Out of idle curiosity, does anyone actually read the Constitution anymore?

[SidneyCarton]

I know I sound like some idiot tea-bagger for asking this, but having read some comments on DU in the past few days, I have to wonder.

For the record, as wonderful as it might be for President Obama to extend Medicare to all by Executive Order, it would be unconstitutional. It infringes on the powers of the purse which are delegated to Congress in Article 1 of the Constitution.

The outcomes of such an action, while perhaps wonderful in the short-term, would be disastrous in the long-term, I see three possibilities:

1. Such an overstepping of authority leads to a massive public outcry, that brings us yet another GOP President in 2012, who just suspends, or massively depletes funding to Pres. Obama's executive-ordered Medicare.

2. Executive overreach leads to impeachment proceedings against Pres. Obama, leading to his removal from office, the killing of the executive order, and our loss of the White House in 2012.

3. The Supreme Court rules that such an executive order is unconstitutional, and it is repealed.

Either way, we don't get what we want, and lose so much more in the process. The Constitution is ungainly, inconvenient, and at times a pain in the neck, but it is designed to deprive any branch of the government from having too much power, even if it is used with the best intentions. Even if we want a dictator to move our policies forward (and I would imagine that very few actually want this) we have no right to destroy President Obama by thrusting this on him.

Flame away if you want, but violating the Constitution is wrong, regardless of reason or party affiliation.