Biden's CDC to impose rent moratorium extension that he admits is probably unconstitutional
In a presidency characterized by incoherent ramblings, the events yesterday represent a new level of muddle-headedness. Congress failed to extend the rent moratorium that expired August 1, and the Supreme Court already has indicated that an extension would be unconstitutional. But yesterday, President Biden pretended that the CDC is not under his control and swept aside the bulk of constitutional scholarship, as the Washington Post reported:
In remarks to reporters shortly before the CDC made its announcement, Biden acknowledged that the move was likely to be subject to court challenge and appeared to express doubt about the legality of the move. He even said scholars he consulted felt the measure was probably not constitutional.
"I have been informed [the CDC is] about to make a judgment as to potential other options. Whether that option will pass constitutional measure with this administration, I can't tell you. I don't know," Biden said. "The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it's not likely to pass constitutional muster. ... But there are several key scholars who think that it may and it's worth the effort."
You can watch him do so for yourself:
National Review's headline is apropos:
President Biden Announces on Live TV That He Intends to Break His Oath of Office
And so is Jesse Kelly's sardonic and frightening summation in Twitter:
The purported health threat of the delta variant is the excuse being offered for the complete abrogation of the rule of law, but ABC News, no right-wing outlet, was more realistic:
Under heavy pressure from progressive Democrats to extend the eviction moratorium as millions of Americans faced being forced out of their homes, President Joe Biden on Tuesday said his administration would announce a new "safety valve" action.
Keep in mind that the CDC has no legal authority to create criminal law, yet it is imposing draconian penalties on landlords who violate its ukase:
You can read the 19-page document signed by CDC head Rochelle Walensky, already a national joke for her self-contradictory statements, here.
Paul Mirengoff asks:
Has any previous president ever made a decision that he publicly acknowledged was probably unconstitutional? It seems unlikely, inasmuch as all presidents swear an oath to defend the Constitution.
And he adds:
In addition to being illegal, the administration's ban is terrible policy. The alleged health rationale doesn't justify the policy. People facing eviction can protect themselves against serious illness due to the coronavirus, including its variants, by getting vaccinated. Once vaccinated, the risk to them of death or serious sickness due to covid does not appear to be greater than the same risks to the homeless during the flu season.
We don't ban evictions during the flu season. At least, we haven't in the past. I suppose everything is up for grabs now.
Nor is there an economic justification for banning evictions. A year ago, there was a case. Unemployment was staggeringly high and in many jurisdictions people were essentially required to stay home.
A friend who is in the rental property business worries that once the moratorium expires (if ever), tenants will simply move, leaving landlords with uncollectable debts that will never be repaid. And, because rents are the cash flow that enables landlords to service their mortgage debt, defaults will cascade through the economy. Remember when that happened in 2008?
What the heck is going on in this country?
As the Biden administration continues to peel away the accomplishments of his predecessor, what I hear most from family, friends, and social media posters is a fear that Democrats have become power-mad with their recent ascendancy to a majority position in the House and Senate. They wonder if the current crop of radical officials is hell-bent on weakening, and ultimately destroying, the country that gave them those positions. Beginning with reversing President Trump's southern border policies, which has led to an invasion of illegal aliens unprecedented in our history, to the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline, taking away our energy independence, and several other policy changes that adversely affect our safety and our economy, one has to suspect the motives of those in charge.
The wisdom of Occam's Razor seems to apply in this context. Watching our country being led by folks who appear to be more concerned with getting revenge on Trump than with solving the problems facing this great republic meets the requirement of O.R. — that the simplest explanation is usually the best one. How can Americans come to any other conclusion when almost daily we hear another swipe at the former chief executive by one of Biden's Cabinet members, or someone on his staff, each time an additional Trump achievement is overturned? Moreover, as we watch in horror as potentially millions of migrants from all over the world walk casually into our country, Democrats will look us in the face and say things are getting better.
It reminds me of the comment by Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan as sections of her city were being looted and burned. When asked by a CNN anchor how long she thinks the mayhem will continue, the left-wing troglodyte smirked and said, "I don't know. We could have a summer of love." This is an example of the perverted mentality that has no concern for the innocent residents of a city under siege by criminals who have no fear of local authorities. While people are being beaten and killed on city streets, the people elected to protect them were calling for the defunding of police and the hiring of social workers to enforce the law.
Every time we think the delusional left can't get any crazier, these people come up with more abysmal notions that defy common sense and imperil more lives. How about telling us how imperative it is for us to get vaccinated, wear masks, and engage in social distancing while they invite hundreds of thousands of untested migrants into our country and transport them to cities from coast to coast? Does it take a conspiracy theorist to suggest that Democrats are distributing the virus throughout our country in order to keep us infected and locked down? How else can the Biden administration explain why they are suing Texas to block Governor Abbott's executive order that allows state troopers to stop vehicles suspected of carrying illegal aliens because they may be spreading COVID-19?
Keep in mind that Texas is among the reddest states in the union, and Abbott is one of the most severe critics of Biden's handling of the southern invasion. Biden wasted no time in stopping the construction of the border wall, another attempt to destroy a Trump campaign pledge. It's become evident that Democrats have hatched a plot to create a constitutional crisis between the federal and state governments, but only against those states that didn't vote for Biden. Has vengeance become the driving force behind every tactic employed by Democrats? Has political rivalry reached a stage in which the winning parties are hell-bent on destroying their opponents?
In the middle of all this political hostility, the American people are captively watching a vindictive ping-pong match among the power elite who seem to have relegated us to insignificant victims of collateral damage. Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas, 21st District) said it best on the floor of the House a few days ago: "The speaker says we must wear masks in the people's house, while we've got thousands of people pouring across our border, many of them heavily infected with COVID, and Democrats don't do a damn thing about it! Mexican cartels are raping, pillaging, and transporting infected migrants into our country, and what does this institution do? Tell us to wear masks in this chamber."
The congressman is expressing more than outrage. He, like millions of other Americans, is wondering out loud what the heck is going on in this country. It's clear that we're not being governed according to constitutional principles; we're being ruled by a despotic gang of venal socialist thugs who plan to hold onto their power in perpetuity, even if it means using the increasingly left-wing-indoctrinated military to accomplish their nefarious goals.
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