with a divided country getting a 2/3rds vote in the senate is almost impossible. This allows the president total power. If congress passes something he doesn’t like he can veto and to override a veto takes 2/3rds vote. If the president wants to create a new way of operating the government he can do so and congress cannot stop him as illustrated above. He merely instructs his departments to begin implementing new procedures.