englishteacher24/7

WobblyJoe, I want take this opportunity to thank you for contributing your knowledge on Presidential Executive Orders, and other insights that you provide.

The current behavior of this White House Administration will give plenty of opportunities to test our Constitution and political system.

Once again, thanks for your input as a native-speaking U.S. citizen.

Presidential Executive Orders have been used by every President except one (Harrison- who died within a month of taking office). Some have signed thousands of Presidential Executive Orders during their tenure. 

President Obama signed more than 275 Presidential Executive Orders including the "Deal with Iran", President Trump has signed over 80 Presidential Executive Orders so far. 

Other nations must understand that Presidential Executive Orders only bind the USA while that person is our president.  Only a Treaty which is voted on and ratified by the Senate is an actual agreement between the USA and other nations. No new President is bound by the former President, only the Senate can do that. 

There are two more years until our next Presidential election, so we are almost half way there. So far so good; if the USA survives this it will show the world that our Constitution really does govern our government, and not the strangely orange man who is running that government for us.

Fatemeh, you're welcome, and thanks for your feedback. I'll try to live up to your humbling compliment.

Multiple dramas are playing out in court and the court of public opinion concerning people who were close to the president.

Almost everyone has an opinion about the current White House Administration that results in being for or against the President. The majority of Americans are against the President, and the decisions he has made. People who support President Trump are referred to as "The Base" or "His Base" which is about 30-40% of voters.

President Trump belongs to the Republican Party, but the Republican Party is uneasy right now because they are losing some support in their previously strong Republican areas of the country.

The 2018 Mid-term elections are coming in November with the possibility of the Democratic Party winning enough seats in the House of Representatives that will take away the majority votes and make it harder for the Republican Party to pass legislation.

Immigration continues to be a hot topic as well as the investigation by a Special Council of the President for possible collusion.

In the U.S., a president has a 4 year term with a maximum of 8 years if re-elected. Therefore, the US Constitution does not allow any person to be the president of the country indefinitely. As a result, the next president can do a lot to change the Executive Orders of a previous president.

The President does not make any laws, the Congress makes the laws, and the President either signs the law or vetoes the law. However, the president can give an Executive Order which has the force of law depending on the constitutionality of the Executive Order.

Some of the Executive Orders of President Obama have been over-ruled by President Trump, but some Executive Orders are challenged in the courts, such as was the ban on travel from certain countries.

Time will tell how effective the US Constitution is when difficult matters have to be resolved.

Controversial issues in the U.S. have continued to be at the forefront of news every day. Currently, there is discontent and some anger among some citizens concerning the breaking up of migrant families who come to the U.S./Mexican border to seek asylum from horrific and dangerous conditions in their homeland.

The topic of immigration has been a controversial issue for many years even though the U.S. has had liberal customs laws compared to some other countries.

Previously, President Trump met with the leader of North Korea to the surprise of many, but with the hope that nuclear tensions can be reduced or eliminated on the Korean peninsula.

After the meeting there is cautious optimism with some people and others feel that the president didn't receive anything in comparison to what the North Koreans received.

The jury is out on this one, and time will tell if the meeting will result in something positive for the long term. 

Finally, there are the trade issues that President Trump has with many countries that have restrictive import laws compared to the US. Many people are hoping that the trade issues will be resolved and not turn into a trade war where nobody wins.

That's it for now, stay tuned for more "Breaking News" in the future.

From my last blog to this one, Breaking News continues almost on a daily basis in the U.S. Officials in key positions in the current White House administration have either stepped down from their positions or have been fired by the president.

Many Americans disagree with many decisions and actions of the president and as a result the legal system has been initiated to challenge some of the executive orders.

The U.S. is governed by a constitution which has checks and balances on the office of the president so that any individual who is elected to the office of the President cannot govern as a King or Dictator.

However, some Americans are questioning whether or not the U.S. is entering into a "Constitutional Crisis" on the behavior of the president. This means a situation where there is a perception that the constitution is unable to resolve a problem or conflict between the president's behavior or action on a particular matter and the limit of authority of the president.

Nevertheless, the mid-term elections will be held in November of this year which the voters will vote on many members of Congress which is currently controlled by the Republican Party with a Republican President. If the Congress is no longer controlled by the Republican Party, it will not be easy for their agenda to prevail in the laws passed.

The difference between the Republican and Democratic Parties is this: The Republican Party is for laws that support business and supposed fiscal responsibility. The Democratic Party is for laws that supposedly support people through programs.

However, the Republican Party has been changed by the current White House Administration to the dismay of traditional republicans.

In the U.S. there is "Breaking News" on a daily basis mostly relating to what is happening in the Trump Administration or former people related to it. "Breaking News" means something is happening of importance; in other words, "News Alert."

As you may already know, there is an intensive on-going investigation to determine if there was tampering into the 2016 U.S. Presidential election by another country to influence the election result against candidate Hillary Clinton. In addition the investigation is determining if there was "collusion" (a secret agreement to do something illegal) between the current U.S. president and another country.

With the major tax revision bill that was passed by the Congress and signed by the President back in December 2017, the next major legislature action is an immigration bill to determine what to do about the children of immigrants who illegally entered into the U.S. with their parents. Their population is over 680,000 and unless there is an extension of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program enacted under the Obama administration, the children may be deported back to Mexico.

This group is known as "Dreamers" and 80% of Americans do not want them to be deported because they came to the U.S. with their parents and was no fault of their own. Nevertheless, other Americans believe that the children and their parents entered the U.S. illegally, therefore, they should be deported because it is not fair to those who abide by the legal method of entering the U.S. This is a very sensitive topic.

Congress has to act to address the DACA program by March 5, 2018 which is the expiration date.

There are more things that are emerging which I'll address in my next blog post.

I hope that 2018 will be a good year that we will accomplish some things that we have been trying to accomplish in previous years. Let's just do it! 

A lot has been happening on the political scene in the U.S. with a major tax bill that has been approved by the Congress today with the vote being right down party lines. Since the Republicans have a majority vote they were able to approve it without any votes from the Democratic Party.

The American public is deeply divided between being for or against the Trump Administration but the 2018 mid-term election will give the Democrats a chance to win some seats in Congress.

President Trump has received his first major legislative victory in the form of the tax code being modified to give corporations and high income people tax breaks with a few tax breaks for lower to middle income people. The belief is that this will be an incentive for companies to hire more people and increase their wages but many believe it will just give companies the opportunity to do other things with the reduced tax obligation.

Nevertheless, the US economy is doing well with low inflation and a low unemployment rate. Time will tell if the tax overhaul will do what the Republicans say it will do.

Pay close attention to the mid-term election results to be held November 6, 2018 which is the middle point of the president's term.