Can Executive Orders Cure the Incurable?

Warren Engberg sits outside on a warm and sunny mid-summer day, feeling the warmth of the sun hit his skin. Mowing the yard on his John Deere lawn tractor, he is at peace. The sun begins to set, and he decides to call it a day for mowing. The next morning, he is at it again, mowing the same space. This pattern continues all week, until his wife finally goes outside and convinces him to do something else. Sitting there, he seems to be going through the motions of a life once lived.

Engberg suffers from Parkinson’s disease. He has been doing the same tasks over and over again for the past nine years -- just a way to “stay young inside,” he says in a shaky voice. He is not giving up because he has a new source of hope: President-Elect Barack Obama. Obama could reverse President George W. Bush’s controversial Executive Order limiting stem cell research, one hope for a cure for illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Unlike laws, which require the approval of Congress, presidents can use their executive authority to order federal government agencies to implement policies. A governor may also issue executive orders at the state level. U. S. presidents have issued executive orders since 1789, but critics have accused presidents of abusing them by making laws without Congressional approval.

President George W. Bush issued 279 such orders during two terms, 30 in 2008 alone. Examples include 13479 “Transformation of the National Air Transportation System,” issued Nov. 18 and Executive Order 1346 “Facilitation of Presidential Transition” on Oct. 9.

For incoming presidents, they are a tool for quickly fulfilling campaign promises. "There's a lot the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action," John Podesta, head of the president’s transition team, said on "Fox News Sunday.”

The transition team is likely reviewing hundreds of Bush’s executive orders, including oil and gas drilling on federal lands. Engberg feels this helps to demonstrate that the new president will try to make good on his promises. “He always said the same things about change in America, and now he finally has the chance to do some of these things through the executive orders.”

Engberg’s wife, Lily, also looks forward to lifting the current rules on stem cell research. “[It would] allow my husband to do so much more with his own life, which would be superb,” she said.

After one of the most transformational and historic elections in US history, this could be, at least symbolically, the turning point that many people have been waiting for.

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