After signing two bills into law this week, President Bush said that he could bypass numerous parts of the laws. In a signing statement Bush said a military authorization act and a measure giving inspectors general greater independence from the White House unlawfully constrained the president's constitutional powers.
So which parts will Bush ignore?
- A section forbidding money from being used "to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq."
- A section requiring negotiations for an agreement by which Iraq would share some of the costs of the American military operation.
- Two sections strengthening legal protections against political interference with internal watchdog officials at executive agencies.
The past 42 presidents have issued 600 signing statements combined while Bush himself has put out 1,100. Legal scholars assert that Bush's disobedience contradicts the rule of law, and the separations of power between Congress and the president. Do you think the next president will follow Bush's signing statements, or go even further by following his example of issuing many more signing statements?
Julia Cocco'
Marshall Ward
Madeleine Thompson
Of course future Presidents can do this and if he or she has an unresponsive Congress, they probably will. Once an office has been given power, it's awfully hard to get it back.
1The current President cares amazingly little about the constitution. The expansion of executive power under his watch makes me sick. George Washington must be spinning in his grave.
I really hope that whoever our next President is will care about the country enough and have the foresight to roll that power back. I hope the next Congress will have the same care and foresight to stop allowing the expansion to happen; Congress is just as much to blame for standing idly by.
2I think it'll be up the next SC and not the next congress to determine how much power the exec. will get. I will not be surprised if some of these turn into SC cases in the coming years. I can't really blame Bush for this, sorting out the separation of powers is difficult because there are many constitutional questions that have not really been answered yet.
3It's sad that my first reaction is this is, "Oh, old news." At this point, I barely batted an eye when they "edited" EPA reports. They have set the bar so low, that no one is shocked when stuff like this happens.
4So true TS. I should be outraged and perplexed, instead I'm like "business as usual for the Bush administration."
5i agree with both ts and jessie.
6i wasn't surprised either.
And to think Clinton got impeached about lying about an affair (sigh and no I don't think infidelity is good). There had been so much lying, cheating, and manipulation of our laws and the messages to American citizens.
7I feel sorry for the constitution.
8Who lied Jessie?
9CG if you google many of the speeches that Bush has given over the years they blatantly contradict his actions and policies he implements immediately after. There is even strong evidence that supports that his speeches contradicts information that people in in his administration have known him to believe. This is all fancy talk for lying.
I don't hate Bush because he's republican. I don't even blame republicans for voting for him because he lied to the people. I hate Bush for what he's done and is doing to the country.
Janneth...I'm sure the constitution in receiving some counseling by now for all it's emotional issues.
10I dont know of one instance where he lied to me. speeches or otherwise.
11Uh huh well I'm not going to argue this. I've been rehashing Bush for the last eight years and frankly talking about him has made me sick of politics. I am just going to look forward to a Bush free administration. You can choose to seriously look into my accusations or not. At this point it doesn't matter.
Like TS and PP before, you develop a certain apathy towards his actions after a while...
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