Republicans are getting worried that corporations might have to admit that they give money to Republicans. Much like the Chamber of Commerce is worried that corporations might have to admit that they give money to the Chamber of Commerce. They are all just very ashamed of themselves, I guess. So they’re trying to stop the Obama Administration from delivering an executive order that would force government contractors to disclose their political donations.

So, like all good conservatives looking for a legal patina for their theories, they’ve turned to John Yoo.

The President signed the 2011 appropriations bill yesterday, and he attached a signing statement to it. There were two bones of contention. The first was the measure banning funds to transfer prisoners from Guantanamo. The second, the bill defunded the offices of Presidential advisors, or “czars,” four all ready vacant or defunct.

You can argue whether or not Congress should have warmaking powers over the executive, but you cannot argue about the Constitutional origin, nor can you argue about how Congress has basically left the playing field on war powers for decades now. This is how you have the United States end up in wars that have no end in sight, and then double down and escalate forces in response. Congress could respond by staking out powers for itself, but they have proven to be woefully craven in that respect.

President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

Now that the mission in Libya is creeping away from humanitarian protection and toward arming an insurgency, this might be a good time for Congress to get involved. I know it’s quaint, but they do have war powers, last time I checked my Constitution. Bob Gates succeeded in getting a delay in any war powers resolution on Libya by Senate Democrats until after a briefing today with him and Hillary Clinton. But after that, Harry Reid said, “if in fact you want to do more legislatively, you’re entitled to do it…. The War Powers Act we believe is valid, is very clear, setting forth timelines.” It’s also clear that the President can only invoke force prior to a war powers resolution in the presence of an imminent threat, which Gates admitted was not the case in Libya.

In the House, where the White House doesn’t have the same kind of sway, Republicans are already introducing a bill to defund the Libyan operation, going further than a war powers resolution. Rep. Tim Johnson is the lead sponsor of the RECLAIM Act.

The White House announced last night a series of changes to travel and remittance policies with Cuba, that will allow more visitation and transfer of funds to the island 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

The filibuster is essentially a dead procedural instrument walking. Democrats want to rein in its abuse, and Republicans want to use alternative legislative means like the Congressional Review Act that avoid a filibuster. It’s a matter of time before one side or the other bites the bullet and does away with it.

Studies show that the rules on smog and boiler regulation would prevent thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of asthma attacks. This delay is a death warrant for Americans – and it’s a deficit-buster, too, because cutting down on toxic pollution would save tens of billions of dollars in public health costs.

Last Friday, deep in the middle of a long holiday weekend, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seized dozens of web sites. The full list is here, and a common reaction might be “well obviously they were engaged in illegal activity, so they had it coming.” This is an example of what Glenn Greenwald mocked as trial by Wikipedia: the idea that if you bring up a topic which everyone can agree is self-evident, action may be taken without jumping through a whole bunch of tedious legal hoops.

Right now the country is facing serious unemployment and foreclosure crises, among other problems. In his role as chief executive, without the need of congressional approval, what could Obama do immediately to address these issues?