I remember the School House Rock public service announcements that taught me about conjunctions (“Conjunction Junction What’s Your Function?”) and how a bill becomes law in Washington. Set to catchy tunes and using cartoon characters many kids (and adults) learned how our government works and the parts of speech through this effective tool.
Perhaps President Obama missed that lesson. The comic show Saturday Night Live (SNL) thinks so as it poked fun at POTUS in the opening skit of last Saturday’s show as they spoofed the song “I’m Just a Bill."
Beyond being funny, it’s a poignant reminder that the president's overuse (abuse?) of executive order to advance his agenda tramples over the Constitution and flies in the face of how Americans feel he should approach immigration.
The president issued executive orders last week that allow for 5 million undocumented workers to apply for delayed deportation and instructs authorities to only target their deportation efforts against undocumented workers with criminal records.
In the skit, “President Obama” interrupts the how a bill becomes law song to teach a little boy that he doesn't have to go through Congress to get legislation passed and shoves the character dressed up as a bill down the steps of Congress several times.
SNL is no conservative show and often makes Republicans the butt of its jokes. However, even they know that the President is going overboard and sending the message – especially to young people- that he’s in charge and will ramrod the Constitution to get his agenda passed.
The Hill reports:
The cast of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" poked fun at President Obama's use of executive action on immigration during a comedy sketch referencing the educational cartoon "School House Rock."
In the sketch, comedian Kenan Thompson is dressed as the iconic bill while spoofing the song "I'm Just a Bill."
Then Obama, portrayed by Jay Pharoah, shoved the bill down the steps of the Capitol in favor of using executive orders.
Meanwhile, comedian Bobby Moynihan, who is dressed as an executive order, then struts onto stage.
"I'm an executive order and I pretty much just happen. And that's it," sang the executive order while smoking a cigarette.
"Wait a minute, don't you have to go through Congress at some point?" asks a student.
"Oh, that's adorable — you think that's still how Congress works?" the executive order replies.
We’ve covered the fight that the President is trying to spark with conservatives over immigration. However, as we know, it’s not his first attempt at ruling by pen. During this year’s State of the Union he warned that he would not wait for Congress to enact his sweeping policy reforms. Earlier this month, he enacted new environmental regulations set to go into effect over the next two years. Earlier this year, he raised federal minimum wage for government contractors – hoping to inspire states to do the same.
Having hit wages, the environment, and now immigration, we wonder what’s left for him to do?