Obama couldn’t hold the line against Iran, but he’s going full-on red line against your kid’s school

While the president could not be troubled to hold a hard position against a nuclear Iran, chemical weapons use by Syria’s Assad or Russia’s aggression, he has decided to blackmail educators in order to progress his transgender agenda.

The Obama administration will issue a sweeping decree on Friday telling every U.S. public school district to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity.

The letter, signed by officials from the Education and Justice departments, does not have the force of law but contains an implicit threat that schools which do not abide by the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law could face lawsuits or a loss of federal aid.

Progressives had previously been happy to use the courts to get what they were unable to achieve through congress. Now, Obama is taking it a step further and hoping to force people to his wishes by avoiding the courts and just issuing decrees. Think about that for a moment. A presidential decree – sounds like something out of a banana republic doesn’t it?

The key phrase in the decree is “Obama administration’s interpretation of the law.” The executive branch does not have the power to interpret the laws written by congress. That power is granted to the legislative branch. The executive is required to simply enforce the laws as written by congress and interpreted by the justices.

What may be important is that the left may be committing a serious error. This push to bully states into the federal government’s bidding will put cases in front of judges where they must rule for the states.  At least until Hillary nominates a liberal replacement for Antonin Scalia.

Another important idea is made central – are states sovereign when they require so much money from the federal government?

Originally, the states were intended to be individual and sovereign. Over the decades, state legislatures got hypnotized by billions of dollars in federal gifts. At this point, states cannot survive without federal handouts. As we all know, debt makes slaves.

Obama has decided to use the power of the purse (constitutionally awarded to congress) in order to force states to bend to his will on laws he has interpreted (constitutionally awarded to the courts) in order get outcomes very few Americans want.

An interesting twist to this is that it sets precedent. What happens when a president Trump decides he doesn’t like what some state is doing.

Nothing is ever about the here and now – it is always about the now-and-later.