Did Obama violate the Constitution?

This question arises when we look at our attack on Libyan airbases, or on Qaddafi, depending on how you look at it. The president did not need to consent with congress because this is not legally a war, yet. However, the president "shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States", as said in the Constitution. The starting of wars is a gray area and many politicians have trouble pinning it down. This blog 'First Read' from MSNBC speculates the constitutionality of this recent attack on Libyan air bases.

"Judging just from the pictures of what we are seeing happening on the ground, this is quite substantial, and this is the sort of thing that would have needed Congressional approval," said Professor Oona Hathaway of Yale Law School, an expert on executive power and international law.
While the president has stressed the international component of the operation, she believes that makes no difference. "The fact that the Security Council has authorized an imposition of a no-fly zone does not answer the constitutional questions," she said.

I sympathize with Professor Hathaway in that the constitutional questions do not seem to have been answered. However, I do side with Obama in a way because it would definitely be hard to get Congress to allow for this attack quickly. It depends on the outcome of this attack to see if the attacks were worthwhile or incorrect. Actions have to made quickly to prevent more deaths in Libya.

Other than preventing Qaddafi from killing more of his own people, there is and was no direct threat to national security. If there was a threat, it would validate Obama's orders. Still, I feel like Obama did the right thing unless he escalates this into a war effort.

White House Scramble

As election day closes in (8 days until election) the white house is becoming increasingly panicky. Obama has been going around the country to endorse candidates and promote his party. Newsweek reports:

Despite the White House’s repeated insistence that it is in control, the president's public schedule suggests an administration in panic mode. Late last week Obama did a campaign blitz through five states—Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, and Minnesota—to endorse candidates and appear at fundraisers.

The administration is trying to motivate voters more than ever, relaying that the democrats will continue to have control. the republicans on the other hand continue to appear serious and enthusiastic.

Current polling shows the GOP poised to pick up as many as 80 new seats in the House of Representatives (it would need only 39 to win control of the chamber) and up to eight Senate seats.

The amount of urgency the administration has appears serious and capable of continuing the current trend of control. We will just have to wait and see as the number of days until election day decreases even more.

U.S trade deficit is not really looking up...

New York Times reports that the trade deficit between the U.S. and China is still widening. The capitalistic nature of America is pushing American business to outsource and to buy products from China because of the lower prices of labor.

"The trade deficit grew to $46.3 billion, up from a revised $42.6 billion in July and exceeding forecasts for a gap of around $44 billion. The deficit with China accounted for $28 billion of the August shortfall, up from $25.9 billion the month before.
The widening gap with China comes amid rising concerns in Washington about China’s trade dominance and its effect on the global economic recovery. The Obama administration and some lawmakers are pressing China to allow its currency to appreciate more quickly, hoping it will temper Chinese exports by making them more expensive"

The article continues with:

“The only way this works in reducing the U.S. trade deficit is if U.S. consumers shift their consumption of Chinese goods to U.S.-produced goods,” said Dan Greenhaus, the chief economic strategist for Miller Tabak & Company. “You need to increase the appeal of U.S.-based goods.”

Even the thought of making U.S. based goods more appealing is difficult to conjure. Looking around my house, I bet three fourths have a label saying "made in China". Simply, American goods are more expensive in general and may by worse than their Chinese counterparts. One classic example is the automobile industry where Ford is having a horrible time while companies like Toyota are thriving in relation. The better reliability and price do drive home the unfortunate idea that America is not the best at everything.