Bush Issued Over 750 "Signing Statements"
Remember when the President compromised with Senator McCain and signed the anti-torture legislation, only to add a little "statement" after signing it that said he reserved the authority to authorize torture whenever he thought it was justified? After the news broke, many congressional legal scholars said that Bush stood in clear violation of the separation of powers, where the Congress makes the laws, the Judicial Branch interprets those laws, leaving the Executive "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." With his "signing statement," Bush claims that he has the power to interpret when a law should be followed and when he can chose to ignore it.
The Boston Globe dropped a bomb recently that is only starting to get noticed, that since taking office Bush has issued over 750 such statements (Here are examples of a few:
March 9: Justice Department officials must give reports to Congress by certain dates on how the FBI is using the USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.
Bush's signing statement: The president can order Justice Department officials to withhold any information from Congress if he decides it could impair national security or executive branch operations.
Dec. 30: When requested, scientific information "prepared by government researchers and scientists shall be transmitted [to Congress] uncensored and without delay."
Bush's signing statement: The president can tell researchers to withhold any information from Congress if he decides its disclosure could impair foreign relations, national security, or the workings of the executive branch.
Aug. 8: The Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its contractors may not fire or otherwise punish an employee whistle-blower who tells Congress about possible wrongdoing.
Bush's signing statement: The president or his appointees will determine whether employees of the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can give information to Congress.
See more examples here.
Without the ability to get timely and accurate information, Congress can't fulfill its duty of providing oversight. Our entire system of checks and balances breaks down. If these "statements" go unchallenged, any President in the future will be able to selectively and secretly ignore any law, keeping not only the Press (and by extension us) but even Congress in the dark.
If this scares you as much as it does me, go here, enter your zip code in the left hand column, and write your representatives and senators, and as a follow up, call their offices.
The Boston Globe dropped a bomb recently that is only starting to get noticed, that since taking office Bush has issued over 750 such statements (Here are examples of a few:
March 9: Justice Department officials must give reports to Congress by certain dates on how the FBI is using the USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.
Bush's signing statement: The president can order Justice Department officials to withhold any information from Congress if he decides it could impair national security or executive branch operations.
Dec. 30: When requested, scientific information "prepared by government researchers and scientists shall be transmitted [to Congress] uncensored and without delay."
Bush's signing statement: The president can tell researchers to withhold any information from Congress if he decides its disclosure could impair foreign relations, national security, or the workings of the executive branch.
Aug. 8: The Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its contractors may not fire or otherwise punish an employee whistle-blower who tells Congress about possible wrongdoing.
Bush's signing statement: The president or his appointees will determine whether employees of the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can give information to Congress.
See more examples here.
Without the ability to get timely and accurate information, Congress can't fulfill its duty of providing oversight. Our entire system of checks and balances breaks down. If these "statements" go unchallenged, any President in the future will be able to selectively and secretly ignore any law, keeping not only the Press (and by extension us) but even Congress in the dark.
If this scares you as much as it does me, go here, enter your zip code in the left hand column, and write your representatives and senators, and as a follow up, call their offices.
posted by Christopher A. Dellario at 9:45 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home