Sunday, April 02, 2006

Signing Statements

WOW! mainstream media talking about Bush's strategy for thwarting democracy? this in today's Denver Post (www.denverpost.com):

editorial
President is not above the law


Maybe being president just goes to your head. Why else is George Bush signing bills into law accompanied by statements suggesting he can ignore certain provisions if he chooses?

The president's latest "signing statement" came March 9 with renewal of the Patriot Act, the law that provides government with broad surveillance powers. Patriot II was enacted by Congress after a long battle with the White House over expanded law enforcement powers. To obtain passage, the administration agreed to oversight provisions that included reporting to Congress.

On signing the bill, however, Bush quietly issued a statement asserting that he had the authority to ignore the oversight rules. He said he'd construe the act "in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch and to withhold information the disclosure of which could impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative process of the executive, or the performance of the executive's constitutional duties."

Last year, Congress passed a law outlawing the torture of detainees in U.S. custody. Bush signed the legislation even though Congress did not include a provision he wanted giving the president the power to waive the torture ban. But never mind. His signing statement suggested he could bypass the law anyway, prompting Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid to say, "President Bush continues to believe he's above the law and above the Constitution ... [that the] unitary executive president can pick and choose which laws he will follow."

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