Scroll of Executive Power

Executive Branch

This branch is big and complicated. It enforces laws, handles foreign affairs and manages a variety of agencies. It is 300 million people strong, that’s a big number. I’m just going to tell you some top spots of the executive branch: president, vice president, president’s cabinet, and the heads of all the government run agencies. The president also appoints the justices of the Supreme Court, that’s why people make it a big deal. The president can appoint officials to all agencies, so he basically controls them. The catch is that the Senate has to approve, otherwise it’s a no go. Some agencies directly report to The Prez, like EPA, some are independent like NASA. The president cannot really make the choice to go war, but sometimes does it anyway. Congress needs to approve the war then it gives money to support the war. But nobody listened to that because we haven’t “officially” been in a war since WWII, except the gulf war of 1990. It happened with Vietnam, Korea and now Iraq. The Senate has to approve going to war but lately that has not been happening. Well after Nam, this law passed that the president could invade other countries but had to get the Senate’s approval in 90 days or the troops just sit there. There is a major loop hole in this system. It’s written that the president can go to war if we are attacked first. This is the stupid reason why we’re in Iraq. The real reason is that Cheney and the old Bush administration wanted to go get rich. I don’t think 9/11 was a conspiracy, but the war in Iraq is just a little too much. The president also has the power to make treaties. Bush could call it off with Iraq but he has gone too far to turn back. The executive branch blew the whole bridge up. Obama is the only chance we have of getting out of Iraq and keeping the little respect that the US of A has left. If Obama is elected Prez, he will handle most of the foreign affairs. That’s why no one likes tourists from the states anymore because Bush screwed up. And Guess what, most likely that’s going to get worse if McCain is elected. That’s fine for you people that just sit here in the US of A polishing your semi-automatic “hunting rifles”. I’m going to say this real fast: if you need a semi-auto rifle to hunt you SHOULD NOT hunt.  One shot, one kill, that's how you do it. Come on if you need more then 4 rounds to kill big game, don’t hunt big game. Enough about that, I would say that this branch is no more powerful than the others, even though it seems really powerful. Sometimes it gets a little power hungry but gets back in line because the other two branches slap it. The legislative branch has the responsibility to approve the president’s decisions. This way the president can’t just go crazy and appoint his brother to some random thing then they get a lot of money. If the president does something unconstitutional or commits a crime he can be impeached and removed from office. This checks the president so he and his advisers protect the people as best they can. So democracy is a big complicated game of rock, paper, and scissors. The executive branch is powerful but can be controlled by the other branches at times. Are three main powers enough to keep the people safe and protect their rights? Or maybe we should use the system that the Ottoman Empire used? I mean they were only around for almost 700 years, that’s a long time.